Hey folks- I'm new to the board here. I'm currently away on business for the week and my fiancée is home with our 6 month old lab puppy, Teddy. He's a daddy's boy and is absolutely obsessed with me, so I suspect it's normal for him to miss me. It's been three days, however, and he's been moping around crying every morning and parts of the night before bedtime. Is this normal behavior, or could his periodic crying be related to something else? I'm usually gone for a few days each month, but his crying is worse this week than in the past. Will it always be this way? Thanks in advance for your responses.
Hi there and welcome That must be tough for you knowing he's not coping so well,has he got plenty of company with your Fiancée whilst you aren't there? If you say it's noticeably worse this time ,an element of doubt is reasonable that it's more than him just missing you and a check over at the vet might reveal something .....is he eating and drinking ok ? If he isn't coping when you aren't there then it's time to put some work in to help him with that. What is his daily routine ? What do you give him to occupy him when he is going to be alone? Do you work from home if you aren't travelling? Sorry,lots of questions! Here's a link to an article Pippa has written about this and some suggestions about how you can build his confidence to cope without you http://www.thelabradorsite.com/does-my-labrador-have-separation-anxiety/ Best Wishes Angela
I have heard of this before. Separation anxiety usually happens when the dog is separated from the person he/she is attached too. Your dog misses you a lot. There are actually various treatments available from natural herbal tranquilizers to behavioral treatments. Among the two I think it is better to train your dog to get used to your absence rather than using tranquilizers. First, try to leave the house at short intervals and gradually increase the time. This will help your dog to be accustomed to your absence. This will be pretty hard at first but trust me this is the best way. I hope I have helped you in some way.
