My Anxiety At Leaving Pooch At Home

[Guest donatella]

I'd just suggest not leaving a collar on her while you are away if you're worried about choking.

Or you can get "breakaway" collars that will unclip if the dog gets the collar caught on anything.

Sounds like she is a great pup and she might even like her alone time.

Try not to stress to much as she could pick up on your anxiety and that could stress her

no i dont put collars on her for the choking reason (we even walk with harness). i'm very calm, i walk out and walk in without making a fuss. i'm better used to the idea now, i keep reminding myself how she's so independent when i'm here, she will be coping just fine without me. its always the first few times that make you nervous though.

[Guest donatella]

i dont think you have anything to worry about personally, its not thaat long that she will be home alone for anyway

i leave my dogs with bones if you dont want to do that throw some kipple on the floor to give her something to do while you are out, do you have any kongs? you can fill them with goodies or peanut paste that she has to lick out or empty bottles things she is allowed to play with, she will prob have a ball without you.

when my baby girl got desexed she was in a crate with water and kongs from 7am till i got home at about 1pm and she was perfectly fine would run straight out to the toilet when i got home (good baby girl)

can you confine her to a large crate? or a play pen so she isnt running around the house looking for trouble? i used to throw the kibble in the crate and put biscuit bones and pigs feet etc and peanut paste kongs in the crate for my girl

im sure she will be perfectly happy/fine do not stress

she's got a kong and she loves those schmacko chompers (which are cylinder shaped chews, rawhide on the outside and chicken on the inside) and she's got such a small mouth i doubt she can splinter the rawhide, she just chews and chews trying to get the delicious filled centre, she's teething at the moment so that seems to work for both of us. i've not gotten into the crate thing, i know its recommended for dogs, but she's never used one and i'm almost certain she would make noise if i one day contained her. i live in a unit so its a one level flat, doors get closed, powerpoints off, theres not too much she can get up to and she thinks she's the king of the castle. as you have all said, she probably just sleeps, i'm sure she's well behaved.

[Weasels]

As people have said, it sounds like your dog is great alone, the main worry is that you don't create problems by stressing

I had trouble trying to act casual when I left and returned home for a while, especially because my girl did show separation distress when we first got her. I just get in the mindset of treating like entering and leaving a room - 'no big deal, see you again soon'. I just say 'be good!' when I leave, and when I get back make sure I put my stuff down, say hello to OH if he's there, then say hi to the dogs and a quick pat on the head. The less fuss from me, the less fuss from them.

I know it's hard not to worry when you are out, but the most important thing is not to show it when you are coming and going

I've recorded my dogs several times on the webcam on my laptop. After a few hours of watching video of my dogs sleeping, only to get up to go sleep somewhere else, my anxiety was much reduced :D

[megan_]

Personally, I'd never leave my dog crated when I went to work - I'm out for 12 hours a day. If your dog isn't destroying your house there is no reason to crate her when you are out.

I too felt guilty about leaving my boy at first. He would cry for 5 mins then settle. Personally, I recommend you DON'T send your dog to day care every day - they won't learn how to cope on their own. I had a dog walker every day for about a year (very exe, but as I said I'm away for about 12 hours a day so wanted to break things up). They now only come 3 days a week. That way, my dogs still learn that they have to cope on their own.

Your dog sounds well adjusted. Leave the house without a fuss then have a little cry in the car if you have to, but don't take what you have for granted and accidentally train your pup to be anxious by letting them pick up on your vibes.

[Guest donatella]

As people have said, it sounds like your dog is great alone, the main worry is that you don't create problems by stressing

I had trouble trying to act casual when I left and returned home for a while, especially because my girl did show separation distress when we first got her. I just get in the mindset of treating like entering and leaving a room - 'no big deal, see you again soon'. I just say 'be good!' when I leave, and when I get back make sure I put my stuff down, say hello to OH if he's there, then say hi to the dogs and a quick pat on the head. The less fuss from me, the less fuss from them.

I know it's hard not to worry when you are out, but the most important thing is not to show it when you are coming and going

I've recorded my dogs several times on the webcam on my laptop. After a few hours of watching video of my dogs sleeping, only to get up to go sleep somewhere else, my anxiety was much reduced :D

i think i need to get into this webcam thing!

i'm very cool about coming and going, its my flatmate i have to keep reminding to act casually about coming and going. i used to wonder why she was at the door every time i got home, but then realised she knows the sound of our garage door and runs to the door when she hears it. phew! i'm sure she'll be just fine, she's off in another room sleeping now while i'm in the lounge. i thought pomeranians were quite a needy breed, but she is pretty settled. i got her when she was 16 weeks and she was one of the last with her brother and the lady used to leave them to go to work.

[Guest donatella]

Personally, I'd never leave my dog crated when I went to work - I'm out for 12 hours a day. If your dog isn't destroying your house there is no reason to crate her when you are out.

I too felt guilty about leaving my boy at first. He would cry for 5 mins then settle. Personally, I recommend you DON'T send your dog to day care every day - they won't learn how to cope on their own. I had a dog walker every day for about a year (very exe, but as I said I'm away for about 12 hours a day so wanted to break things up). They now only come 3 days a week. That way, my dogs still learn that they have to cope on their own.

Your dog sounds well adjusted. Leave the house without a fuss then have a little cry in the car if you have to, but don't take what you have for granted and accidentally train your pup to be anxious by letting them pick up on your vibes.

thanks for this and i agree re the crating. she hasn't destroyed anything, is more then happy to chew her toys and treats so i'm lucky there (and she weighs 2.8kg so her mouth is teeny). she feels safe and secure inside, i leave a blind open out the back for her to look out the balcony but leave the front door closed so she doesn't get into the habit of barking at passing things. she's pretty used to being alone, its just me. i will be fine after the first week though :D

[SammieS]

I'd just suggest not leaving a collar on her while you are away if you're worried about choking.

Or you can get "breakaway" collars that will unclip if the dog gets the collar caught on anything.

Set up a webcam and record her for a day and I would not be surprised if you soon stop worrying or looking for doggy day care. Most dogs simply spend their day sleeping.

Take puppy for a walk before work and do a short training session for some mental exhaustion. Leave different toys on rotation, some treats hidden for pup to find and a kong and you'll have a content puppy.

i'm very interesting in learning more about this webcam thing, i'll google research it. i've no doubt she entertains herself, thankfully she's not needy, she sleeps with me and gets up on her own in the morning to head into the lounge room to play with her toys herself coming in every now and then to jump on me.

I have a breakaway collar on Asti and also a webcam which is connected to our internet (it has its own website built in inside) so at work i can log into the webcam via my iphone and see what she's doing... and she is ALWAYS sound asleep in her beanbag!;)

The webcam cost $80 off ebay and was relatively easy to setup and you can hook it up to your computer to record on movement or just record all day. I haven't tried it but apparently you can talk through it too, oh, and it works in the dark!

Like everyone else, I recommend toy rotation, and treat balls!!! We also leave a treasure hunt of treats around the room before we leave each day.

The webcam thing was the best thing we ever did, I always wondered what she did when we went to work, and the answer is: sleep.

[cointreau]

Without sounding uncaring and horrible I think you need to step back and face reality you cannot always be with Lucy and acting in her best interests would be to get her use to being on her own and not looking at doggy daycare. It is normal to feel guilty leaving your dog I feel horrible when I leave my girl but she is fine for over 12 hrs I have to be away for work and it is shift work too. She knows when the uniform is on I am going to be away for a long time, days off I spend with her mostly because that is what I want to do not because I have to be with my dog.

I used to take my girl to DDC on my way to work (it was free for me) and now realise it was the worst thing I could have done, I don't think she enjoyed it as much as I thought, she would be worn out at the end of the day and bad habits from other dogs were picked up. DDC has it's place but not regularly while you go to work IMO. I would rather spend the money saved by taking my dog out or even putting it into a holiday fund so we could go away together on holiday.

I think if Lucy is happy at home now leaving her while you are at work will be quite okay too, just spend some quality time with her when you get home. Try not to make too much of a fuss of her when you first get home and when you have both settled down and got over the excitement of getting home take her for a walk.

[Guest donatella]

I'd just suggest not leaving a collar on her while you are away if you're worried about choking.

Or you can get "breakaway" collars that will unclip if the dog gets the collar caught on anything.

Set up a webcam and record her for a day and I would not be surprised if you soon stop worrying or looking for doggy day care. Most dogs simply spend their day sleeping.

Take puppy for a walk before work and do a short training session for some mental exhaustion. Leave different toys on rotation, some treats hidden for pup to find and a kong and you'll have a content puppy.

i'm very interesting in learning more about this webcam thing, i'll google research it. i've no doubt she entertains herself, thankfully she's not needy, she sleeps with me and gets up on her own in the morning to head into the lounge room to play with her toys herself coming in every now and then to jump on me.

I have a breakaway collar on Asti and also a webcam which is connected to our internet (it has its own website built in inside) so at work i can log into the webcam via my iphone and see what she's doing... and she is ALWAYS sound asleep in her beanbag!;)

The webcam cost $80 off ebay and was relatively easy to setup and you can hook it up to your computer to record on movement or just record all day. I haven't tried it but apparently you can talk through it too, oh, and it works in the dark!

Like everyone else, I recommend toy rotation, and treat balls!!! We also leave a treasure hunt of treats around the room before we leave each day.

The webcam thing was the best thing we ever did, I always wondered what she did when we went to work, and the answer is: sleep.

i'm going to look into that as i have an iphone on me at all times so this could be perfect! thankfully i'm a shift worker and so is my nurse flatmate so its really only a day or 2 here and there, but i dont want her to be lonely on this day or 2

[Simply Grand]

d, it sounds like you're doing a great job and Lucy sounds like a well adjusted little girl, I think she will do just fine on her own a few days a week! When I had to go back to work after bringing my first pup Saxon home I was worried and popped home at lunchtime to check on him a few days but he'd always been sleeping and didn't seem bothered at all so I decided it was less disruptive for him to just leave him.

With my second pup Riley I had to go back to work pretty much straight away. I wasn't too worried about leaving him because he had Saxon around for company but they were kept apart though baby gates for the first few weeks until I was confident Riley wouldn't get hurt. I was usually gone up to 10 hrs a day, 5 days a week and Riley was fine, this was from 9 weeks. He's now nearly 5 months and happy hanging out with Saxon or on his own, tho he does get very excited when I return to him!

It is hard not to worry, especially when they're so little but you can't control everything, all you can do is leave her in the best set up, which it sounds like you have, and try to relax!

[ludwig09]

If your in Morningside you could consider Furry Kids at Home. I used them when I first moved to Brisbane, at the time I only had one dog and he was not used to being on his one (and I was not used to leaving him). Stephanie is great, for my dog she would just come and sit with him for half an hour, play with him, groom him, bring her dog to spend time with him. She would then send me a text after each visit to let me know everything was okay.

I have also used Furry kids at home when my two were puppies and they were fantastic. It was reassuring to have someone check in on our babies and send us a text and sometimes even a pic of them having a play. It really put my mind at ease.

[fainty_girl]

If your dog isn't anxious and there isn't a problem then I wouldn't bother with spending money on doggy day care.

If you are worried about her being bored, could you possibly take her for a short walk before you leave for work? That might give you a chance to relax too.

You don't want her to pick up on your anxiety, and then have to deal with a dog who has separation anxiety for the next 15 years!