Bringing a new puppy home is always a joy, you know you will give him the best care, love, attention and sure you will start training your puppy to be alone. you can’t imagine how fast will he create a bond with you and only you, that’s why he will be able to catch all that you want to train him for in no time.
If you are a working mom, unfortunately training your puppy to be alone won’t be an option, it’s a must, you won’t be able to be around him 24/7.
watching your little puppy’s sad eyes when you leave sure will be a heart breaker, but there are a few things we can do to not cause distress to our puppy while he is alone.
Not just that, but we also can train our puppy to look forward to us leaving by putting the following measures in place.
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How To Start Training Your Puppy To Be Alone.
There are some few and easy steps you may to help you in training your puppy to be alone but not depressed
1. Start training your puppy to be alone for short times
The first and most important thing you should do when you bring your new puppy home for the first time, try to get it scheduled over the weekend. The reason behind this is that you should make sure that your new puppy had been settled well, then you can start training him to be home alone but with just short intervals.
New puppies need up to almost 18 hours of sleep daily, so if you left them alone for an hour or maybe two at a time, that shouldn’t be a problem. Try to avoid taking your new puppy with you everywhere you go in the beginning, this is tempting, it surely is, but If your puppy becomes your little shadow, it will be the start of over-attachment.
Over-attachment is not always a good thing. If your new puppy became over-attached to you, this could make it harder for him to be left alone and of course, this later can be developed into separations anxiety.
Teach your puppy that you are not always going to be by his side from the start by leaving him alone at short intervals.
2. Show your little puppy that it is fun without you
Make sure your puppy always has something to do if you are going to leave him alone. We are talking about something super fun of course! it can be great if you could purchase some dog puzzle toys so you can keep him busy and stimulated as much as possible.
These toys most often dispense treats when rolled around or if a hatch is lifted. You can Google how to make your own DIY puzzle toys for your puppy as an alternative and inexpensive solution.
Wild Dogs would spend a lot of their day searching for food. This is something you should try to simulate it for your puppy, hide treats in your garden and around the house, your dog will happily sniff out treats while you are away.
You can also get him some chew toys, chew treats or a frozen Kong toy stuffed with yummy treats! The key is to give this to your dog just before you leave the house. This way, he will find out that leaving him alone will be a positive experience. Essentially you teach him that good things happen when you leave.
3. Crate train your puppy
They key to crate training your puppy, is to make the crate the most wonderful place on earth! You may do that by making the crate a positive experience! Give your cute little puppy yummy things to chew while he is in the crate. Ensure that you give him lots of affection and praise when he is in the crate and never put your puppy in the crate to punish him. You may leave the crate door open at the beginning, so that your puppy can go in at out as it pleases, without feeling trapped. Once your puppy is comfortable with his crate, and it gets affection and treats whenever it goes inside, you can start closing the door for 10 – 15 minutes at a time. You can start increasing the time it is left in the crate gradually.
4. Keep your comings and goings low-key
Don’t make much fuss when you leave. If you are feeling sorry for your puppy and started to make the situation sad, he will pick up on that. Just keep it positive, give him any chew toy and say “See you later buddy! Be good!”
Don’t make much fuss when you return either. Your puppy is already excited to see you, if you increase that excitement by making too much of a fuss, you may be teaching your puppy bad habits. Some puppies get so excited when their owners return home that they urinate, jump up excessively or make loud howling and barking sounds, which may drive you, your guest or neighbors crazy eventually. Calmly greet your puppy, no matter how excited you are to see him. You have the rest of the evening to show him how happy you are to be home and spend some much-needed quality time together.
5. Be present, even when you are not
in your dog’s monitor or his camera like Furbo Dog Camera. This allows you to check on your puppy from the office and give you peace of mind. The big advantage is that you can talk to your puppy every now and again via two-way audio. It makes a big difference to your dog knowing that you are present, even if it is not in the flesh. This camera is specially designed for dogs so it allows you to dispense treats remotely. It even has a barking alarm that will notify you when your dog is barking so you can talk to him to settle him down. Another way to be “present” is to put one of your t-shirts or old shoes on your puppy’s bed so he can smell you close by. This has shown to be a comfort to some puppies.
Leaving your dog alone isn’t a bad thing, you just have to make your dog get used to it so that if you had to leave him alone, he won’t have any troubles with it and you won’t be feeling so sorry for him, and always have fun with your pup when you get back.
You may also check out the Bell Training For Your Puppy.