Staying in a crate helps reduce the risk of accidents and also keeps your puppy safe and secure when no one is around. Keeping your puppy in a crate is a temporary solution. Puppies that are a few months old or more might not handle being in a crate for several hours at a time.
To keep your puppy healthy and happy while you're away, follow this general rule: Puppies younger than 6 months: Leave them alone for 2 hours max at a time. Puppies older than 6 months: Leave them alone for 4 hours max at a time.
It's not advised to leave young puppies home alone, especially for long periods. Start slow, and train your dog to gradually become more and more comfortable while you're away.
Before you go to work, make sure they are sufficiently tired. Make sure you take them on a long walk or play fetch. This may require you to wake up early, but it is important to leave your dog tired. You also need to give them things to keep them entertained throughout the day.
Separation anxiety is a serious condition that creates high levels of stress for your puppy and often results in abnormal behaviour when left alone. Puppies may cry a little when you leave the house, but separation anxiety is usually explained by more extreme behaviours, such as: Destructive or disruptive behaviour.
First, crate train your puppy, and second, arrange for regular toilet breaks at appropriate intervals. Before leaving for work, play with your pup and take them out for a potty break. When they go, give the usual praise and reward. Then pop your pup into the crate with a safe chew toy.
Begin by closing your puppy in the confinement area with a chew toy or other constructive activity, then quietly walk out of the room. Return immediately and reward them with praise and a treat. Repeat the process, slowly increasing how long you're away each time.
According to the American Kennel Club, puppies younger than 10 weeks cannot be left alone for more than an hour. From 3-6 months, they should not be left longer than their age in months (for example, 3-month-old puppies cannot be alone for longer than 3 hours).
If your puppy is 5 months old for example, then they will be needing 25 minutes of puppy exercise at a time, and up to two to three times daily. Continue following this guide depending on how many months old your puppy is until they reach adulthood (12-18 months old).
The instant you feel your puppy's teeth touch you, give a high-pitched yelp. Then immediately walk away from him. Ignore him for 30 to 60 seconds. If your puppy follows you or continues to bite and nip at you, leave the room for 30 to 60 seconds.
Don't leave your puppy bored in its playpen all-day
Your puppy pen should be used to give your puppy a safe place to chew toys, exercise, and learn to be alone for short periods of time. Puppy pens are not intended to give dog owners the ability to leave a puppy alone for several hours or an entire night.
A lot of people ask “how old should my puppy be before sleeping in bed with me?” There is no right answer to that question. Some puppies may be ready to sleep in bed at 4 months old, but some may need to be 6 months old or older before they can sleep with you.
You should have a pee pad inside the playpen, which if you're lucky the first couple nights, the pup will pee on it instead of on the floor. Don't lock them in the crate until you've given them time to love it by following the advice below. Keep everything super positive.
Give your dog plenty of opportunities to go to the toilet in an appropriate place. Take them out when they wake up, after every meal, after playtime, before bed, before you leave them and when you come back, and then every 45 minutes.
While you may eventually want to let your dog sleep in bed with you (or your kids), it really is best if your pup starts out sleeping in a crate — you can always let them in the bed later, once they're fully potty-trained, sleeping soundly, and happily acclimated to their crate.
Most experts agree you shouldn't leave your adult dog alone for more than eight to 10 hours, but some dogs (especially ones with small bladders) can't last that long. DO prepare your dog before you go.
You can usually stop closing your dog into your crate when they are around two years of age. Before then, they are usually more likely to get into trouble. It isn't until they mature fully that they are able to behave properly when not supervised. This is especially true for larger dogs, who tend to mature later.
Puppyhood is an important stage of development for dogs, so you need to keep puppy entertained — whether you are indoors or out. Keeping your furry buddy working is also important for training and keeping damage to a minimum. A bored puppy is absolutely a puppy who's getting into trouble!
Unfortunately, puppies don't just grow out of separation anxiety. If you leave it untreated, it will likely just get worse, and it certainly won't get any better! However, thankfully, it's not too difficult to treat and just takes a little TLC and training.
Dogs are a naturally social species and it's normal for them to stay close to their social group which is why they can become anxious when left alone. When a puppy is first separated from their mother and litter mates, their usual response will be to whine, whimper or bark while trying to get back to them.
While you'd think that helplessness would make it harder to raise a baby than a puppy, the opposite is true. That helplessness is exactly what makes babies so comparatively easy to raise. The job isn't, in the grand scheme of things, as hard as people would have you believe. For starters, babies are immobile.
Crate training is necessary for when your canine is a puppy—sleeping in a crate at night teaches puppies how to control their bladder and bowels since they don't like to relieve themselves in the same space that they sleep. Kennels are also excellent for the times that no one can be home to supervise your new puppy.
A dog's schedule should include time to eat, sleep, exercise, and spend quality time with their people.