A dog owner has shared what happened the first time she left her dog for a vacation, and the things she would do differently next time.
Jenny, 42, from Davao City in the Philippines, had been planning a five-day trip with her husband, their first in five years.
To ease the separation, she made sure Chief, her 3-year-old Golden Retriever, stayed home in a familiar environment surrounded by family and their other dogs.
“We thought leaving him with family would be fine,” Jenny, who didn’t give a surname, told Newsweek. “My son, brother, and sister-in-law were here—we all live in the same compound. We also thought that since he had his pack, Scout, our 11-month-old Shih Tzu, and Bruce, our 11-year-old senior mixed dog, he’d be okay. We left some sweaty clothes so he’d have our scent, scheduled video calls… We really thought he’d be fine.”
But just two days into their trip, Chief began vomiting repeatedly. After the seventh episode, Jenny’s brother-in-law rushed him to the only 24-hour vet clinic available in the area. The vets initially suspected he had ingested a foreign object and began discussing potential surgery.
Jenny recalled her concern and instinct that something wasn’t right. She pushed to pause surgery and instead take Chief to his regular vet for a check up.
The diagnosis from Chief’s regular vet came as a shock: stress-induced gastroenteritis, likely triggered by separation anxiety.
“After a battery of tests and meds, the standing diagnosis was gastroenteritis due to separation anxiety. I was so relieved that surgery was off the table. I knew chicken would coax him back to health, and true enough, he started eating once they gave him roasted chicken,” Jenny said.
What is Dog Separation Anxiety?
Separation anxiety is a behavioral disorder where dogs experience significant distress when separated from their owner.
Symptoms include excessive barking, whining, howling, destruction, house soiling and signs of psychological distress like panting, salivating and vomiting.
While the causes of separation anxiety in dogs aren’t always clear, there are factors believed to contribute. These include genetic and biological predispositions, environmental or life changes and hyper-attachment to the owner.
There are ways to help prevent and deal with separation anxiety in dogs. Experts advise:
- Don’t make a big deal about leaving.
- Don’t make a big deal about returning home.
- Give the dog breaks throughout the day so it’s away from you.
- Teach the dog the art of doing nothing and how to self-soothe.
- Spend quality time together, along with the breaks.
Thankfully, after being diagnosed and helped to settle down, Chief started feeling better, and the couple were able to start to enjoy their vacation 72 hours after it started.
Looking back, Jenny recalled advice from a trainer that Chief might be overly attached to them. “One of his trainers once told us that Chief was ‘extra’ when we were around—that he might be too attached. He even suggested trying a day without us, just to help him adjust. But we never had the heart to leave him with strangers,” she said.
The incident cost the family around ₱28,000 ($489) in vet bills and travel to and from the hospital. But Jenny said that that the emotional toll, and the helplessness of not being there for Chief, was far worse.
She shared their ordeal on Reddit, where she wanted to warn other pet owners about separation anxiety in pets. “He wasn’t just missing us—his body literally couldn’t handle the stress,” Jenny wrote in the post, which amassed hundreds of upvotes since being shared last month. “If you’re planning to leave your pet for the first time, especially if you’re their whole world, please consider emotional prep as part of your planning.”
“I wanted to share our story because so many people love their pets deeply, and if our experience can help even one or two people avoid the stress, the panic, the expense, then that’s enough,” she said.
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