Dog Training in London: Consultation on separation anxiety
February 8, 2013 
24 Comments
www.dogtraininginlondon.co.uk Dog training and consultations in London. London dog listener Nigel Reed attending a consultation with a family who own a dog with separation anxiety. Dog training in London uses Amichien bonding techniques to communicate to the canine using wolf pack psychology. Available to watch in HD
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Thank you for making this video… my pit bull suffers from separation anxiety and she has damaged the house pretty bad. My biggest concerns are taking her somewhere else and having to leave her there for a couple hours…it makes me terrified! I will definitely try out your techniques. Thank you for the different perspective; it totally makes sense!
Pleased to hear it Peter
I followed your instructions on your video how to train your dog to heel. At first it was horrible! I’d literally turn around step after step after step. But it was worth it! They walk amazingly now on small streets, parks not so great yet.
One of my dogs has really bad separation anxiety and I’ll let you know how this works out. Thanks for the video!
My aunt had a dog with severe separation anxiety and who would follow her everywhere. I thought that it was because he felt lost without her because she was his master. Wow, this video shows that it might have been because he was actually the “leader”, and was worried each time she left that something happened to her.
Oh, thank you! All the best, Kaća and Bolt.
I haven’t made a video on the problem you mention yet but will soon. It will take too long for me to explain it and without being there I could not give you the whole picture. However the book the dog listener by Jan Fennell will help. Happy new year!
I have a dog, he has 16 months. He is pretty good in walk, until he sees another dog. And than he starts to pull to the dog. Sometimes he barks, jumps… I can’t control him. He doesn’t notice the food, toys… I watched your videos, but i still don’t know what to do. My dog doesn’t want to bite or attack another dog, but i can’t tolerate that behavior. He is very strong… My dog Bolt was once bitten by a dog, and after that, his behavior worsened. What should I do? Greetings from Serbia
see if they are okay because needs affect behaviour. Conditioning may help this to but it is a form of reductionism. This is the last thing I have to say on it as want to help many dogs and debating with you won’t help that cause. Good luck in what you do but I would recommend that the study of nature leaves all trails of evidence of what is happening and the reasons behind it. Careful looking with the study of them in their natural environment provides great foundations to learning.
The same as a wolf / dingo parent and what we believe is the same as a dog who has been communicated that they are in charge. Agreed dogs learn through operant conditioning as well as accumulative experience but we believe there is more to psychology from their ancestors and what dingos have gone back to doing than just pavlonian conditioning. We may have taken this animal out of its environment but the needs are the same. The dog is trying to keep the pack safe that is why she follows them to
This has been an interesting debate but will have to leave it as we will not convince each other and I am not looking to either. I am writing a book at the mo and must concentrate on my goal and not get too distracted. Alpha is a word I do not use any more because of the negative connotation but a dog with an over developed sense of responsibility that is fearful of the owner leaving will try and stop that. A job of a human parent is to protect, find food and to nurture the young.
My dog doesn’t stay in a crate when I’m leaving the house either, but until you have full confidence in the ability to leave your dog without it, the crate is a good thing.
Dogs learn through operant conditioning. Before, when the owners have left the dog, it doesn’t know how to cope, tears up the house and barks and by doing so, in the dog’s mind, the owners come back…
But we’re off topic…
Explain to me what part of this dogs behaviour is alpha?
Perception is a funny thing, just so you know the dog in the video didn’t always have separation anxiety like many of the dogs I have helped and worked with it learnt to with the wrong communication being done by the owners . Rather than use distraction methods or physical objects like a cage we understood that all animals have an inbuilt psychology and if you learn what the animals nature is then you can learn how to work with it rather than against it e.g cages
Of course a dog does retain a need for safety.
You see a dog that is acting ‘alpha’. I see an insecure dog who has never been taught how to cope without her owner’s presence.
Crate training games and toys like Kongs will teach the dog that going into the crate is a good thing. Gradually building up the time the dog is in the crate too and having the dog in the crate, door open whilst the owners are in the room is also a good place to start.She just doesn’t know how to cope on her own.
If a leader is not doing it then the dog will have to. Then when they try to fulfil their own needs in a foreign world they come under trouble because they don’t know how. You should make a video with your theories , using the monkey and person analogy, as well as your misunderstanding of the captive wolf study plus your theory on why a domestic animal still does not retain a instinctual safety need like a wolf and Why. I would be interested to see that in detail!
Dogs have traits like wolves! I know this is what my video is about and what we are discussing. People like yourself opposed to the theory have selective views on exactly what traits they are and discount a huge chunk of it which will aid training. I rephrase, dogs and wolves have the same needs, a need to survive being a big one so it makes sense to form a pack. The environment has changed but their needs are the same, a need for food, safety and then you need a leader to accomplish that.
Yes, but originally it was captive wolves that were studied.
These studies originally came from a simulated environment, which is the wrong place, for a start.
Dogs have changed a lot from wolves and although there are definitely still traits dogs have inherited from their ancestors, the have also changed a great deal too. A wild group of wolves form a pack to enhance their chances of survival. Why would domesticated dogs do the same?
All animals have the same basic needs, that is a moot point.
I don’t think it is outdated, there are two schools of thought, don’t believe everything you read. I don’t believe in the bible even though I was told that was true. As Einstein said : The deeper you look into nature the more you will understand about everything. Environment affects behaviour hence the difference between a lion and a tiger, however do they have the same needs? Does a wolf have the same needs as a dog? The answer to all dog behaviour is in needs as that will dictate behaviour !
Oh I totally believe that there are certain behavioural traits in dogs that are hired-wired from wolves… That’s not the point I’m trying to make.
You’ve curved the subject.
I was talking purely about pack structure in domestic dogs and what you regard to be ‘alpha’ behaviour, again, in domestic dogs.
But that’s what makes this subject interesting, healthy debates…
PP.S If you believe that no human behaviour is comparable to apes and no wolf behaviour is comparable to dogs even though they a dog and a wolf can breed will limit you in your understanding. Yes language has been moulded to humans but are their needs the same?
Yes, a tiger and a lion can breed and produce fertile offspring too.
I didn’t say I don’t like the work you do. I was only commenting on the fact that the pack structure and alpha theories are outdated… Everything else was good.
I do not have your theory mixed up with Millan, I can tell the difference. Actually I originally thought you sounded a bit like a Millan fan when you started talking about pack structure and alpha.
Now you are clutching at straws. A dog and a wolf can breed together, produce fertile offspring, they can and do co-habit and communicate in the same language, they are a sub-species. A human and monkey are a different species. The language I use is a kind one and is NOT dominant. You have my theory mixed up with dominance/ Milan. P.S the video you liked on your page titled Almost home is a colleague of mine Sam which uses the same kind technique which gets results using a kind language!
So now you’re saying that the alpha wolf is not dominant?
Yes, YOU regard your dog as family and I have no doubt that your dog loves you, but I was talking about your theory of this particular dog being alpha within this family…
She is way too insecure to regard herself as alpha… You also compare what she is doing to what an alpha wolf does… They are a completely different species now.
When people study human psychology, they do not study apes to understand why humans act in certain ways.
Who said anything about dominance? I have read peoples ‘studies’ which argue domestic animals do not regard humans as part of the pack which baffles me as I regard my dog as part of my family and I believe she looks at me the same, someone has to make the decisions to fulfil needs and if I am not doing it then she will have to.that in a world she does not understand. As you can see the dog and human end up communicating so the dog does not worry.All theories are subjective and nothing is fact !
Pack theory and the dominance/alpha theory is so outdated.
Studies have shown that domestic and even feral dogs do not live or regard their human family and other animals of the same species as a ‘pack’.
The basis of this video is good, but there is no way that dog thinks it is alpha… If it did regard itself as alpha, it would try to take over the household completely.
The dog is insecure, that’s why it doesn’t like to be left alone… An insecure dog is in no way, shape or form, alpha.