Managing Separation Anxiety While You Train: Covering Absences

Managing separation anxiety while you train comes down to one rule: outside your training sessions, your dog is never left alone for longer than it can currently cope with. Every absence over threshold rehearses the panic you are training away. This page covers the hours between sessions. For what separation anxiety is, see the main guide. For the training protocol itself, see the step-by-step plan.

Key Takeaways

• Outside training sessions, your dog should not be left alone for longer than its current threshold. The Merck Veterinary Manual says these dogs "should be left alone as rarely as possible."
• Every absence above threshold is a rehearsal of panic. Dogs Trust calls avoiding them "the only way to stop the problem getting worse."
• Most dogs with separation anxiety are fine as long as someone is with them, so cover does not have to be you (ASPCA). Options run from free (family, friends, a neighbor, a shared schedule) to paid (sitter, walker, daycare).
• Plan it as a week: list every absence, including the short errands, mark the ones over threshold, and give each one cover plus a plan B.
• Short time apart under threshold is still healthy. A 2014 review advises "moderation in the length of absences" (Sargisson 2014).

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What "management" means, and what it does not

Management means your dog is not left alone above its threshold at any time other than a training session. It does not treat the problem. It gives the training a chance to work. Your dog's threshold is the longest absence it currently handles calmly (here is what threshold means in practice). You may also see management called "suspending absences".

A VCA guide by veterinary behaviorist Ellen Lindell, DACVB, and Monique Feyrecilde, LVT, names it as one of the usual parts of treatment: "management (including no separations or alone time during the first several weeks of the treatment period)" (VCA).

Three things management is not:

1. Not a treatment on its own. Cover keeps things from getting worse but teaches your dog nothing. Without the protocol, the problem is still there the day the cover stops.
2. Not being together 24/7. A 2014 review notes that in one study "almost all dog owners" gave their dogs "constant companionship" as a way of "making up" for absences. It also cites Sherman and Mills: both long absences and long periods without being left were associated with separation-related problems. Its conclusion: "owners should aim for moderation in the length of absences from their dogs" (Sargisson, 2014). Short separations under threshold are part of the protocol.
3. Not forever. It lasts until your dog's threshold catches up with the absences your life actually needs.

Why one over-threshold absence matters

Training builds up one kind of experience: the door closed and nothing bad happened. An absence over threshold adds the opposite. Veterinary guidance treats that as a real setback.

The Merck Veterinary Manual chapter on canine behavior problems was written by veterinary behaviorist Stephanie Borns-Weil, DACVB, and reviewed in 2025. It is direct: "Dogs with separation anxiety should be left alone as rarely as possible to prevent further sensitization, which makes treatment more difficult" (Merck Veterinary Manual).

The ASPCA explains the mechanism behind it. During desensitization to any fear, "it is essential to ensure that your dog never experiences the full-blown version of whatever provokes his anxiety or fear." Hence its rule: "during treatment for separation anxiety, your dog cannot be left alone except during your desensitization sessions" (ASPCA).

Dogs Trust puts it plainly: "Avoid leaving your dog alone, or for longer than they can cope with. We know how difficult this can be to organise. Unfortunately, this is the only way to stop the problem getting worse." Asked whether you can still leave a dog with separation anxiety alone, it answers: "Ideally, no. Separation anxiety will get worse if you keep leaving your dog alone" (Dogs Trust).

Sargisson's review lists this as one of the method's costs. In its table of treatment options, the reasons against systematic desensitization are "Time-consuming for dog owner" and "Need to avoid long absences at the beginning of intervention" (Sargisson, 2014).

The author of that review co-wrote an eight-dog treatment study (Butler et al., 2011). The review reports that the problems of one dog in that study "may have been exacerbated when the dog was left for 8 hours alone in a bathroom that flooded with hot water" (Sargisson, 2014).

One case proves little. It still shows why "just this once" is risky thinking.

In a video study of 20 dogs with separation problems, Lund and Jørgensen tracked behavior from the moment the owner left. Half the dogs were awake and active in 50 to 70% of the five-minute intervals, 19 whined and 18 were destructive. The authors concluded that separation problems are caused by frustration related to dependency on the owner, not by disobedience or boredom (Lund and Jørgensen, 1999). Earlier studies reviewed in the same paper report that the behavior starts at or shortly after departure. So an absence over threshold stays risky however busy the dog is kept. This is also why cover matters so much for how long training takes.

Step one: audit your real week

Before you arrange anything, write down every absence in an ordinary week, including the five-minute ones people tend to forget:

• work and the commute
• school drop-offs
• the gym, classes, appointments, the store
• taking out the trash, getting the mail, a trip to the car
• walking another dog separately
• evenings out and weekend plans
• the things that come up without warning

Next to each one, note how long it lasts and whether you know about it in advance.

Then compare each duration with your dog's threshold. If you do not know the number yet, measure the threshold from a recording of an ordinary short absence. Short errands matter: the RSPCA notes that separation-related behavior shows "before or after the owner leaves, starting within a few to 30 minutes" (RSPCA). For a dog with a two-minute threshold, a trip to the corner store is an absence over threshold.

You end up with three lists:

There is no "normal" threshold. Use your own dog's number and update the lists as it grows.

Every way to cover an absence

Cover does not have to be you. The ASPCA says: "Most dogs suffering from separation anxiety are fine as long as someone is with them. That someone doesn't necessarily need to be you" (ASPCA). Note the word "most". If your dog does not settle with other people, only the options where you stay nearby will work: taking the dog along, working from home, or taking leave.

Cost below is relative, because prices vary too much by city and country. For actual numbers, see what the full project costs.

The sources behind the table:

• ASPCA: take your dog to work, have "a family member, friend or dog sitter to come to your home and stay with your dog", or take your dog "to a sitter's house or to a doggy daycare" (ASPCA).
• VCA (Debra Horwitz and Gary Landsberg, both DACVB): "it may be best to hire a dog sitter, take your dog to work, find a friend to care for your dog for the day, board her for the day, or arrange to take some time off from work during retraining" (VCA).
• Merck Veterinary Manual: "for dog owners who cannot bring their dogs to work, day care or dog sitters can be beneficial."
• RSPCA: "using a dog sitter or dog walking service means that someone can keep your dog company" (RSPCA).

On new places, Dogs Trust warns that a dog may be "very settled and able to be left at home, but not at family or friends' houses, or when away on holiday". The reason: it "might not have learnt it's ok to be alone in these strange new places." So cover at someone else's house means that person stays in the room with your dog.

On daycare, we found no research on dogs with separation anxiety specifically. So judge it on your own dog: how it behaves around other dogs, and how it settles in a new place.

Leaving a dog in the car appears in some lists, including the ASPCA's. We leave it out, because the ASPCA also warns that "dogs can suffer from heatstroke and die if left in cars in warm weather", which it defines as 70 degrees Fahrenheit and up, even for a few minutes.

None of this is spoiling your dog. The VCA guide by Lindell and Feyrecilde lists these arrangements as "emergency options" while you wait for a behavior appointment (VCA).

What counts as "not alone"

"Not alone" means a calm, awake person in the same home whom your dog accepts as company. Some things only look like company.

Dogs Trust lists three risks of getting a second dog for company (Dogs Trust):

• if the dogs do not get on, "the situation could get far worse"
• your first dog may teach the new one the same behaviors
• "both dogs could end up with a fear of being separated from each other"

On cameras, the camera guide explains why two-way audio backfires in the early weeks. If you are not sure whether a situation counts, film it.

Plan the week

For every over-threshold absence in your audit, assign one main cover option and one plan B.

That is one owner's week on paper, for a dog with a threshold of a few minutes and an owner in the office on Tuesday and Thursday. It is an illustration, not a schedule to copy. Every block over threshold has a name next to it, and the office days also have a plan B. Under-threshold errands, such as taking out the trash, need no cover and are not shown.

Build the plan in this order:

1. Big predictable blocks first. Work and the commute take the most hours and are the easiest to book: two office days might mean a sitter on one and daycare on the other.
2. Regular small ones next. The gym, school drop-offs, the weekly grocery run: a partner, a neighbor or bringing the dog along usually works.
3. Free options before paid ones. Pay only for what family, friends and shared schedules cannot fill.
4. A plan B for every slot someone else fills.

With a hybrid schedule, home days carry the training sessions and office days are covered. Heading back to the office on a fixed date? You need a countdown to an office start date as well.

A handover note for whoever covers

Keep the instructions for your sitter or friend to five points or fewer. The five-point limit comes from research on owners' instructions: in a study of 52 dogs with separation anxiety, dogs whose owners were given more than five instructions were significantly less likely to improve (Takeuchi, Houpt and Scarlett, 2000). Sargisson's review concludes that advice "should be clear, simple, and contain five or fewer instructions to improve adherence." A template:

1. Do not leave the dog alone, not even for a minute. Take it with you or wait.
2. Keep hellos and goodbyes calm. The ASPCA advises that "all greetings (hellos and goodbyes) should be conducted in a very calm manner."
3. Never tell the dog off for anything it did while anxious.
4. Food, water, walk times and where the leash is.
5. Who to call if something goes wrong.

Cover can be a large part of the budget, and the cost guide shows how to price the whole project, cover included. Lopaw is an app for the training side: it logs each session and tracks your dog's threshold, so you know which absences in your week need cover. The cover itself is yours to plan.

When cover falls through

When the main option drops out, work down your list: the second person, taking the dog with you, or cutting the absence short. You can often shorten a trip you cannot skip.

If there is truly no way around it, Dogs Trust's advice for when you "do need to leave your dog at home" includes:

• a walk and a chance to go to the toilet beforehand
• a comfy, safe space where your dog normally chooses to rest
• access to drinking water
• moving anything harmful or precious out of the way
• leaving an item that smells of you, or putting the radio or TV on

It ends with "Get home as soon as you can" (Dogs Trust). The checklist eases a necessary absence, which still counts as one over threshold.

Film the absence: the footage shows how it went and where your dog is now.

When you get home, do not show anger at whatever you find. The RSPCA explains that your dog will not connect your anger with what happened earlier, even at the "scene of the crime". In its words: "Your dog will simply become more anxious the next time you go out" (RSPCA).

For the next few sessions, work at a duration your dog managed comfortably before. Step back rather than start over. One slip is not a failure. If slips keep happening, rebuild the week's cover before you question the training.

Situations that break the plan

Some situations need their own plan. In brief:

A newly adopted dog. When a new dog will have to be left for long periods as soon as it arrives, the RSPCA suggests you "arrange for friends or family to help out for a short while" (RSPCA). See a newly adopted dog's first week.

A puppy. The rule is the same. Even for dogs without a problem, the RSPCA's general guideline is no more than four hours alone, "for puppies much less" (RSPCA), so puppies need much shorter absences.

Apartments and neighbors. The RSPCA notes that you may be unaware of a problem until you find damage or "receive complaints from your neighbours about your dog's barking" (RSPCA). See living with separation anxiety in an apartment.

Travel and boarding. Dogs Trust notes that a dog settled at home may not cope "when away on holiday." Plan cover for the trip as carefully as for a work week.

When management alone is not enough

When you cannot cover the absences, or your dog struggles even with cover in place, bring in your vet and a qualified behavior professional.

Dogs Trust says that in most cases the training program should resolve the problem. Where medication is considered, it "is a decision that should be made between your vet and a clinical or Veterinary Animal Behaviourist" (Dogs Trust). Ask your vet whether medication has a place in your dog's plan.

In the UK, Dogs Trust's behavior team offers free advice on 0303 003 6666. In the US, the ASPCA recommends a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB or ACAAB) or a board-certified veterinary behaviorist (Dip ACVB) (ASPCA). If your dog injures itself, refuses food for a day or more, or escapes, do not wait for the plan to work: get professional help.

FAQ

Can I leave my dog alone at all while training separation anxiety? Yes, in training sessions and for absences shorter than its current threshold. The Merck Veterinary Manual's wording is "as rarely as possible", which still leaves room for short, planned time apart.

What if I have to leave my dog longer than it can cope with? Use plan B first. If there is none, follow the Dogs Trust checklist above, keep it short, film it, and step back in the next sessions. The timeline guide explains how to handle a regression.

Is daycare good for a dog with separation anxiety? It can cover the hours for dogs that enjoy other dogs. The Merck Veterinary Manual and the ASPCA both list it, but it does not suit dogs that find other dogs stressful, and we found no studies on it for dogs with separation anxiety specifically.

How long do I have to keep managing absences? Until your dog's threshold covers the absences you actually need. There is no fixed number of weeks. The timeline guide covers what decides how long it takes.

Does a second dog or a camera count as company? No. Dogs Trust says canine company "won't solve the separation anxiety", and a camera only shows you what happened.

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