Keep your pup happy and healthy with these tips
While most dog owners would love nothing more than to spend every waking minute hanging with their pups, for 9-to-5ers, that’s usually not an option. When you see that all-too-familiar baleful look when you leave for the office, it’s natural to assume that your dog is lonely.
Unfortunately, our dogs can’t just come out and say how they’re feeling. So how can you tell if your dog is lonely while you’re away? Your pup will make it pretty clear when you have a problem on your hands.
While “loneliness” is a common human emotion, it might not exactly translate for dogs distressed by their owner’s absence, explains Shelby Semel, senior trainer and founder of Shelby Semel Dog Training.
“I believe dogs are more likely to be bored, anxious or stressed than ‘lonely,’” Semel tells The Dodo. “They may bark, whine, pace, howl, try to escape and/or sleep by the front door waiting for your return.”
Pet owners should keep an eye out for these behaviors, but try not to become too much of a helicopter parent for their furbaby. “If your dog looks relaxed, takes a nap while youre away and is not entertaining themselves by playing with toys or is eating, that is not a reason for concern,” Semel says. “The behavior is not categorized as being lonely or unhappy, but is most likely a sign of resting!”
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You Can Train Your Dog to be Alone
Being alone is an important skill for any dog to learn. Ideally, they are trained as puppies so that they’re okay with you leaving the house or sleeping in another room. However, adult dogs can also be trained!
If you’d like your dog to sleep on their own, there are three options:
Proper crate training takes time, but the crate benefits your dog in many ways. One of these is having a place to sleep at night where they feel safe and secure.
Take crate training slowly and never use the crate as a punishment. You can either leave the crate door open or closed at night, depending on your preference.
Some people leave the crate closed when their dog is a puppy or during early training, then leave it open later in their dog’s life.
Lastly, be sure not to crate your dog too often. An example of this would be keeping your dog locked in their crate while you sleep and while you’re at work.
On average, that would be 16 hours a day—or a third of your dog’s life!—that they’d spend crated. This isn’t fair and doesn’t provide for your dog’s exercise or social needs adequately.
If you want your dog to have more space than a crate, but still want them to be confined and outside of your room, you can give them their own “doggy bedroom” to sleep in.
This doesn’t literally have to be a bedroom made special for your dog—just a dog-proofed room in your house where they can sleep.
Designate a corner or a couch to your pup, providing them with a bed, blanket, a water dish, and maybe a chew toy.
You could also place your dog’s crate in their “bedroom” if you don’t want it in your room.
I suggest free-roaming the house last because some dogs can’t handle the freedom! If you allow your dog to roam the house at night, make sure your house is dog-proofed and they are well trained.
This is often a better option for adult dogs than it is for puppies, as puppies need more monitoring. They might have an accident indoors or chew something they shouldn’t while you sleep.
It’s definitely hard to keep the whole house puppy-proofed if you have a mischievous pup. If you feel like you can trust your dog or trust yourself to have any dangers put away, feel free to try allowing them to roam the house at night.
The benefit to this is that you’ll know exactly where they want to sleep, and they’ll be able to come to you if they’re lonely!
Some dogs don’t want to be too far from you at night, like in the options I discussed above. They’d rather be close so that they don’t get lonely!
If you’re worried your dog is lonely at night, try the following: