I think my dog has separation anxiety

I've had this happen a few times, I'll be upstairs working quietly in my little study, or just napping, being very quiet. And if the house is totally empty besides me, after about 30 minutes or so my dog will start barking. Not at the door as if someone was there, but just sitting in her usual spot, barking away. She'll do it for about 10 minutes straight, then stop, and then start up again. Either until she falls asleep or I go downstairs or someone else comes in.

She's also really unhappy when you leave her alone outside. If you let her out in the back yard, within a minute she's just sitting still on the deck. Fortunately for us and the neighbours she doesn't go into barking fits then like I've noticed her do when she thinks she's in the house by herself.

I guess I'm not surprised, since her first owner, an older lady who had her until she was 7 years old, passed away, and now I'm taking care of her. So I think she's still pretty scared to be left alone. I'll have to figure out a way to work on making her less afraid that she's going to be left alone again. Poor thing must be heartbroken.

Whenever I take her for walks, she's always really drawn to older people, especially older women. I had a bit of a sad thought that she is looking for her old owner again. Older people really like her, though, since she is really quiet and well-behaved and not jumpy at all. Not quite the rambunctious pup I think I would have more fun playing with. It's a bit strange.. she's almost too well-behaved, (excluding the panics when she thinks she's alone).. you tell her to sit, and she does. And stays there. She's like a robot, just does exactly what you say, but doesn't seem to have much.. curiousity, perhaps. Maybe because I grew up with a cat I expect an animal to want to explore its environment, etc. Perhaps I'm not used to a dog who's perspective is more owner-centric than environment-centric. My introverted self finds this a little off-putting, I think. I liked that kitty seemed to have her own inner thoughts and that we mostly shared a house out of mutual convenience, but with this dog I feel like its entire life revolves around her owner, and I guess I perhaps don't respect that as much as I do a cat.

I could totally picture myself behaving exactly like a cat normally does if I was one, going exploring, climbing all over the place, snuggling up in a warm lap if there's one to be taken advantage of, but not obsessing over some person who thinks they own me.

Oh well, I'm stuck with this dog now, and I really feel sad for the poor thing. I guess I just don't understand it.

Anyway, I found a site on separation anxiety in dogs, and it looks like having an owner whom she was always constantly with, like I think she was, and then losing that person is just the ticket for getting this kind of separation anxiety. Looks like aleviating it is going to be a bit of an involved process, as well. Oh well, patience in all things, I suppose.