Breed least prone to separation anxiety.

[Verysad1978]

Anyone can help with this one?

Don’t get a Whippet or a German Shepherd.

Working in the industry Spaniels and Terriers always seemed very self contained but I haven’t owned either.

I've owned a few terriers, some from puppies, some rescues and haven't had separation issues as long as they had enough exercise but once had a show Cocker Spaniel who couldn't be left at all. Maybe I was just unlucky but it was a nightmare!
I'm not sure it's always the breed. A friend brought a King Charles spaniel who hates being left whilst his litter mate (owned by another family) is fine.

We had a King Charles spaniel who was fine to be left, and currently pugs who absolutely cannot and cry if we goto the loo alone never mind leave the house.

No breed would be immune to this.

Currently fostering a greyhound x saluki rescue and she’s the worst I’ve ever experienced bless her in years , other foster greyhounds have been completely ok.
i have terrier x boys , they are pretty clingy to me
the one dog growing up we had who never showed any traits of it was our Labrador

Just because a dog doesn’t mind being left, doesn’t mean you could leave them alone for hours and hours every day (which I presume is why you’re asking?)

I agree, it’s not breed specific it’s character & personality of the dog. But as a rule, dogs need company.

I have a springer who has always been ok with being left alone. Now he’s older even so much so. As soon as he realised we are about to go out he runs to his bed for a long nap. I think we are keeping him awake 😂

If you’re going to be out of the house most of the day a dog isn’t a good idea. Or you need to fork out for doggy day care.

All dogs are individuals and may not follow the breed ‘template’ in which there is scope for large behavioural variation.

That said, your best bet is with breeds whose job involves working independently of their handler. Eg working terriers whose job of pest control involves get being released to get on with it without too much instruction or correction from humans. Compare with something like a gun dog or herder who must work under close instruction and so have a bond more sensitised to correction from afar - a lower tolerance to disapproval from a distance often means greater emotional sensitivity and a greater reliance on the human bond. Also dogs bred as companions are also bred for close ties to humans to the point where it can be distressing to be apart (often the flat nosed breeds).

I work with dogs and have met dogs of every breed imaginable with separation anxiety. I’ve also met dogs of every breed imaginable that don’t give a toss about being left alone. Many of those dogs exist within the same home and were raised in exactly the same way.

Some hate being alone but are fine with another dog. Some don’t care about other dogs and just want a person. Some don’t mind being left by person A but howl miserably if left by person B.

It’s a lottery.

My dog has been left since being a puppy , not all day every day. And is fine. When I was growing up doggy daycare wasn't a thing, dogs fitted around the family. I think people are too soppy with them, treat them like babies and then of course they object to being left.

Yawn.

Yes, some people coddle their dogs but if a dog has separation then no amount of “just leaving them” will solve the problem.

@tripleginandtonic gently though (and this will appear rude no matter how it’s phrased) presumably you grew up (I.e were a child) 20/30 years ago minimum? Dogs have changed a lot since then - more and more are bred from lines that want to be with their humans as opposed to be independent.

So talking what happened 20/30 years ago is sort of like saying an orange is a blood orange. It is. But it’s also completely different

Terriers seem quite aloof , my friend has 2 border terriers and they seem quite resilient. My spaniel likes to be with us but is fine when we are not.

Oh I dunno the dog we had growing up used to howl and bark all day until people came home, the neighbours complained countless times, my parents gave the dog away.

Whereas I know two terriers who hate being left alone to the point of howling constantly and peeing on things.

I do think some breeds are maybe less prone to anxiety but there’s no guarantee no matter what you do. Our beagle hates being left and my God I wish it was different as it makes things very stressful sometimes!

You are probably right it's probably down to the individual dog temperament,which isn't breed specific.

Mine is a rescue live stock guardian breed
he has many issues but separation anxiety isn’t one of them. He does not give a stuff about being left as he likes guarding the house. In his eyes he is doing his job.
We have a camera and when we leave we can see that he behaves exactly like he does when we’re at home. He sleeps downstairs and prefers that. He often chooses to be in a different room to us!

The flip side of that is that he is not really a cuddly dog, He gets excited when we come home and he likes a scooch and some belly rubs but he won’t curl up with you on the sofa. I think you can’t have a cuddly Velcro dog and expect it to be happy to be left.

He’s quite a niche kind of dog and I would not wholly recommend as a 1st time dog (we did not know what we were getting ourselves into although would never give him up now). He is reactive to cats and motorbikes and very territorial but he certainly has no separation anxiety. Livestock guarding is a solitary pursuit and he’s bred to ‘operate independently’ This does not make him very trainable either.

I read several books about separation anxiety before getting a puppy. All suggested making sure the puppy only ever slept in one spot (I used a bed in the kitchen). If the puppy fell asleep elsewhere I would move her to her bed. She started to naturally go to her bed when tired at a very young age. You can also use training to desensitise them from you leaving (eg repeatedly picking up keys, putting coat on etc) and then not going out, giving them treats when they're calm and settled on their bed, ignoring them for a least five minutes when you return to the room or the house.

I was really really strict about putting this training in place when my dog was a puppy as I wanted to give her the best chances of being happy to be left. I'm aware it's a lottery but there are definitely things you can do that will make it more or less likely to be an issue.

My dog is very rarely left for longer than four hours but I know she is absolutely fine with being left, she just goes to bed. I always make sure she's had a decent sniffy walk before being left for longer than usual. No issues at all. She's a working cocker and is now four years old.

We have a border collie, not a breed renowned for their chilled out nature 🤣 however she doesn’t mind being left and is quite happy. She’s shut into the back of the house so can’t bark at people from the front room as she is quite reactive.

I'd give any kind of oodle a miss especially if crossed with a show cocker spaniel. Labs generally grow up to be quite chilled and don't mind being left and I've read adult greyhounds are generally quite chilled about being left too.

I have a highly strung mini Poodle who hates loud noises, needs constant cuddles and affection and absolutely couldn't give a shit when we go out. No idea how we've managed it - our previous dog had dreadful SA. I agree with PP that it's not breed specific, it must be their nature and probably getting them used to it young.

I think it’s more about early exposure and training, plus a big dollop of individual personality. Certain breeds are prone to separation anxiety (don’t get a Havanese!), but it doesn’t quite follow that others won’t have it.

We have a terrier. We work from home and don’t ever leave him all day. But he is used to us popping out every day, so it is routine and he’s totally chilled if we need to go out for three hours. Whereas my mum has a terrier with awful separation anxiety, howls the place down within minutes. Which I think is largely because they didn’t ever leave her alone in the first six months.

I think we had a good start in getting him from a breeder who was loving but not overly coddling. Puppies were used to being in a crate with life happening around them for some of the day. Then we crate trained and left him alone from day 1 - just 10 mins to start with, but built up quite quickly when he was content with that.

No breeds are more prone than others apart from hounds as they are used to living in packs.

Last dog rescue terrier hound with multiple issues. No issues. No work needed to build her to regular absences.

Current dog working terrier wonderfully bred from very stable lines. It’s taken a long time to get her comfortable alone for any length of time.

I’ve known many dogs being a trainer and it is a bit of a lottery. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. It is trainable but it’s quite tricky, We’re getting there now but it’s taken a lot of training.

Seaparation anxiety is caused by being left for longer than they can cope with too soon. So it’s not about how young you leave them or how often. It is about monitoring and keeping under threshold so they learn they’re fine and they come back. That is variable between individuals. My neighbour got a puppy when we did anf left him 8 hours a day because he had to get used to it. He’s now not a functional dog. He’s a mess. So leaving them young doesn’t follow necessarily. We did lots of building confidence alone games with ours and have still had to work hard.