separation anxiety.

words of the day: separation \ˌse-pə-ˈrā-shən\ and anxiety \aŋ-ˈzī-ə-tē\

Together, they mean: a form of anxiety experienced by a young child and caused by separation from a significant nurturant figure and typically a parent or from familiar surroundings.

For the sake of this post, please replace "young child" with "dog" in the above definition.

In my introduction to Ginny, I made a semi-flippant comment about my new dog's abandonment issues. As it turns out, it was no joking matter. Ginny has separation anxiety.

Who knew that dogs could have such severe psychological issues?

Ginny basically goes crazy every time you leave her alone. It's very sad, really. We're not sure if the anxiety is WHY she ended up at the pound or if it's a RESULT of being abandoned. I suppose it could go either way.

My dog's abandonment issues have me thinking a lot about parenting, though. Obviously, there was some sort of neglect in Ginny's past that has made her think that when people leave, they are not coming back. It has messed with her psyche enough to throw her in a tizzy every time we step outside.

How much worse off are babies whose parents neglect to rock them to sleep or children who never get held when they cry?

Ginny keeps teaching me things. This time, she taught me a little something about parenting and the importance of holding, rocking, soothing, caring for, and loving my babies (future tense).

Thanks, Ginny. And, here's hoping we don't have to place you on anti-anxiety pills in the near future. . .