To say that this last year has been challenging is an understatement. Children home-schooling, people furloughed and working from home became the new normal. Lots of people took the opportunity to bring a new dog or puppy into their lives and existing dogs have had lots more company. But the world is (hopefully!) slowly moving back to normal, shops opening, meeting friends outside, we will be going back to our offices and our dogs will be home alone once more. A potential crisis in the making? Quite possibly.

So how can you tell? Well, most dogs would prefer not to be left of course and may have a little whine or pace around a little perhaps, but they will settle and more than often spend the time snoozing happily. Dogs who have separation anxiety or isolation distress are much more persistent. Here are some of the common signs to look out for:

• Barking

• Pacing

• Panting

• Eliminating

• Destructive behaviour

• Getting anxious before you leave

It’s highly unlikely that they will get better if you just let them ‘cry it out’ They’re not doing it out of spite, it’s because they are distressed and panicking and ignoring will just make it worse.

You will commonly hear people say that puppies cannot get separation anxiety, but why can’t they? I would suggest that they will have some level of worry about being alone, so why not spend time building confidence instead of just hoping they are ok? Remember the saying; ‘Fail to prepare then prepare to fail’. If you think about it, we've spent thousands of years breeding dogs that prefer to be with humans, so we shouldn't be surprised when some of them struggle when we're not around. Of course, lots of dogs will cope, and lots of dogs will just get on with it but home-alone anxiety can start early so surely it’s worthwhile putting a little time in and making it a better experience for all concerned.

So where to start? Firstly crate or confinement training. Avoid just putting your dog in a crate, shutting the door and hoping for the best, take the time to train them to be comfortable doing so. Reinforce the area the puppy is going to be left in, make it comfortable, make it cosy, make it their safe space, a place they want to go to.

Nailed that step? Perfect. Next step is ‘door is a bore’. Think about it? Doors can be very exciting for dogs. When they open, your dog might be going for a walk, out into the garden to play, going into the kitchen to be fed. Exciting! Or when they are open you are leaving, they are going to be left. Interesting isn’t it?

So, we are going to teach your dog that the door doesn't have any significance, not interesting at all, nothing in it for you. The ‘door is a bore’, we want to get to the stage that you getting up and moving to the door, opening the door, shutting the door, opening and going in and out of the door is just that. Boring, no big deal, nothing to see here. This is a great first step to building a safe transition to you building short absences out of the house and of course being able to use the toilet in peace 😊.

The next step is building absences, start with very short absences, literally shut the door wait a couple of seconds and go back in. Keep any greetings natural and normal. Think about setting up a camera so you can watch the pup (you can do this easily with free phone apps), see what they do. Are they still settled? If they are, build up slowly, carefully and be ready to reduce the time if they get distressed at any time. You become an expert in your dog, learn about body language, do they look stressed? Are they whining, barking, panting excessively, if yes they are not coping, so go back a step. If they are still chilled and totally nailing the training keep building the time home alone and celebrate.

Do these steps as soon as you can, practice little and often, don’t wait until two days before you have to go to work and if you need help. Reach out.

This is a huge subject, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to know more, please do get in touch. Having a dog that struggles being left alone is heartbreaking so it’s never too late to start.

If you would like a free copy of ‘the door is a bore’ training plan email me info@bark-ology.co.uk and I will send it across.

Good luck!

Karen 🐾

SA Pro Trainer