How do you teach a dog to be alone? How long can you leave a dog alone? A dog depends on you for all its needs. That is why understanding its needs is fundamental to raising a calm animal. Of course, you have to adapt to him and not the other way around, but it is also true that you have to give him rules so that he can understand.
Teaching your dog to stay in the house alone, without destroying it, is a priority, just as teaching him not to litter in the house and to spend quality time with him, letting him play, run around and let off steam in activities that are constructive for him.
- Dogs that can be left alone?
- How long can you leave a dog alone?
- How to teach your dog to be alone in the flat
- An educational course is needed to teach your dog to stay at the house alone.
- Games for dogs when they are alone
- Teaching a dog to stay house alone. My dog barks when alone; what do I do?
- My dog destroys the house when he is alone; what should I do?
- You are teaching your dog to stay house alone. What can happen if I don’t teach the dog to be alone?
Dogs that can be left alone?
Let us start with the concept that a dog must be able to stand alone in peace. This concept means you must not make your fur a servant to your presence, even though this condition pleases you greatly.
It is true that perhaps unconsciously, you behave so that the dog is increasingly dependent on your presence.
Mistakes such as:
- Never leaving him alone
- Always keep him on you, in your arms, stroking him all the time
- Calling him all the time
- Interacting with him every time he asks for your attention, etc.
Not only can a dog be alone, but he must know how to be alone, especially to have time to rest, not to be in constant attention and to achieve balance.
How long can you leave a dog alone?
Although animals have no real sense of time as we understand it, with the clock, it is good to be reminded that a dog cannot stay 8 hours alone in the house.
The time perceived by dogs is biological, a period that elapses since he has had his last meal, watering or has been able to pee or poo.
It is essential, therefore, that no more time should elapse than his capacity to perform his functions (no more than 3 or 4 hours) or biological needs.
If your work demands do not allow you to return home every three to four hours, you must organise yourself with alternative means available almost everywhere in our cities.
The training pads are not an acceptable alternative because they are unnatural for him and dangerous (he could ingest them). Also, the Training Pads are non-educational.
Having a dog soiling in the house on the sleeper so you can stay outside all day is not ethically correct. Above all, it will lead to you having a stressed and unhappy animal and risking finding your house mistaken for a toilet.
A dog in a flat cannot live 8 hours in solitude because he will need to go outside to soil (mainly if you have adequately accustomed him to soil outside), drink and eat.
The solution of always leaving food for him is incorrect because it will lead him to obesity. Dogs need regular rhythms.
You will have to organise yourself and ask them:
- Neighbour
- Relative
- Dog sitter
- Dog sitters who take your furry one early in the morning and return him to you in the evening.
Let’s see how to educate your dog.
How to teach your dog to be alone in the flat
Particularly for small dogs, it is essential to find a fenced-in space where they can get used to being quiet, even when you are at home.
If you have a puppy, put an enclosure in a room (those are also used for babies to allow mums to be quiet in the first moments when the baby starts crawling).
Place its kennel, pillow or whatever it uses for sleeping inside it.
Teach your puppy to experience that space, too, especially when you are at home.
The large, secure enclosure solution is undoubtedly ideal.
Its advantages are:
- Allowing your dog to have a space of his own in which he can move without danger
- Give him the serenity of a place where he feels comfortable and stress-free because you will have placed him in a quiet room.
- Enable you to have more significant serenity in handling the dog.
An educational course is needed to teach your dog to stay at the house alone.
After you have played, let the puppy out to the soil and interact extensively with it; put the puppy in the enclosure so it rests in that space.
If he cries when you put him in it, IGNORE HIM in the strongest possible way.
Do not even glance at him; continue doing whatever you were doing, and do not talk to or turn towards him.
Only when he gets quiet and sits down, without looking at you, in a relaxed position, can you tell him goodbye and give him a caress. Using this method, you will teach him (after a few times) that calm and serenity mean a reward, while crying and barking mean indifference.
You will initially shorten the time he stays in the enclosure, gradually lengthening it. Then, when he is used to being in the same room and enclosure, you can move him to a room where the puppy does not see you and do the same thing.
Remember not to stand behind the door (which you will have to close) because he will hear you. Put him in the enclosure, and then do your chores normally. When you hear him in silence, open the door again. You can also do this for adult dogs who are not used to being alone as children. When the dog gets used to it, you can leave it in the house.
When I leave, my dog scratches at the door: what can I do?
It is a frequent condition and can be solved by the same route I showed you for the puppy.
Games for dogs when they are alone
Can games be used to distract the dog? The answer is no.
The dog must experience loneliness as a moment of relaxation, not leisure and activity, which must be spent with the owner.
In my opinion, the only useful thing to give is something (for sure) to chew, an activity that relaxes the dog and gratifies him.
Even the Kong, which should contain small food rewards for satisfying his predatory instincts, should not be used when the dog is alone but to let off steam when we are together with him and, perhaps, alternating with physical activity suited to his aptitude.
Teaching a dog to stay house alone. My dog barks when alone; what do I do?
Another situation arises when a dog barks alone, disturbing the neighbourhood.
should assess this condition on a case-by-case basis by observing
- How long is the dog left alone
- The attitude the dog has (guarding, defence)
- Whether it is in an anxious state
- It causes barking, etc
Often it is the noises in the house that put him on constant alert:
- The lift in the corridor of the apartment building
- The steps of the neighbour above
- Neighbour’s shouting (to make him stop that, instead, reinforces the behaviour), etc.
You can resolve such a situation by placing the dog in a quieter place in the house but always following the path I described initially.
My dog destroys the house when he is alone; what should I do?
If such a situation happens, the most important thing is not to react. If the dog has been in a situation of such discomfort and excitement that it destroys everything, it is essential that you do not react at all and do not add stress.
Take the dog, put his leash on him and go outside to let him vent; when he is calm, has fouled and let off steam, go home and put everything back without a word. Destructive behaviour is not spiteful (dogs do not spite but react in uncomfortable situations).
In this context, it is essential to understand what provoked his reaction and to try to resolve it with the help of a behaviourist (trainer and vet). First, the dog has experienced extreme stress and fear that must be investigated. Then, the fence route must be implemented, leaving the animal alone for a short time and gradually.
You are teaching your dog to stay house alone. What can happen if I don’t teach the dog to be alone?
When a dog does not learn to be alone, he may become a subject suffering from separation anxiety, a severe and stressful condition requiring specialists’ intervention.
In conclusion, remember that the dog needs to let off steam and tire himself out to be serene at home alone: spending time with your pet playing and interacting will also satisfy him for the time he will have to spend alone.
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