Understanding Mastiff Behavior Upon Owner's Return: Anxiety, Excitement, and Solutions

The return of an owner is a significant event for a mastiff, often triggering a range of behaviors. These can stem from joy and excitement to anxiety and stress, especially if the dog has separation anxiety. Understanding these behaviors is crucial for mastiff owners to ensure their pet's well-being and prevent potential problems.

Why Mastiffs React So Strongly to Owner's Return

Dogs, in general, form strong attachments to their guardians. For mastiffs, this bond can be particularly intense. When an owner is absent, the dog may experience varying degrees of distress. Upon the owner's return, this pent-up emotion is released, leading to noticeable behavioral changes.

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety is a common issue in dogs, particularly those adopted from shelters or those who have experienced a change in their living situation. Factors that can precipitate separation anxiety include changes in the family’s schedule, moving to a new house, the death or loss of another family pet, or a period at a boarding kennel. When the guardian returns home, the dog acts as though it’s been years since he’s seen his mom or dad!

Separation anxiety is triggered when dogs become upset because of separation from their guardians, the people they’re attached to. Escape attempts by dogs with separation anxiety are often extreme and can result in self-injury and household destruction, especially around exit points like windows and doors. Some dogs suffering from separation anxiety become agitated when their guardians prepare to leave. Others seem anxious or depressed prior to their guardians’ departure or when their guardians aren’t present. Some try to prevent their guardians from leaving. Usually, right after a guardian leaves a dog with separation anxiety, the dog will begin barking and displaying other distress behaviors within a short time after being left alone-often within minutes.

Excitement and Joy

Many mastiffs simply miss their owners and are overjoyed upon their return. This excitement manifests as tail-wagging, jumping, licking, and vocalizations. While these behaviors are generally harmless, they can become problematic if the dog is overly exuberant or destructive.

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Common Behaviors Exhibited by Mastiffs

The specific behaviors a mastiff exhibits upon an owner's return can vary depending on the dog's personality, age, and experiences. Some common behaviors include:

Excessive Greeting

When the guardian returns home, the dog acts as though it’s been years since he’s seen his mom or dad!

Destructive Behavior

One of the most common complaints of pet parents is that their dogs are disruptive or destructive when left alone. Their dogs might urinate, defecate, bark, howl, chew, dig or try to escape. However, these normal behaviors can result in destruction of household property, which can become a serious and frustrating problem for owners. In fact, destructive behavior is one of the most commonly reported behavior problems in dogs.

When teething, puppies’ gums may be painful. Chewing appears to help relieve the discomfort of teething. Dogs may inadvertently damage items in their environment when they are exploring or investigating. Dogs investigate objects by pawing at them and exploring them with their mouths. Many dogs, especially retrievers and young animals, also like to fetch and carry objects.

Vocalization

A dog who has separation anxiety might bark or howl when left alone or when separated from his guardian. This kind of barking or howling is persistent and doesn’t seem to be triggered by anything except being left alone.

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Elimination

Some dogs urinate or defecate when left alone or separated from their guardians. If a dog urinates or defecates in the presence of his guardian, his house soiling probably isn’t caused by separation anxiety.

Pacing

Some dogs walk or trot along a specific path in a fixed pattern when left alone or separated from their guardians. Some pacing dogs move around in circular patterns, while others walk back and forth in straight lines. If a dog’s pacing behavior is caused by separation anxiety, it usually doesn’t occur when his guardian is present.

Coprophagia

When left alone or separated from their guardians, some dogs defecate and then consume all or some of their excrement. If a dog eats excrement because of separation anxiety, he probably doesn’t perform that behavior in the presence of his guardian.

Addressing Problematic Behaviors

It’s natural for dogs to exhibit changes in behavior after their owner's absence. Their change in behavior may be due to anxiety or uncertainty caused by the change in their environment while you were away.

Identifying the Cause

As you can see from this discussion, destructive behavior has many potential causes, and it should be clear why the cause of the behavior must be determined if the problem is to be dealt with effectively. Because destructive behavior is so common it is reasonable to conclude that all dog owners should be prepared to lose something of value due to their dog’s destructive behavior! This is part of the experience of owning a dog!

The majority of destructive behavior is caused by boredom and excess energy in adult dogs. Another cause of destructive behavior can be anxiety. A challenge of adopting an adult dog is that you don’t often don’t have that history.

Consider setting up a camera in the room that the dog is in to determine possible causes by seeing when the behavior occurs. Is the dog destructive only when you are absent? How long does it take the behavior to begin? Dogs that have generalized anxiety often use chewing as a way to self-soothe themselves. Does the dog display anxious behavior when you are present? This may include pacing, whining, barking, shaking, and drooling, among other behaviors.

Counterconditioning

If your dog has a mild case of separation anxiety, counterconditioning might reduce or resolve the problem. Counterconditioning is a treatment process that changes an animal’s fearful, anxious or aggressive reaction to a pleasant, relaxed one instead. It’s done by associating the sight or presence of a feared or disliked person, animal, place, object or situation with something really good, something the dog loves. Over time, the dog learns that whatever he fears actually predicts good things for him.

For dogs with separation anxiety, counterconditioning focuses on developing an association between being alone and good things, like delicious food. To develop this kind of association, every time you leave the house, you can offer your dog a puzzle toy stuffed with food that will take him at least 20 to 30 minutes to finish. For example, try giving your dog a KONG® stuffed with something really tasty, like low-fat cream cheese, spray cheese or low-fat peanut butter, frozen banana and cottage cheese, or canned dog food and kibble. A KONG can even be frozen so that getting all the food out takes even more of your dog’s time. Be sure to remove these special toys as soon as you return home so that your dog only has access to them and the high-value foods inside when he’s by himself. You can feed your dog all of his daily meals in special toys. For example, you can give your dog a KONG or two stuffed with his breakfast and some tasty treats every morning before going to work. Keep in mind, though, that this approach will only work for mild cases of separation anxiety because highly anxious dogs usually won’t eat when their guardians aren’t home.

Desensitization

Moderate or severe cases of separation anxiety require a more complex desensitization and counterconditioning program. In these cases, it’s crucial to gradually accustom a dog to being alone by starting with many short separations that do not produce anxiety and then gradually increasing the duration of the separations over many weeks of daily sessions.

Predeparture Cues

One treatment approach to this “predeparture anxiety” is to teach your dog that when you pick up your keys or put on your coat, it doesn’t always mean that you’re leaving. You can do this by exposing your dog to these cues in various orders several times a day-without leaving. For example, put on your boots and coat, and then just watch TV instead of leaving. Or pick up your keys, and then sit down at the kitchen table for awhile. This will reduce your dog’s anxiety because these cues won’t always lead to your departure, and so your dog won’t get so anxious when he sees them.

Graduated Departures/Absences

The main rule is to plan your absences to be shorter than the time it takes for your dog to become upset. To get started, train your dog to perform out-of-sight stays by an inside door in the home, such as the bathroom. You can teach your dog to sit or down and stay while you go to the other side of the bathroom door. Gradually increase the length of time you wait on the other side of the door, out of your dog’s sight. You can also work on getting your dog used to predeparture cues as you practice the stay. For example, ask your dog to stay. Then put on your coat, pick up your purse and go into the bathroom while your dog continues to stay.

Exercise and Mental Stimulation

Dogs that don’t receive enough exercise and mental stimulation may demonstrate destructive behaviors. Stress and excess energy levels can lead to destructive behavior. Exercise reduces both of these. A walk around the block is not going to be sufficient exercise for young dogs. Add in structured exercise a few times a day to burn off some energy. Teach your dog to fetch or play tug-of-war with rules. Hire a dog walker to come midday and give your dog a nice long walk. If you have private land with some space, walk your dog on a long line until they can be trusted off leash. Mental energy is important too.

Food-dispensing toys as the primary means of feeding is one of the easiest ways to burn mental energy in a dog. The Kong Wobbler, Buster Cube and Roll-A-Treat ball are great ways to occupy your dog’s mind. You may want to leave food toys hidden around the house to occupy your dog. Training is also a great way to burn mental energy.

Management

When you are not home, crate the dog or keep him in a small dog-proof room. When you are home, the dog should always be under direct supervision which means someone should always be able to see them. Baby gates, freestanding dog pens, and training tethers may be used to keep the dog confined to the area.

Positive Interrupter

Teach your dog a positive interrupter cue to interrupt inappropriate chewing and redirect to an appropriate toy. I like to use uh-oh as an interrupter as it is pretty hard to say that angrily. Keep a large supply of appropriate chew toys on hand. In general, appropriate inedible chew toys are made of hard rubber. Edible chew toys include bully sticks, Himalayan yak sticks, and rawhide-free chews. You can fill Kongs and sterilized bones with food and freeze them for a long-lasting chew. These also provide an opportunity for the dog to lick, which is soothing. If you can consistently provide your pup with a supply of desirable chew toys, he will develop a preference for chewing on these toys. Supervise your dog with any new toys.

Medical Considerations

Upper gastrointestinal irritation, dental or gum pain may cause destructive chewing in adult dogs. Some diseases may cause excessive hunger (polyphagia), or eating non-food items (pica). Some dogs become anxious, and therefore destructive, when confined in small areas such as crates (flight kennels) or small rooms (bathroom, laundry room).

Some dogs’ house soiling is caused by incontinence, a medical condition in which a dog “leaks” or voids his bladder. Dogs with incontinence problems often seem unaware that they’ve soiled. Sometimes they void urine while asleep. A number of medical issues-including a urinary tract infection, a weak sphincter caused by old age, hormone-related problems after spay surgery, bladder stones, diabetes, kidney disease, Cushing’s disease, neurological problems and abnormalities of the genitalia-can cause urinary incontinence in dogs. Before attempting behavior modification for separation anxiety, please see your dog’s veterinarian to rule out medical issues.

There are a number of medications that can cause frequent urination and house soiling. If your dog takes any medications, please contact his veterinarian to find out whether or not they might contribute to his house-soiling problems.

When to Seek Professional Help

For moderate to severe separation anxiety or persistent behavioral issues, consulting a professional dog trainer or veterinary behaviorist is recommended. These experts can provide tailored guidance and support to address the specific needs of your mastiff.

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