Why food is not the answer for separation anxiety.

For any of us who have used behaviour modification with our dogs, food has usually played a crucial part in the training. Perhaps understandably then, it is often assumed that food should be involved with separation protocols.

A quick google of tips to help separation anxiety will bring up lots of suggestions of food toys. Forums, again, are full of comments from people giving this advice.

So why, as a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer do I recommend against the use of food?

The theory is that by leaving food, the dog will begin to build up a positive association with their guardian leaving them. For some dogs this appears to work, they merrily tuck into their treats as their guardian leaves and hurrah, problem solved. Until of course the treats run out. It's very common for someone to tell me 'they are fine for 15 minutes when I first leave' or 'we've managed to build up to 10 minutes but now we're stuck'. When I investigate further, this is when the food runs out and I have to have a very tough conversation with them that we need to go all the way back to the beginning again.

If you're reading this and thinking 'well my dog loves food but he still won't touch a treat toy when I leave him', this is incredibly common too. Lots of dogs with separation issues feel far too anxious to eat. That funny feeling in your tummy when you're worried? Dog's feel that too. So for some dogs, even if they are usually very food focused, they just won't be interested in food at all.

Whichever of these two camps your dog is in, they are likely to begin to associate the food toy with you leaving. Because that is what you have taught them. You wanted them to associate food with you leaving and now they do! This can essentially 'poison' both the toy and the food and can extend to similar looking toys and similar tasting/smelling food. I don't need to explain why that is a problem.

So, if a dog begins to panic as soon as they run out of their food (if they touched it in the first place) unfortunately, they haven't learned anything. And in fact they're now worse off. Because items that used to bring them comfort, potentially don't anymore.

When it comes to ordinary behaviour modification, timing of your treats is absolutely crucial. So if your dog is worried about scooters, you allow them to see the scooter and immediately reward them for staying calm. If you get this the wrong way around then you can teach them that the food predicts the trigger and this can in some cases cause dogs to become wary of food. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. If leaving is the trigger and the food toy is the reward, the food becomes the predictor of the trigger.

Food is such a powerful resource for most other behaviour modification, but I hope I have explained here why it isn't the right choice for dogs suffering with separation anxiety.

Written by Nicola Cook (VSPDT, CSAT)