Hello! I am looking for advice on leaving my 7 month lab/shepherd mix home alone. Up until now, we have only had to leave her alone for an hour or two. We keep her in her crate when we leave and she barks/cries when we leave and is still barking when we get home. She sleeps in there at night and doesn't make a sound throughout the night! Unfortunately, family members can't take her during the day anymore so we are going to have to leave her at home alone more often now. I'm just wondering what the best way to get her used to this is?? The neighbors complain when she is alone and barking for too long. Any advice would be appreciated!
Hi there and welcome here! Your pup is cute, what is her name? Crates can be a real blessing and dogs can learn to feel settled in them but it does take some time and patience. It sounds like your pup is fine at night but feeling anxious during the day. Do you ever give her toys or something to chew like a stuffed Kong when you leave her? Does she get interaction like play or training with you before you leave for work? Is she getting enough exercise? All of these things will help her to settle better. Have you ever tried to put her in there during the day when you are home? Does she react the same way? You can try this, leaving her with toys or a Kong, for a very short time and then letting her out before she gets restless and whining. Keep doing this for longer and longer periods until she can be in there happily for longer periods while you are there. Then do the same when you are home but in a different room, slowly extending the time. Then you try to same thing but this time leaving the house for short periods, gradually extending the time as before. Over time and with patience you can help her feel comfortable at home while you are gone.
Firstly, are you sure the crate is the way to go? We started with one and although our puppy didn't hate it, he wasn't as settled in it as when sleeping on the sofa! So we decided to scrap it and have had no problems. But appreciate it is very handy to know the dog can't get up to mischief! However it certainly worked for us. Maybe you should spend a few days/weeks going back to basics (if you have time!). When we first started leaving our puppy we would spy on him! Setting up two tablets in a video chat leaving one pointing at the puppy and taking the other with us. We would leave him with a Kong, just as he noticed we had gone but before he got stressed we would walk back in. Then increase the time from when he notices your gone to coming back in. When it gets long enough for them to settle down in between that's perfect! Do it slowly! 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes etc etc. Couple of other tips are to not fuss them for about 15 mins before you leave, just get ready to go being boring to them so the difference between you being there and leaving is not so dramatic. Also do not fuss them when you get in, so you coming home is not big deal either. And if possible, take them for a walk before hand so they are tired and more likely to settle. I hope you get there! I know you feel guilty enough leaving them without them making it worse! Good luck!
@Lisa Thank you, her name is Nova! She absolutely loves her Kong but wants nothing to do with it while in her crate. I've left her bully sticks, treats, a kong, and they are all untouched when I get home! I do take her for a good walk before I leave and she gets a walk once my boyfriend gets home. I tried having the crate in the living room so I could work on that, but both neighbors complained so I moved it upstairs and they haven't said anything since. However that means she is only in there when we leave. I may look at getting an additional crate to have downstairs for training her! I will try those methods. Thanks for your help!
@Coa I would love to not have to use the crate, but I have left her out a few times and she seems to be destructive after only half an hour. I really don't care about her destroying things so much as getting into something that will hurt her! I will look into getting some sort of spy thing going on and try that! Yes, I will have to go back to the basics. Daycare is so expensive so this is really my only option as of right now! Thank you for the tips, will try it out!
She's crying because she hasn't yet learned how to cope by herself, and stay relaxed. Being relaxed when we leave comes from the puppy's reassurance that we are going to come back. We start training by leaving the puppy for just a second and returning and rewarding for quiet, then 2 seconds building to 5 seconds, then 7 or 8 seconds, then 10, 15, 50 seconds, a minute. From a minute slowly building to 1:15, 1:30, 1:45 then 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes and so on. If your puppy cries at any stage your are going to fast for her to cope so need to go back a step and gradually move forward again. Once you can leave her for 15 minutes you should be able to go to 30 minutes and then an hour quite quickly. A good book is Patricia McConnell's 'I'll be home soon - How to prevent and treat separation anxiety' Encourage your pup that the crate is the best place to be by making it warm and comfy, leave treats for pup to find, give tasty kongs in the crate, feed meals in the crate. You can increase the appeal of the crate by placing pups breakfast/dinner in the crate and closing the door preventing them access to the food for a minute or so and then let in for the food. It takes time to train a happy, relaxed separation but much better than a distressed dog and complaining neighbours
We have a 10 week old male pup. We left him alone for the first time today for 30 minutes. I put him in his crate along with some treats and toys. 30 minutes later my husband came home and Leo had pooped in his crate and it was all over him and all over the crate. Now I'm afraid to put him in his crate tonight. He sleeps in our room. We also have a 7 year old Newfoundland who is super chill and was with him in the kitchen when we left, but Leo was in his crate. Is this normal?? I didn't think they pooped in their crates.
Can I ask how long he is in the crate for? You mention daycare is too expensive, but have you looked into a dog walker who comes in and takes him for a walk? As everyone has said above, it takes time for them to be alone and be settled with it and you need to take it slowly.
