Hi guys I was just wondering at what age you started teaching your puppies to be alone. Alfie at the moment is, understandably, very dependent on me and my OH for everything; settling, playing and chewing company. I will be returning to university for half days in September and he will be left for around four hours and I am hoping practise will make this ok. Just looking for any tips and your experience? Thanks for your help and patience with my questions!!
Sam had to be left for short periods from day one . Once in morning for 15 mins ( while taking big kids to school bus) and then for half an hr morning and afternoon (while doing youngests school run) . He seems to have just accepted this as part of his routine. I just put him in crate with couple bits of his food and off I go . I increased these times , sometimes planned sometimes out of necessity . I did video what he got up to a few weeks ago when I knew I'd be away for a few hrs . ( just in case he was howling etc) , he slept the entire time barely lifting his head when the car pulled up the drive ! I'd start now just having regular little breaks in crate while you are in another room or nipping to shop etc and building time from there . He should be more than happy for a few hrs by September
I did try putting special treats like a kong etc in , but he never used them until we came back ( weird dog sometimes ) .
Alfie is just having his first chew with his Kong. I didn't freeze it this time just put some of his kibble loose inside and seems to be the first chew toy that keeps his attention for longer than ten minutes and neither me nor my other half are having to sit next to him
The power of the kong . My older dog won't touch them if they are frozen and it's only in past few weeks Sam has worked out that frozen is still tasty
He's not too bad with chewing , although he will help himself to homework and shoes if he can get away with it I'll find the link about pics someone sent me , I still didn't understand though and was easier on my brain to pay the 10 quid to upload directly lol
Hi Alfie is sleeping through the night brilliantly but we tried our first "alone time" ( i was in the next room) and just cries. I only left him for three minutes and he whimpered on and off the whole time :s. Any tips?
And I bet it felt like forever for you ! It's great he's sleeping at night for building his alone time you might want to try 1 minute at a time initially then go slowly increasing time even if it's only an extra 15 seconds initially . Is he in a crate ? He'll be fine for September so don't panic xxx
He is my baby lol Just made a boo boo Alfie was whining at me as he needed a wee but i was ignoring him as i thought he was whinining for attention as i preparing dinner just being silly. Made it out for most of it xx
That's good though he's starting to let you know ! I wouldn't worry about it at all , Sam so quiet about his door leaning method we still have dribbles too xx
Hes had a mad few minutes of play so i have popped in his crate with the door shut alone and he is asleep. Is that the right thing to do? Please ignore me if I am bombarding you with questions!!
As far as training to go outside lab puppies you can bet aftwe they eat or drink they are going to haft to go to the bathroom. Jax has been super easy to train ,we started with once he ate or drink we took him outside . He found his spot in the yard and started to use it more often. If he had an accident he was corrected with "tee tee outside" wife's and daughters words but it works lol. Within no time he was going to the door . Jax is 7 months old now and he's had 1 or accidents in the last 5 or so months but those were after changing his diet . I woke up to My big Ole boy on top of me with the saddest look you've ever seen ears slicked back and Jax has a really square head but when he does something boy you can see that cone head. Good thing about Labs is you know they have done something wrong by the looks they give you lol. As far as leaving them alone it's really hard on Jax still. I take him with me almost everywhere I go. I posted in another thread Jax does wonders for my PTSD. Therefore he's almost always with me . He's not a service dog but he's MY service dog . If he can't go with us I leave the TV on for him , with plenty of toys out
