A student emailed me recently saying that she and some colleagues were wondering how to help their dogs cope with home-alone time on holiday. Great question!

To avoid my answer being too long, I’m going to divide my answer into three parts:

• this first blog will be about dogs with SA,
• my second blog will be about using the Promise wherever you are,
• and my third blog will be about dogs who don’t necessarily have SA at home, but may still struggle when suddenly in a new environment.

Dogs with Separation Anxiety on Holiday

If a dog has separation anxiety / isolation distress, is fearful of being left alone, and their caregiver is carrying out a process of desensitisation training, then the dog will not yet be in a position to generalise to another place until they have built up considerable duration at home. And even then, you have to start with small steps. So those dogs can’t be left alone on holiday and that has to be planned in.

My advice to people on vacation with SA dogs is not to invest time and effort training in holiday accommodation where you may only be for a week or two at the most. SA is very context-specific.

Instead, I recommend giving everyone time off from the training. Just enjoy the quality time. A lot of relaxation and gently investigating the new environment together, wherever appropriate for the dog. It’s great bonding and enrichment and that is so valuable in itself.

Often the dogs even benefit from the pause. When you get home, you’ll usually find your dog is happy to be back doing those familiar rituals they recognise and feel safe with.

It’s different if you spend time at this holiday place regularly and often, for example if you own a second home where you spend weekends and all holidays.

Then you can indeed build up the desensitisation plan there too (always under the guidance of an SA professional specialist of course.) I have had clients who have successfully trained at their city apartment and their country place. Naturally, the dog knows both places very well.

Detail from a painting by Lucian Freud.

I will share more tips for holiday time with your SA dog in my next blog posts! 

Stay tuned!