Pets
Home Alone
Being alone is something that your puppy will not acclimate to easily unless you work on it. Being social animals, puppies like to be in the company of their family. You should teach your pup early on to accept and enjoy being by himself and hopefully prevent the development of any anxiety about being away from you later in life. Dogs with separation anxiety problems can be destructive, house soil, bark or hurt themselves because they are panicked about being by themselves.To help your puppy become relaxed when left alone, we suggest the following steps:
- If you haven't already done so, start working with your puppy immediately. Ideally, it is best to leave your puppy
alone for only a short time at first, perhaps ten minutes or so while he is crated or otherwise confined. Being able to
leave him for ten minutes 4 or 5 times a day at first, is much better than having to leave him for an entire day. (Refer
to Crate Training Your Puppy regarding appropriate limits on how long a puppy
can be crated). As he becomes accustomed to being alone, you can leave him crated for longer time periods.
- Your departures and homecomings should be kept calm, matter-of-fact and unemotional. When you leave, calmly put your
puppy in his crate with a chew toy, close the door and tell him you will be right back. When you return, greet him in the same calm manner and take him outside to eliminate.
- It is very important that your puppy not learn that every time he is put in his crate, you area going to leave him. Thus, when you are home during the day, put your puppy in the crate for a nap or a short rest several times a day.
Preventing Food Dish Guarding >>
Back to Smart Pet Guide to Training
PETsMART Accredited Training Instructors, in addition to their previous experience, receive a minimum of 120 hours of training in a curriculum which includes: Canine Behavior, Learning Theory ("How Dogs Learn"), Problem-Solving, Classroom Management, Equipment, Handling Skills and more. Where possible, hands-on training is completed in partnership with local shelters, using shelter dogs to demonstrate training methods, behavior assessment and handling skills. This enables us to accredit our instructors while contributing to the community, as we help to make these dogs even more adoptable.
Suzanne Hetts Ph.D. is certified as an applied animal behaviorist and co-owner of Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., in Denver, CO.
Terry Ryan is the well-known author of training books such as The Toolbox for Remodeling Your Problem Dog and The Bark Stops Here.
Pia Silvani is the Director of Pet Training and Behavior at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J.
Mary Lee Nitschke, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at Linfield College, an Animal Behavior Therapist and the Director of Training for Animal School in Portland, OR.
Trish King is the Director of the Animal Behavior and Training Department at the Marin Humane Society in Marin County, CA.
Pamela J. Reid, Ph.D. is a certified applied animal behaviorist and assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, where she teaches veterinary students courses in Applied Ethology and the Principles of Learning.
Information and advice contained on this site is for your consideration only. Please consult your veterinarian for specific advice concerning the care and treatment of your pet.
Copyright © 2008, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. Users of this site agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights (Terms updated March 2007)
