Why Your Dog Follows You to the Door During Separation Anxiety Training (And how to stop them)
The door seems like the logical place to begin your separation anxiety training, but for many dogs the panic begins long before you reach it.
In reality, if your dog is still following you to the door every time you try to leave, they are not ready for you to approach the door, never mind step outside.
Why Your Dog Follows You to the Door
Dogs with separation anxiety are incredibly sensitive to the tiny actions that suggest you might leave. These cues begin far earlier than most people realise.
Something as small as you:
standing up
shifting your weight
picking up your keys
can trigger worry.
By the time you actually reach the door, your dog is already overwhelmed.
The Problem Is Not the Door. It Is Everything Before It.
Most owners unintentionally focus on the wrong part of the training. They practise walking all the way to the door, touching the handle or stepping outside.
But if the early movements still feel scary for your dog, the door will always be too big a jump.
Think of it like learning to swim.
You would not start in the deep end. You begin by dipping your toes in, getting used to the water, and building confidence slowly. If those early moments feel frightening, the deep end will never feel safe.
It is the same for your dog.
They continue following, pacing or panicking because they have never been taught to feel relaxed with the smaller pieces of the leaving process.
The Importance of Breaking the Process Down
Successful separation anxiety training relies on desensitisation, which means gradually exposing your dog to very small versions of the thing that worries them, at a level they can stay calm with, until those triggers no longer feel scary.
These steps are often much smaller than owners expect. For example:
Standing up without your dog reacting
Taking one or two steps away while your dog stays relaxed
Walking across the room without your dog jumping up to follow
Touching the door without causing worry
Opening and closing the door while your dog remains settled
These moments may seem tiny to us, but to a dog with separation anxiety they are major emotional cues.
When we ignore them, progress stalls.
When we focus on them, everything changes.
You repeat each action until your dog no longer reacts, then progress to the next one.
Why This Approach Works
Once those early steps feel easy, your dog can finally stay settled when you reach the door, and eventually when you step outside.
This is the foundation of separation anxiety recovery.
It is far easier for your dog to remain relaxed while you are away if they have remained relaxed as you leave.
You Do Not Have to Figure This Out Alone
Breaking down the steps sounds simple in theory, but in practice it can feel confusing.
How small should each step be?
How long should you repeat it?
How do you know when your dog is ready to move on?
What do you do if your dog panics unexpectedly?
This is exactly where expert guidance makes the biggest difference.
When we train together, I create a tailored plan for your dog that breaks down each stage into clear, achievable steps. You will always know what to do next, how long to stay there, and how to adjust based on your dog’s behaviour.
Your confidence grows at the same time theirs does.
If you are ready to help your dog feel safe, supported and truly able to cope with you leaving them alone, I would love to help you.
Train with me, and let us build your dog’s confidence, step by step.
