I have had very little to do with this breed of dog in all my years of experience so when I got a call from a pensioner whose dog was really stressing when she was out of the house and was making so much noise the neighbours had started to complain and really get on to my client because the dog was so disruptive.

The breed is usually a very well balanced breed and this male was no exception. In the house, he has learnt to behave the way he has because of the interaction of his owner. You will have read this before on my blogs and this one is not about the dog, it is about the owner because, whilst it is important to discuss the dog, the characteristics of the dog and how they are behaving so you can recognise any similarities in your own dogs, it is just as important to recognise behavioural traits in yourself so you are able to truly understand how you have also shaped your own dogs behaviour.

I have also discussed in other blog posts how we as humans are programmed to be reactive and how we easily focus on correcting our dog's behaviour and how our dogs interpret that.

What I want to detail in this blog is just how corrective we can be as owners and how good, relaxed behaviour gets so easily ignored and when you have read this, you will have a greater understanding of how separation anxiety is caused.

When I arrived, the dog was in the kitchen and barked when I came in to the hallway and he was told to shut up. She let him into the hallway and he jumped up me and she told him to get down which he did. He then jumped up again and she told him to get down. As we walked into the lounge, he was getting in front of me and jumping up and she was telling him to get down.

When I sat down in the chair, he jumped on top of me and again was told to get off and get down by the owner. She sat down on her settee and the dog jumped on next to her and settled down and relaxed. She did nothing. Absolutely nothing. She asked me if I would like a cup of tea, I have never been known to refuse, so she got up and went into the kitchen. Immediately the dog got up and went with her so she asked him why he was following her. She made the tea, came back in, sat down on her settee and the dog jumped on next to her and settled down, relaxed and got nothing. When he wanted attention, he would roll on to her and she would fuss him. This would make him get off the settee and come over to me so she would tell him off and make him get back on the settee where he would again settle and relax and get nothing.

I hope by now you can see the pattern of behaviour emerging and how the dog has been taught he must be doing something to get his owners attention and not only he must be active but he was also feeling stressed and confused because being forced to be constantly active and stressed is not natural behaviour for dogs, they do not appreciate it because they would rather be relaxed and enjoying our company whilst chilling out.

When our dog associates being with us with being stressed and feel they have to be stressed in order to get their owners attention, their owner has to be close to them to give the constant attention the dog has become used to. So, when you leave the house, you are not close enough to the dog to give them the reward for being stressed so they get more stressed when you are out.

This is further reinforced when you come back. When you come back, the dog rushes up to you and you fuss the dog because you are glad you are home and happy to see your dog but you are really just rewarding the stress and telling your dog that being stressed whilst you are out is worthwhile because you give him a great big reward when you come home.

Wait until your dog has calmed down before you talk to him and make sure you only interact with him when he is calm and this behaviour can be easily reversed.

This article was written by Steven Havers, a professional dog behaviour expert who specialises in training dogs not accepted by mainstream training clubs, centres or trainers. You can visit his website at http://www.haversspecialiseddogtraining.co.uk for more articles and training information.