Home Alone: ​​The Path to Destructive Behavior

I once saw a show with Victoria Stillwell where a couple had their puppy (less than a year old) home alone in a single room all day. What she said always stuck with me. “If you were a child, locked in a room alone at home all day with no one to join you, how would you feel?” The woman replied, “I would go crazy.” To which Victoria declared, “What were you thinking?”

You can’t argue with logic. Anyone left home alone with nothing to do and no one to see will go crazy. A hamster kept in a cage without enrichment goes crazy!

All the people I know who have animals are students or animal welfare workers, or people who got their pets after serious research and understanding what they’re getting into. You just don’t BUY an animal without knowing the full deal. You don’t jump into the water without learning to swim!

That’s why it’s a surprise over and over again when people leave their dogs home alone for hours on end. A member of my family was a classic case of this. He had an old dog who was happy to sleep on the sofa in his house in a small house with a small patio instead of a garden (no lawn). This did not bother the dog, as being old he did not need much space to exercise and slept a lot. When he died, my relative had another dog of the same breed, but a puppy. The pup didn’t feel the same. He would come home to find that she had destroyed the bottom of the sofa, the rug, and the legs of the table. Everything had to go. Including the dog. Lucky for him, or should I say lucky for the dog, she had gotten it from a reputable breeder who was happy to get the pup back.

Remember, if you buy your puppy from a reputable breeder, you should always be able to take them away, as a good breeder only wants the best for their puppies and if you accept that they cannot offer it, the breeder will only be too happy to take them back. Sending a puppy to a rescue center should ALWAYS be a last resort. Everyone thinks “oh, a puppy will be quickly relocated”. This could be the case. But a rescue is required by law to keep a dog in the kennel for at least a week before they can fully reclaim it in their care and relocate it. This week of barking, scared or aggressive dogs surrounding him, loud noises, strangers walking by, and being locked alone in a kennel with very little social interaction will affect the dog for the rest of his life. The effects may not be obvious, but they are always there. It is the same as putting a child in a care home. They have been left behind by the pack they thought was theirs. Your safety net is gone. They are in an unknown area that is emitting a dangerous atmosphere and there is no security package! It goes against everything a dog knows!

So some rules you should know before you get a dog;

1. Never leave your young dog home alone for more than two hours maximum. And personally I would recommend not leaving him home alone for long periods of time until you have had them for about 3 months and they are happily sleeping alone at night without crying.

2. Always keep his bed separate from you when he is sleeping when he is young. Most people keep their dog in the kitchen at night when they are young so they don’t urinate in the bedroom. Not only is this a good idea, but it gives the dog a sense of independence, making it easier when you want him to be home alone for a few hours!

3. You must keep your dog in the room where he sleeps when you go out. Harri sleeps in the laundry room. Not only is it a stoneware floor, but it also has underfloor heating so you never get cold. It’s also right by the back door, you can go straight to the bathroom in the morning. She also eats in this room, and her cupboard with all of her food, treats, and leads is kept in this room. It’s helpful to make a room out of the dog’s domain, because that’s where he feels safe. A dog will only eat and sleep when he feels safe so if you feed him and put him to bed in that room you are telling him that in your opinion it is a safe place and as pack leader your opinion is what matters. more treasure. So keeping a dog in that room when you leave is the place where he will feel safest! They will rarely dirty their own room.

4. Never get a dog if you have a demanding job that prevents you from spending enough time with your dog! This one seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of people do it for company in the short time of day they’re home! If you feel lonely between the time you get home from work and the time you go to bed, this is how the dog feels all day and all night. Also, you will never be able to successfully train a dog if you are away all the time. Now some training tips. We all must leave our dogs home alone for hours here and there at times. It can not be helped. I myself left my dog ​​for an hour the other day when I went to see a man about my marine aquarium (in my defence, it was about the health of my marine fish, which are very temperamental and cannot be delayed). The main problem with leaving dogs home alone is simply giving them something to do! I know it’s so obvious, but the number of people ignoring this very thing is unbelievable! Rawhide has saved my life. When my pup gets bored, I give him bones and rawhide sheets, rings, and shoes. Now I have to get them in bulk. He always left her a rawhide to chew on. She has one in the car, ready for when we take long trips, as well as in the house. She takes years to get over them and she loves them madly. Another good idea is the KONG collection. There are many chew toys on the market (again, life savers for me) that fill with treats and keep a dog entertained while he figures out how to get the treat out of the toy. They are also very good for the teeth!

One problem people have when they have a dog that is destructive from loneliness and boredom is that they end up getting another dog to keep the lonely dog ​​company. This would be very beneficial, if the other dog is already well behaved. It is much easier to teach manners and proper behavior to an animal by having another animal display it. I recently worked with a litter of kittens who were completely housebroken at the age of four weeks because their mother had carried them from the basket to the litter tray every time they went to the bathroom. Let’s be honest, if you have a dog that is too young to be fully trained the way you want him to be trained, it will be harder for you to train him because another dog will distract him and then you will have to try to train them both at the same time! I myself had to train Harri to sit while Tilly (a rescue dog) tried to participate.

One piece of advice, have a young dog accompany an adult dog. Then the adult dog can show the young dog how to go to the bathroom, not to go behind the TV, not to chew on people’s hands/faces, etc.