10 Tips for Leaving Your Dog Home Alone
by dogtoyadvisor | Last updated on November 18, 2020
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In a perfect World, we’d be able to spend all our time with our dogs.
However, not only is that not possible but we suspect it wouldn’t be very healthy for our dogs.
Dogs need to feel safe and happy on their own, to be independent.
Yes, of course we love it when they see us and their eyes just light up with happiness, but we also like to think they’re balanced enough to spend a few hours alone everyday without getting stressed.
Our First Dog Was Terrified Of Being Left Alone
When we adopted our first dog, Dobby, we found ourselves with an untrained adult dog on our hands and no idea what to do.
Having been abandoned before, Dobby would be absolutely terrified when he realized we were about to leave, like he thought we were never coming back.
And, once we did leave, he would be in absolute anxiety until the moment he heard us returning.
He would pee himself, he would cry for as long as he was alone, he would destroy whatever he could find.
Whatever your dog does when you leave him alone, Dobby would probably do worse every single day.
And we actually do work from home, so we’d leave him by himself for a couple of hours, tops!
Fear Or Separation Anxiety?
In order to understand what you need to do to get your dog used to being home alone, you need to establish if your dog is naturally fearful or if he’s suffering from separation anxiety.
How does he react exactly?
Does he bark or whine a bit? Or is it full on tantrum for hours?
Is he destructive? Scratching at doors and windows like he couldn’t stand being there?
Does he soil himself?
Dobby was a poster child for separation anxiety. Luckily, we were able to work with our vet and develop a plan for dealing with our dog’s separation anxiety.
Getting Home To a Stressed Dog
It’s not fun.
You get home tired to see your dog and finally relax, only to find your home is a mess.
He’s destroyed his toys or bed or maybe your shoes, books, curtains, everyday is a surprise.
But the first thing that hits you is the smell.
Pee, poop, he’s done it all.
Then, of course, there’s the neighbors complaining of the barking and incessant whining and you know you’re in real trouble and so is your dog!
How Long Is Too Long To Leave A Dog Alone?
Well, it depends on how you’re leaving him.
If he is crated, then you’ll have to think about him needing to pee or drink water.
If not, as long as you leave him with water and someplace for him to go potty, then you can leave him for a bit longer.
In either case, we don’t recommend leaving your dog alone for more than 4 straight hours.
If we’re talking about a puppy, you’ll want to reduce that time to 2-3 hours tops.
10 Tips For Making Sure Your Dog Is Okay Home Alone
You can’t quit your job or give up your live to make sure your dog doesn’t miss you, so what can you do? Luckily, we’ve got a few tips that worked great for us and changed our lives.
Hopefully, they will do the same for you.
1 – Create a Safe Space For Your Dog
Ideally, you’ll want to use a crate for that.
Crates get a bad rap because it feels like we’re putting our dog in doggy jail, but in fact a crate is meant to be our dog’s little safe place, somewhere that’s only him, where he’ll feel secure.
Granted, it’s easier to crate-train a dog if he’s a puppy, but it can be done with adults and the advantages for him are tremendous.
2 – Leave the TV or the Radio On
You’d think it doesn’t make a difference, but it actually does. Not only does it keep him company, but it also drowns out noises that might frighten him.
3 – Use a Pet Calming Diffuser
One of our best kept secrets for keeping our dogs relaxed while home alone is a little helper our vet recommended that we can’t live without.
It’s a pheromones diffuser you use on the room where your dogs are when they’re home alone.
Not only does it work pretty fast, the effect is long-lasting.
The ingredients are all natural, odorless and pet safe and we use it not only for stress and anxiety but also for aggression, with wonderful results.
And, best yet, it’s appropriate for both dogs and cats, which comes in handy in a home with a little bit of everything.
4 – Don’t Make a Big Deal About Leaving
This is important, we’ve all been guilty of this.
You’re leaving and feeling guilty and your dog is giving you those irresistible sad puppy eyes no one with a heart can resist.
But you need to be strong!
Making a big deal about it will only create more anxiety and you want your dog to be as calm as possible when you leave, ideally without even acknowledging your departure.
Plus, dogs pick up on their owners moods, so you’ll need to be calm and relaxed when you leave.
5 – Don’t Make a Big Deal About Returning
Likewise, another very common mistake.
Yes, you’re happy to see your dog and he’s overjoyed to see you, but making a big deal about it will only make him feel like he has reasons to be fearful of being alone.
Just enter, take of your coat, take of your shoes and go about your business as usual.
If your dog is crated, you’ll want to release him after about a minute or two and don’t pay any particular attention to him, especially if he’s hyper-active around you.
Only when he’s calmed down and is unlikely to associate it with your arrival will you want to spoil him rotten.
6 – Keep Him Distracted
Ideally, you want your dog to think of being alone as a rewarding time and nothing rewards your dog better than treats and food, right?
If you add a fun, engaging toy to that equation, you just might have a winner strategy on your hands.
We’ve tried a lot of toys but found that none does its job better than the mighty KONG.
Choose different ways to stuff your dog’s Kong, using treats, canned food, fruits, frozen or as is and give it to your dog as you’re just about to leave.
Not only will he love it, eventually he’ll be waiting for it in anticipation.
7 – Make Sure You Tire Him Out Before Leaving
Particularly if your dog is high energy.
A tired dog is a relaxed dog. A fully-energized dog isn’t. It’s that simple.
Play fun games with your dog, take him for a long walk, do whatever tires him the most before leaving him on his own.
It’s half way to making sure he won’t stress but will, in fact, spend most of his alone time sleeping.
8 – Leave Your Scent With Him
Your dog loves your scent and it’s relaxing to him to smell it.
So, a very simple way to help him be okay with being home alone is to leave something of yours with him.
Like your pajama or a sweater you’ve worn recently.
You’ll be surprised at how much he loves that simple touch.
9 – Make Sure He’s Okay
By now you’re probably wondering how you’ll know if this works.
Well, we’ve covered that too!
We got a Pet Camera that we’re in love about, the best investment we’ve ever done, pet-wise.
We chose the Furbo Dog Camera for a number of reasons, not only because it’s pretty easy to set up and use daily, but you can also talk with your dog AND feed him treats!
We’ve lost count of the times we’ve stood at some aisle at the supermarket acting like lunatics, talking to our dogs and giving them treats just for the fun of it.
It also lets you know when there’s movement in your home and even when your dog barks.
It’s the closest we’ve ever been to our pets without actually being home with them and the peace of mind that gives us is truly priceless.
10 – Never Blame Or Punish Your Dog
Getting your dog used to being home alone is a process that can take some time, because you’ll want to start small and increase the alone periods slowly.
And even when you think you’ve got it mastered, your dog may still regress and go back to his old ways.
And yes, it may get worse before it gets better.
But what you mustn’t do, under any circumstance, is get angry and lash out at your dog.
That is guaranteed to make him even more fearful, even more insecure, even more anxious about being left alone.
Remember, your dog isn’t acting up to punish you or to upset you, he’s just expressing the chaos that goes on inside him.
Be patient, be consistent, do your part on making this work and we guarantee it will all be worth it in the end.
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