Home alone
How to teach your dog to stay alone
It really disrupts everyday life when your dog can't stay alone. Therefore, it's worth training this thoroughly from the beginning. Important: Don't take being left alone for granted, warns dog training consultant Holger Schüler.
Dogs feel most comfortable when they're secure in their social group. This is completely normal, and that's precisely why they make such wonderful companions. Getting a dog just to leave it alone for 10 hours every day or keep it in a kennel is, in my opinion, simply wrong.
However, it is certainly possible and sensible to train your dog to stay alone for several hours without stress and anxiety. It's not even particularly difficult—but unfortunately, you can make serious mistakes.
Mistake number 1: Leaving them alone too early and too suddenly
Please don't just test how long you can stay away before the dog starts barking or howling! Every time you push the dog beyond its limits, you make the problem worse. Conversely, you should practice returning before the dog even shows signs of distress. This might mean leaving the apartment for only a few seconds at first, perhaps without even closing the door. And most importantly: Leaving the apartment shouldn't be the first step!
Mistake number 2: Neglecting the preparatory exercises
A dog that can't stay alone in one room while you're in the next will obviously not cope when you leave the house. So, first, you need to train your dog at home to stay in its crate and not follow you everywhere. You want your dog to simply be calm and relaxed in the house, not constantly entertained.
Mistake number 3: Excite the dog too much
Of course, your dog should be fully exercised before being left alone. However, this doesn't just mean physically tiring him out, but also mentally challenging him. It's also important that your dog perceives the home as a quiet zone. So, rough games belong outside. And if your dog freaks out when you return, try to ignore the greeting drama. If you join in, your dog will remain in a nervous state of waiting the entire time instead of sleeping through the alone time.
For the same reason, it's not a good idea to keep your dog busy with all sorts of distractions when you're away. He's not supposed to play, or even guard the garden (unless you want a guard dog), but simply sleep. On the contrary, limit his freedom of movement a bit—for example, to one room and the hallway. This way, the dog feels less like he has to watch over the entire apartment.
Mistake number 4: Irregularity
During the training phase, you should practice regularly. Entertaining your dog around the clock for days while you're on vacation and then suddenly leaving him alone won't work. Practice makes perfect!
Dogs sleep up to 16 hours a day. If you proceed thoroughly and carefully, your dog will enjoy being alone to rest. However, if you rush things and overwhelm your dog, he may develop a real panic attack—and this will be very difficult to overcome.
