As a pet owner, needing to leave your puppy at home on their own feels terrible. After all, a puppy doesn’t know when you’re going to be back, who else might come into their space while you’re gone, and why they’ve been left all alone! But before you cancel all your plans and stay cooped up on the sofa with them, here’s a list of things to try to prepare them for their time away from you.
Have Practice Runs
If you’re going to be away for more than an hour, make sure you practice leaving your dog alone in the weeks running up to the time you’re away. Leave them on their own in a safe space (more on that below) for steadily increasing increments of time and see how they do.
The sooner they get used to having an empty house around them, the less chance they’ll have of developing separation anxiety. It’s going to be hard to hear them whine and even bark from the other side of the door, but this is for their own good! So take 10 minutes away, then 20, then 30, and so on.
Make Sure They Have a Safe Space
Most puppies are just fine if they have a safe space to retreat to. You can establish this through the use of a crate and/or pen. Teach them it’s a space to be calm and comfortable in by never approaching them while they’re using it. They can go in and out as they please, and you can eventually get them used to having the door closed behind them.
Make sure they have something nice to chew on while in there, that doesn’t require constant supervision, and they’ll soon start associating the space with fun and relaxation. A lot of pet owners like to use ‘licky’ mats for this very purpose.
Get a Reliable Pet Sitter
If you’re going to be away from your puppy for over eight hours, and usually more than 24, call in a pet sitter to take care of your pooch. This way your puppy has someone to be around, be fed by, and snuggle up to, which can prevent them from heading down a panic spiral and ripping apart everything they can get their jaws round.
You can find a pet sitter at short notice on a site like Care.com; all you need to do is check out who’s available in your local area and go from there. If you don’t like the idea of popping the puppy in the kennel for a day or two, this is the best way to ensure your puppy stays comfortable and safe.
If you need to leave your new puppy at home, use tips and tricks like these to make it much easier on the both of you. A puppy is always going to struggle when no one they know is around, but they don’t have to have a terrible time on their own.