If your dog isn't used to being left alone at home, you'll have to teach him since there will come a time when you'll need to leave him at home to go to work, deal with an unexpected occurrence, or do something else that won't allow you to take him with you.
If the dog has not trained to stay home alone and is forced to do so unexpectedly, behavioural issues may arise.
Keep in mind that it is far easier to prevent separation anxiety in your dog than to treat it once it has developed, so they must learn to spend time alone from the beginning. One of the most crucial aspects of treating this condition is getting our dog at home.
Do not leave the puppy at home longer than 2h until it's 5 months old. Do it gradually.
For your dog to learn to be alone, you can follow a series of steps:
- You must start training before you have to take time off. Your goal is to change the routine and increase your dog's time alone without showing signs of anxiety.
- At first, you will not leave home, but you will be absent from the room in which your dog is. Beforehand, encourage him to stay quietly by your side, in bed or on a sofa. When he does, get up and leave the room, telling him to wait for you. First, it is essential to practice the basic commands (still, wait, lie down...)
- Reward your dog with caresses or a treat whenever he does it right; that is when he waits for your quiet return and doesn't run after you. Positive reinforcement will make your dog learn quickly and make training enjoyable for him.
- Start increasing the time you stay out of the room, as well as the distance, depending on your dog's reaction. Bring him back to the couch if he moves or comes towards you. Don't reward him, but don't punish him either. Go back to the previous stage and continue the progression from that point.
- Give him his favourite chew to keep the dog busy and less anxious while you are away- see the Natural Treat Boxes here
- The next step will be to leave the house. Do it quickly, without saying goodbye to the dog, since the moments of farewell and arrival involve the development of a series of emotions that make the separation more difficult. It's best to start ignoring your dog about fifteen minutes before you leave, and when you leave, say something like, "wait, I'll be right back." Leave the house, stay outside for a minute or two ( some cases it might need to be as little as a few seconds), and return, ignoring your dog on arrival so that he associates both your departure and your return with everyday actions. Do it as many times per day as you can. Sometimes you can leave even for a few seconds.
- The return is also necessary because your dog will first greet you with great excitement. Do not greet him with great joy, as it will be counterproductive. The best thing is that you ignore him for about fifteen minutes so that the dog does not bark or show anxiety at your arrival. At the end of that time, reward his calm behaviour and start behaving like you always do.
- A walk when you get home can be a great idea to spend some time together doing something your dog likes.
- On the first day, repeat this process several times, increasing the time on each outing.
- If at any time your dog shows anxiety upon your return, cut the time away by half and gradually increase it again when the anxious behaviour subsides. Keep in mind that you will need time and patience to achieve this, as well as positive reinforcement.
- When you notice that your dog tolerates these absences, begin to vary the time you remain outside so that it is not always the same. In other words, go out for thirty minutes, another for two minutes, the next for an hour. Approach what a typical day would be like, in which you enter and leave the house during different periods. In this way, the dog will get used to absences of different times and begin to see your outings as usual.
- You’ll achieve significant progress when your dog tolerates outings of about 45 minutes. You will soon tolerate absences of an hour, then two. Little by little, you can increase the time until the dog can wait for you calmly during a working day.
- Practice the “sit” or “down” commands and use them when your dog is excessively anxious. Do not reward his anxiety and do not allow him to follow you continually; otherwise, you will have an overly dependent dog.
- Do not punish him if he causes any damage during training or in one of your absences. Continue to work on eliminating the dog's destructive behaviours and anxiety.
- Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day training your dog. In a few weeks, you will start to notice the improvement.
- If necessary, consider going to a professional trainer.