Leaving puppy at home advice.

[Pink Sparkle]

Hi, we have a 9 month puppy. Before January we were able to leave for a couple of hours. He would bark sometimes but would play with his ball and sleep.
I was poorly in January, signed off and didn’t really leave the house. This is completely my fault that we have to start again.
We have started to build it up, leaving him with a treat and the camera on. We’ve got up to 30 minuites. He barks for about 1-2 minutes then either sits by the door or sleeps.
We’ve hired a dog Walker two days a week. My Cousin will look after him for a few hours on one day and the other two he will be at my mothers.
Unfortunately we’ve just had the call to go back from June 1st full time.
Does anyone have any good tips or advice. We will keep building it up daily until then. If all goes wrong we’ve looked into day care with his Walker but do want to build his independence up a little.
Thank you

 

[Geranium]

What sort of dog is he? Some breeds/types of dog do better alone than others.
You seem to be doing all the right things, to be fair and have made plans for your return to work. Dogs should really not be left alone for more than 4 hours), less with puppies - although mature dogs without separation anxiety can go longer if they have to on occasion.

I'm sitting here wondering how my own dog is - before lockdown he was used to being left for periods and would just sleep but he's had both of us working from home since March 2020 and today both my husband and I are elsewhere for pretty much the first extended period - he's with his sick dad, I'm in the office today. I'm missing my dog and hope he's not missing me too much (he's probably enjoying the peace & quiet to be honest!)

 

[Laurst]

My dog is quite old, (although still very agile and energetic!) and I have been working from home since March 2020. If I go out for a prolonged period of time, I can hear her barking on the ring camera, sometimes for up to half an hour at a time. I find that leaving the TV on or Alexa to play a talking radio program like LBC or Talk Radio really soothes her. Also, in the winter months, leaving a lamp on.

 

[Taythomlau]

Frozen Kong with dog peanut butter, yoghurt or banana is a goos way to keep thrm occupied whilst youre out

 

[Pink Sparkle]

What sort of dog is he? Some breeds/types of dog do better alone than others.
You seem to be doing all the right things, to be fair and have made plans for your return to work. Dogs should really not be left alone for more than 4 hours), less with puppies - although mature dogs without separation anxiety can go longer if they have to on occasion.

I'm sitting here wondering how my own dog is - before lockdown he was used to being left for periods and would just sleep but he's had both of us working from home since March 2020 and today both my husband and I are elsewhere for pretty much the first extended period - he's with his sick dad, I'm in the office today. I'm missing my dog and hope he's not missing me too much (he's probably enjoying the peace & quiet to be honest!)

He’s a spitz. He’s quite needy but I think being at home has an awful lot to do with it. They are quite Barky dogs. He’s much better than he was before.
I agree 4 hours would be the absolute maximum for us. It would be for 2/3 days of the week. I do feel better knowing if he hates it we can do the day care option. I guess if we do that we build it up on the weekends and slowly get there. Thank you

My dog is quite old, (although still very agile and energetic!) and I have been working from home since March 2020. If I go out for a prolonged period of time, I can hear her barking on the ring camera, sometimes for up to half an hour at a time. I find that leaving the TV on or Alexa to play a talking radio program like LBC or Talk Radio really soothes her. Also, in the winter months, leaving a lamp on.

Great idea with the lamp! Do you neighbours every complain ( if you’re attached) I really don’t want to annoy mine. We’re attached one side and they’re retired.
I’ll definitely leave the radio on, thank you x

Frozen Kong with dog peanut butter, yoghurt or banana is a goos way to keep thrm occupied whilst youre out

Yes, perfect! He hates banana ( so fusssy) I’ll try the peanut butter this week! Thank you

 

[Geranium]

I’d forgotten the frozen Kong with PB. Our guy loved that. I think he wanted us to leave so he could have one!

My daughter lives next door to a guy with a dog that barks all day when they are out. He’s a big dog with a big bark. I think we all kind of accept that dogs will bark if the doorbell rings or they hear something that alerts them but all day loud barking is very hard to live with (I say that as a dog owner/lover)

our guy started middle of the night barking, we did not know why for ages. I was so worried about him waking the neighbours. We eventually figured out our junior cat was breaking out through the locked cat flap and he was snitching on her! We now put the bin in front of the cat flap to stop her and he no longer barks.

 

[Laurst]

He’s a spitz. He’s quite needy but I think being at home has an awful lot to do with it. They are quite Barky dogs. He’s much better than he was before.
I agree 4 hours would be the absolute maximum for us. It would be for 2/3 days of the week. I do feel better knowing if he hates it we can do the day care option. I guess if we do that we build it up on the weekends and slowly get there. Thank you


Great idea with the lamp! Do you neighbours every complain ( if you’re attached) I really don’t want to annoy mine. We’re attached one side and they’re retired.
I’ll definitely leave the radio on, thank you x


Yes, perfect! He hates banana ( so fusssy) I’ll try the peanut butter this week! Thank you

Neighbours don't complain, the Alexa radio really works to soothe her. Have it on a talking station like LBC, and at a moderate level, not too high and not too low. It gives them the sense that someone is around. good luck x

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

He’s a spitz. He’s quite needy but I think being at home has an awful lot to do with it. They are quite Barky dogs. He’s much better than he was before.
I agree 4 hours would be the absolute maximum for us. It would be for 2/3 days of the week. I do feel better knowing if he hates it we can do the day care option. I guess if we do that we build it up on the weekends and slowly get there. Thank you


Great idea with the lamp! Do you neighbours every complain ( if you’re attached) I really don’t want to annoy mine. We’re attached one side and they’re retired.
I’ll definitely leave the radio on, thank you x


Yes, perfect! He hates banana ( so fusssy) I’ll try the peanut butter this week! Thank you

My next door neighbour has two dogs. One is a small white fluffy dog and the other is an Alsatian. My neighbours rarely go out all at once (2 adults 2 kids), but when they do, the dogs will bark none stop, and I mean none stop, until they come home.

I don’t complain though, I get on with my neighbours really well and they know that the dogs bark, but there’s not a lot anyone can do about it. So I just put up with it, luckily it’s not very often.

 

[Base2019]

Hi, we have a 9 month puppy. Before January we were able to leave for a couple of hours. He would bark sometimes but would play with his ball and sleep.
I was poorly in January, signed off and didn’t really leave the house. This is completely my fault that we have to start again.
We have started to build it up, leaving him with a treat and the camera on. We’ve got up to 30 minuites. He barks for about 1-2 minutes then either sits by the door or sleeps.
We’ve hired a dog Walker two days a week. My Cousin will look after him for a few hours on one day and the other two he will be at my mothers.
Unfortunately we’ve just had the call to go back from June 1st full time.
Does anyone have any good tips or advice. We will keep building it up daily until then. If all goes wrong we’ve looked into day care with his Walker but do want to build his independence up a little.
Thank you

Where does your wee furbaby sleep at night? The best thing you can do in my experience is get a solid routine when your leaving the house so they know. When I leave my two pups they go into their appartment as I call it the utility room haha they don’t roam the house when we are away; it’s important to have boundaries when your not there. they have all their bits there and radio is left on. They get good chewy treats when I’m leaving for a longer period of time like a denta stick, so by the time they finish it your well gone and they’re wrecked after chewing and need a nap lol my two don’t bark at all now. One is still under 6 months.

It sounds crazy but the only way your going to get them used to it is by leaving them more often. And preserve. Sounds horrible but it really does work. They learn to trust you then and they understand then that you are always coming back which is ther main cause of stress when you leave.

It will all be fine so try not to stress

ETA: my two are two pugs so I understand the needy breeds

 

[Never in the World]

He’s a spitz. He’s quite needy but I think being at home has an awful lot to do with it. They are quite Barky dogs. He’s much better than he was before.
I agree 4 hours would be the absolute maximum for us. It would be for 2/3 days of the week. I do feel better knowing if he hates it we can do the day care option. I guess if we do that we build it up on the weekends and slowly get there. Thank you


Great idea with the lamp! Do you neighbours every complain ( if you’re attached) I really don’t want to annoy mine. We’re attached one side and they’re retired.
I’ll definitely leave the radio on, thank you x


Yes, perfect! He hates banana ( so fusssy) I’ll try the peanut butter this week! Thank you

I used to squirt primula cheese in it then freeze

 

[Kim Mild]

Choose a time you'll always be in the house for your dog's meal times and try to avoid being out/ leaving your fog around it's mealtimes.

My adult dog will be quite settled for hours but knows when it is food time and gets rather hyper

 

[Northeast1988]

Choose a time you'll always be in the house for your dog's meal times and try to avoid being out/ leaving your fog around it's mealtimes.

My adult dog will be quite settled for hours but knows when it is food time and gets rather hyper

Haha i swear they have internal clock
Mine has to have tablets an hour before she eats , she defo knows when her hour is up and comes to get me

 

[cs19]

Does anyone have any tips please! My 11month old puppy Is normally well behaved when we leave her home alone, we leave her for a few hours and give her a kong with frozen peanut butter and some of her favourite toys to play with- she never barked or howled when left alone. Now all of a sudden for the past two weeks if she is left alone when we go to work she howls and barks until we return home and shes no longer fussed about her frozen kong or treats we leave her. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions please, I hate leaving her barking and crying and worried the neighbours might start complaining

 

[Base2019]

Does anyone have any tips please! My 11month old puppy Is normally well behaved when we leave her home alone, we leave her for a few hours and give her a kong with frozen peanut butter and some of her favourite toys to play with- she never barked or howled when left alone. Now all of a sudden for the past two weeks if she is left alone when we go to work she howls and barks until we return home and shes no longer fussed about her frozen kong or treats we leave her. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions please, I hate leaving her barking and crying and worried the neighbours might start complaining

Where do you leave her when your going to work? Do you let her roam round the house or do you keep her in a particular room/area? Sounds like she is bored of the frozen peanut butter, they can be wee divas when they want do you leave a radio or anything on for her? What breed is she?