6 Tips To Get Your Dog Used To Being Alone

One of the main “fears” of pet owners, when they decide to adopt a dog or a cat, is what to do when they have to leave it alone, inside the house. This aspect greatly affects the choice to welcome a four-legged friend, but there are several ways to solve the problem. Everything is, from the first months of life, in the ability of the owner to get the dog used to being alone. In respect, in this article we will show you 6 really effective useful tips .

How to get your dog used to being alone?

Some animals, for reasons of work and  daily routine  , unfortunately end up spending many hours alone. They may come to feel abandoned, suffer from stress, or become victims of dangerous separation anxiety. During the time they are left without company, they often cry, bark and assume destructive attitudes, biting and scratching objects or furniture.

First, you must understand that the dog is a social animal and needs to be surrounded by people or other animals at all times. Obviously, only a few lucky ones can avoid going to work and spending the whole day with their four-legged friend. However, there are methods that will allow you to accustom the dog to being alone, without him suffering excessively:

1. Get used to it from a puppy

As soon as he arrives at your home, you must immediately teach the dog to be alone. In the beginning, it will be for a short interval (5 minutes) and, slowly, this interval will be increased to a few hours. The animal will gradually get used to your absence and above all will have the certainty that you will return to him.

Many people adopt a pet during the holidays. In addition to enjoying the well-deserved days of leisure, they will accustom the animal to the fact that the owner will not always be by his side.

2. A fair amount of physical activity

Often your dog’s aggressive behavior is more the result of poor exercise than mere loneliness. A good tip is to get up about half an hour earlier and walk the animal. Let him play, run, in short, get tired. Once they get home, while you are leaving for work, he is likely to prefer to take a nap.

The important thing is that you burn a large part of the energy accumulated during the night. After walking and running, your best friend will be in a calm state and is likely to decide to spend a few hours in perfect  relaxation .

3. Avoid haste

In order to get your dog used to being alone in the house, you also need to pay attention to your habits. If you wake up early, you will not have enough time to be with the animal or you will risk arriving late. The secret is to make it clear that being away from home is like a game and that, upon your return, you will be able to reward the animal adequately.

Also, we recommend that in the 15 minutes before you leave, you don’t interact with him, so that he can calm down and get ready to be alone. If you play with him, make fun of him or talk to him, it will be more difficult for him to accept the detachment.

This element is very important: do not overdo the greetings. A  too long goodbye can be understood by your dog as  goodbye . We know it’s not easy, but it’s better to close the front door and go out in a less emotional way.

4. Leave food and toys behind

Just when you leave the house, we advise you to feed him. So he will have something to do and afterwards, to digest well, he will lie down to rest. It is very useful to leave your favorite objects and toys close to him, so that he can bite them and entertain himself when you are not there.

5. Tidy house and music on

Be careful that there are no potentially dangerous or valuable objects within reach of the animal. He may decide to play with them or break them out of simple curiosity. Close the windows and doors to the balcony and remove the laundry and other clothes left on the floor. If you have a garden with a swimming pool, make sure that the animal remains closed inside the house. He’ll be safer here.

To prevent your pet from feeling lonely and sad, it’s a good idea to leave the radio or television on. This is a simple trick that will allow you to fill the silence of the house. Compared to music, dogs prefer instrumental pieces (voiceless). And if you have digital terrestrial, there is a  channel dedicated to dogs, called Dog TV which broadcasts programs designed just for them.

6. A room all to himself

Finally, you can choose to leave it in a small room, without accessing other spaces in the house, such as the kitchen. Remember to include all his personal items (bowls with food and water, toys, favorite bed and blanket…) in order to create a familiar environment. In this space the dog can move freely and play, without entering other areas of the house that could be dangerous.