by Elle Morena

Created on: May 28, 2008

I always wonder what my dog does when she is at home alone. My dog is a Miniature Pincher and she has been with me for the past 10 years. Its only been the two of us all these while. I worry that she, like me, may get lonely, even more so when she can't keep herself busy, or maybe this is in my imagination. But since dogs, like human are social animals and that they prefer to live in packs, I assumed she does get lonely at times.

First and foremost, toilet train your dog. My dog goes to the toilet to pee, and poo when I walk her twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. This will ensure that your home is not messed up and remember during training, that dogs have separate areas for eating and eliminating, as such, ensure that you stick to the same routine daily. Toilet training takes about less than a week depending on how smart your dog is. When you first get your dog or puppy, at the first indication of wanting to pee, take her to the toilet and say "pee" and thereafter, praise. After a while she will get it. However, like humans, accidents happen, so don't be too hard on your dog.

After you have achieved toilet training, and to ensure that your dog does not develop separation anxiety and destroy your home, set up a routine. I have a fixed routine when I need to go out or to work leaving her at home alone. Dogs thrive on routine and if you stick to the routine, sooner or later she will get use to the idea that one event leads to another, and with that idea she will come to understand that eventually you will be home, always.

Before I leave my home without her, I say to my dog, "I am going to work and you guard the house". She therefore understands that she has to stay behind alone and I use this command all the time, regardless of where I leave her. At the beginning she will howl, but after awhile she got use to staying alone for a couple of hours and she knows I always come home, sooner or later.

If I have to work for long hours, I ensure that she gets some exercise before I leave. I take her for her walk and give some treats. She will then go to sleep as I understand that dogs sleep a lot.

Off course she will not be sleeping for ten hours, so to keep her occupied while she is awake, I give her her toys, and some newspapers to chew. In addition, I also keep the radio on at a low volume and the balcony door open. She will then have some music or news to listen to, and people and cars going by to keep her occupied.

As you can see, she has the run of the apartment and she is allowed to go wherever she fancies, but most of the time she will end up on the sofa sleeping. Fresh water is available at all times, as such, I think she looks forward to being alone at home, as I never heard her howl anymore.

After being alone for a few hours, when she hears my keys, she will start to bark and create a racket until the door is open and thats when she licks my face and jumps all over me. Thats when I know that I should not feel too guilty about leaving her alone, at home.

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