1. What is a so called “hyper attached” dog
By now you may know what a dog with separation anxiety looks like. They are not comfortable being home alone but if someone is with them (does not need to be their humans), they will be ok in the home. When we talk about “hyper attachment” in a dog with separation anxiety, in addition to not being able to leave the house without your dog panicking, you most likely cannot go anywhere in the house without your dog following.
In this specific situation, it is most likely that your dog prefers to be with you than anyone else. This means that your dog is only happy when they are with you. You are their special person and just another human staying with them won’t do. If you leave your dog with another human in the home as you leave, your dog will not be ok and will display distress and signs of anxiety.
2. What is the Support Network
In the situation where your dog is not ok when you leave and someone else is in the home, we need to get your dog more comfortable when you are not around. Your dog is capable of forming bonds with humans so we need to help them form bonds with humans other than you. This work has to be done separately from working on home-alone sessions.
Due to the delicate nature of the situation, even before you start working on desensitization, you have to consider that they are not comfortable with anyone else therefore you need to work on helping your dog form new bonds with other humans. How to do this?
I recommend choosing a couple of people who can start working with your dog on the fun stuff they like to do: play, feeding, walks, and anything else your dog likes. At the same time, you have to take a step back and back off from doing those things with your dog.
This is where family members, significant others, friends, sitters, walkers, etc., will take the lead and will fill the gap. In time, your dog will be less dependent on you for the fun stuff and will be more comfortable with you leaving the house while someone else is there. Even though we do like to have our dogs attached to us, if they suffer from separation anxiety, we are doing a disfavor to them by fostering that very close attached behavior.