Bringing a new dog into your life is an exciting, heartwarming, and often romanticized event. We scroll through adoption photos, imagine cozy evenings, and picture instant, seamless companionship. The reality, however, is that this transition is less - perfect movie montage and more - complex negotiation between sentient beings with different needs, desires and personalities.

An example of this in separation anxiety training could be suddenly continuously following to the door for a dog who was previously very comfortable with departures, or pacing, whining, barking at 10 minutes alone when the dog previously was able to tolerate much longer durations of comfort.