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Avoid Puppy Separation Anxiety
from: The Complete DogSince dogs are quite sociable it isn't natural for them to be isolated. However, domestic dogs are going to be left alone from time to, which makes it's important for them to learn to deal with solitude when they're young.
Puppies must be taught to be alone, otherwise problems can arise when they're eventually left by themselves, even if just for a few minutes. Some dogs can be a real problem when they become anxious about being alone and will chew things, scratch at the door, dig at carpets, frantically run, bark, howl, and possibly lose control of their bladder. This can only be prevented by getting your puppy familiar with being alone at an early age, and this especially important if someone in the family usually spends most of the day with him.
Puppies have an ingrained fear of being abandonment by their parent figure, at least until they become mature and more self-reliant. Since you are a substitute for their mother, you must gradually teach your puppy to be independent in the same way it would have happen naturally.
This process should be started as soon as your puppy arrives. The best time is when he's starting to get tired and is settling down for a nap. Play with him a beforehand and take him outside to do his business. When you return, put him in his bed and shut him in the room alone. Puppies tend to feel safer in a den-like area to sleep.
Now your job is to ignore whining, barking or scratching at the door. Eventually he'll accept he's on his own and settle down to sleep. When he's very young, open the door once he's fallen asleep so he can come to you when he wakes up and needs to go out.
This exercise should be repeated often, while gradually building up how much time he spends alone until he's able to easily cope with a few hours of separation. By getting him to cope without you when you're nearby in the house helps him get used to the situation and remain calm when he's left alone.
Never go into the room when a puppy is making a fuss. This will simply be rewarding this behavior, which he'll continue to do. Always hold off entering until your puppy is quiet, and then you can go in and praise this behavior. Enter as soon as there's a quiet moment; leaving your puppy to cry for hours will only serve to make him totally afraid of being left alone. You can start to build up to longer absences, but only go as fast as puppy can deal with.
It's important that you don't punish your dog upon returning from being away regardless of what's happened while you were absense. Your dog simply won't be able to link the punishment with what he's done, and it won't avoid this happening again next time. He'll think you're angry simply because you've returned which will only cause him to be anxious next time you leave him, since he'll now be worried about when you come back and this could lead to separation problems in the future.
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