Service
Separation Anxiety Training (Regional South Australia)
A dog that panics when you leave is not being naughty. It is genuinely afraid — and forcing through it makes it worse, every time.
In short
Separation anxiety is a panic disorder, not a behaviour problem. A truly anxious dog is in genuine distress when alone — heart racing, drooling, sometimes self-harming. The fix is desensitisation under calm leadership, not crate-and-cry, and not "let them get used to it."
Sound familiar?
- Destruction the moment you leave — doors, frames, carpets
- Howling, screaming or non-stop barking when alone
- Self-injury (chewing paws, scratched flank)
- Refuses to eat unless you're home
- Follows you from room to room, can't settle anywhere alone
- Toileting indoors only when you're out
Why this works where other methods do not
- Crate training a panicking dog (often catastrophic)
- "Let them cry it out" — escalates the panic
- Long-distance day-care or "tire them out" approaches
- Calming chews, ThunderShirts, lavender — managing symptoms, not cause
- Calm leadership lowers baseline arousal so the dog can learn
- Graduated desensitisation at thresholds your dog can succeed at
- Owner habits adjusted (dramatic exits/returns drive anxiety up)
- Vet partnership for severe cases — without prescribing ourselves
How it works
- 1
Free Behaviour Test
Confirm it's genuine separation anxiety, not boredom barking or under-exercised arousal — they look similar and need different fixes.
- 2
Video diagnostic
I'll ask you to record what your dog does when alone. Without this, we're guessing.
- 3
In-home or online consultation
Full assessment, leadership reset, desensitisation plan tailored to your dog's threshold.
- 4
Vet conversation if indicated
For severe cases, I'll talk to you about whether a behavioural medication conversation with your vet is worth having alongside training.
What changes
- Calm goodbyes — no whining, no panic
- A dog that settles when you leave the room
- Sustainable time alone, gradually extended
- A household that can leave for work, dinner, holidays
- A regulated nervous system in your dog — not just managed behaviour
Who this is for
- FIFO and shift-work households where routines shift suddenly
- Households that adopted during lockdowns and never re-introduced alone-time properly
- Rescue dogs with attachment trauma
- Owners returning to office work after years of remote
Real owners. Real change.
Owners who’ve worked with Pauline on separation anxiety
“[REAL TESTIMONIAL TO REPLACE] In one session Pauline changed our entire household. Our dog went from constant lunging to walking past the postie like he didn't exist. We'd tried three other trainers — none of them came close.”
“[REAL TESTIMONIAL TO REPLACE] After our rescue bit my husband, we thought we'd have to put him down. Pauline walked us through everything — calmly. Eighteen months on, he's a different dog and we still use her plan every day.”
“[REAL TESTIMONIAL TO REPLACE] We adopted a kelpie pup and within two weeks he was the boss of the house. Pauline turned that around in one in-home visit — and gave us the tools to keep it that way. Worth every cent.”
Where I work
Separation Anxiety across regional SA
Pauline travels in-home across these regions — and works online with owners anywhere in Australia.
Upper Spencer Gulf
Spanning Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla, the Upper Spencer Gulf is home to working families, working dogs, and the long open spaces that both help and hurt dog behaviour. I work in-home across the entire USG from my Crystal Brook base.
Dog training in USG
Eyre Peninsula
The Eyre Peninsula is vast — Port Lincoln is roughly 5 hours from Crystal Brook, Ceduna closer to 8. For most Eyre Peninsula families, I work via online coaching, with periodic in-person intensives when I travel through the region.
Dog training in EyreIron Triangle
The Iron Triangle — Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla — is one of the densest regional dog populations in South Australia. Heart of the Pack is based 25 minutes south of Port Pirie at Crystal Brook and travels in-home across all three towns.
Dog training in Iron TriangleMid North
The Mid North is home base. Crystal Brook sits squarely in the middle of it, and most of my in-home consults happen within an hour's drive from my front door — Jamestown, Peterborough, Burra, Gladstone, Snowtown, Laura, Wirrabara, Quorn.
Dog training in Mid North
Clare Valley
Clare Valley wine-country dog life is its own thing. Tourists, dog-friendly cellar doors, dog-dense events, and a population mix of long-time locals and tree-changers from Adelaide. I work in-home across the Clare Valley from my Crystal Brook base — about 50 minutes south.
Dog training in Clare ValleyYorke Peninsula
The Yorke Peninsula is beach country — fishing trips, tourist holidays, working sheep properties, and family dogs that range from spoilt town dogs to long-line drivers on the harvest. From Crystal Brook the drive is about 90 minutes to the top of the peninsula and around 2 hours to Yorketown.
Dog training in YorkeRead more on this topic
anxiety barking
Separation Anxiety in Dogs: How to Tell, How to Help (Regional SA Edition)
Boredom or genuine separation anxiety? How to tell, and the desensitisation approach that resolves SA in regional SA households (including FIFO families).
13 min read·Feb 2026
obedience leadership
Why Calm Leadership Beats Tricks: The Real Reason Your Dog Won't Listen
If your dog ignores you, the problem isn't training — it's leadership. Here's what calm, clear leadership actually looks like across regional SA households.
12 min read·May 2026
choosing a trainer
Rescue Dog Behaviour: The First 30 Days (And the Mistakes That Set You Back 12 Months)
What to do — and not do — in the first month with a rescue dog. The decompression and leadership protocol Pauline uses across regional SA.
12 min read·Jan 2026
Separation Anxiety — frequently asked questions
Start here
Find out what is really going on with your dog — in 2 minutes.
The Free Dog Behaviour Test gives you (and Pauline) a clear starting point. No pressure, no spam, no obligation — just clarity.