How do you teach your dog to stay alone? Tips for dealing with your dog in such situations

How do you teach your dog to stay alone? Tips for dealing with your dog in such situations




From birth, the puppy naturally attaches itself to its mother. Once adopted, it will shift this attachment to its owner, which becomes its new reference. In general, it is estimated that detachment occurs naturally around the age of 4 months if the puppy stays with his mother; it takes off and becomes independent. On the other hand, when the animal is adopted from the legal age, that is to say at 2 months, it has not yet been able to perform this detachment step. As a result, the attachment transferred to his master is very intense. It is therefore necessary to teach it over time how to detach itself from it.

This learning is essential for your pet’s well-being, to teach your pet how to socialize better, to live better in their environment, and to better accept your absence when you are not there. You will avoid many difficulties in the face of loneliness, including the development of separation anxiety. Of course, this learning is not intended to distract the animal from its master, but to help it to endure loneliness by avoiding developing a feeling of hyper attachment.

Here are our step-by-step tips to teach your dog to stay alone.


Tip 1: Teach your dog how to cope with being away when you are there


The first step is simple. Your dog must learn to stand alone in a room in your home or garden while you are in another room. It is not healthy for your pet to follow you everywhere. He has to be able to experience not seeing you all the time, and to start by teaching him how to handle the distance of a few meters is the first step.

To do this, you can prohibit it from a room of the house for example. So when you go there, he will have to learn to expect you somewhere else and he will discover that you are always coming back to him and that he is not in any danger in your absence. You can also teach him to go to bed in his basket and stay there, even if you leave the room.


Tip 2: Initiate contacts


In positive and caring education, the animal is taught frustration. The master is invited not to answer all the requests of his little companion to better help him manage his absences. Indeed, a dog that is always given a positive or negative answer when asked for something will not understand that it is not given constant attention. So when you are absent, he will tend to develop a behavior intended to alert you (uncleanliness, destruction, etc.) and to show you his dissatisfaction.

The master must be the initiator of the contact. To do this, do not answer your dog and ignore his requests. We should not get angry or react in any way, but ignore it and wait for it to move on to make it work. But beware, it is not a question of punishing him or depriving him of anything. As soon as he moves on, call him and offer him the contact (caress, play, treat, etc.). He will have received an answer, but you initiated it. This will make them more willing to give up and put up with your absence.


Tip 3: trivialize your departures


This step is essential to teach the dog to accept loneliness and your absences. Indeed, your doggie knows when you are about to leave the house because he observes your actions. If he can't bear to see you gone, he will feel stress and anxiety about separation.

To teach her to accept your departure, trivialize them. To do this, help your child unwind by occasionally doing the same things as you leave, but without leaving. Put your coat on, then put it down. take your bag and put it back; take your keys and put them back; walk through the front door and close it behind you, then come back after a short time and then longer.

By doing so, your dog will no longer be able to dissociate the true departures from the false ones. He will be less anxious when he sees you getting ready to leave since he will know you can come back at any time.

Also, when you leave the house, trivialize the situation. It is, therefore, preferable to avoid "goodbye" and hugs. Do not cuddle or pat your dog to tell him or her that you are leaving, as he or she may feel stressed and perceive your behavior as confirmation that your distance is abnormal and that he or she should be worried as you are trying to reassure him or her. Leave the house without saying anything, as if you were just going to get the mail from your mailbox.


Tip 4: More positive absences


When you’re away, don’t hesitate to leave your dog a nice toy, including a game that distributes sweets. It is better to find it after your departure to avoid associating the toy with your actual absences. In addition, this toy should only be made available to him when you leave and not in self-service to make sense. So when they find it after you leave, this toy will help them move on by doing something useful.

Also, avoid leaving the house with a worried, sad, or fearful face. Your animal will perceive it and may be disturbed and anxious by your fears. So act normally. Also, if you find out that he did something stupid in your absence, do not punish him and ignore them. Prefer to follow the principle of "not seen, not taken", because your pet will be unable to associate the anger you manifest against it when you return with its past stupidity. He would perceive your reaction as an injustice and the stupidity will tend to repeat itself.

Also, do not clean in front of him; wait until he has left the room to do so. And of course, never put his head in his "accidents"; you would just give him the impression that you were showing him what to do.


Tip 5: Small space


When you leave, avoid leaving the whole house accessible to your dog. It is generally advisable to allow him access to certain rooms equipped with games to occupy him and all his little necessary for his well-being and comfort (sleeping, feeding, water). This way, he will be less tempted to go everywhere to find you, to check every door and window, or to make nonsense everywhere if there is to be nonsense.



Before your departure, if your absence is to last several hours, do not hesitate to walk him. He will have taken care of himself before being confined - which will limit the risk of an accident - and he will have spent himself, which will encourage him to sleep more when you are gone and thus to better endure loneliness!


 

 


LIO

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