Dogs like to live in a pack, which offers them protection and companionship. Everyone has a job to do, whether it's raising puppies, finding food, or defending themselves. Playing and grooming together creates a close bond. Dogs leave the group only briefly, and no dog is excluded. But in the human world, they often have to stay alone, which is contrary to their natural behavior. Separation stress can occur if they do not learn to be alone early. In the wild, a lost dog would bark to get its pack back. But in our everyday life, this is not possible, and constant barking disturbs the neighborhood. Therefore, it is important that dogs learn to stay alone for a few hours. Life circumstances change, and even if you think your dog never needs to be alone, that can change. Begin training shortly after your pup has settled in. Even an adopted dog may find being alone difficult and need training. A new home can cause fear of loss, and training can then be more complicated than with a puppy.

Leaving alone in puppy training

Optimally, a dog is accustomed to being alone as a puppy. A responsible breeder starts such activities from the sixth week of the puppies' life. At first, he takes all the puppies on adventures together, but gradually he also conducts individual outings with just one puppy. In this way, the puppy gets used to being without its siblings and mother from the beginning. From the ninth week, when the puppy moves to its new home, it should immediately learn to stay alone for short periods of time. An example of this would be when you go into the bathroom and close the door so the puppy can't follow. After a few seconds, you return, so your puppy learns that there is no need to get upset once you are not there. Next, leave briefly while your puppy stays in a comfortable room that includes his sleeping area. Remove anything your puppy might damage so you can leave the room worry-free. Be as normal as possible when you return. You should not reprimand your puppy if he has nibbled on something, nor should you praise him excessively, because he is not aware that a "training session" has just taken place. Although he may associate your coming back with praise as something positive, this increases his anticipation. He will wait increasingly tense because the great reward will not come until you return. So just enter the room and ignore your puppy. Once your puppy is left alone in the house for a few minutes, you can gradually increase the time. Initially, you will need to increase the time in minutes; once the first half hour is reached, you can increase the time more quickly. If you follow this training, after about four weeks your puppy can learn to stay alone for about four hours.

Tether anxiety or loss of control

What causes an adult dog's inability to stay alone? The first thing to determine is whether it is separation anxiety or loss of control. Although the training methods for staying alone are similar for both problems, different aspects need to be considered and practiced in daily interactions. Dogs with separation anxiety are actually afraid of being left alone or abandoned. Trauma may be the cause, such as being separated from their mother too early (as early as six weeks old), or losing their previous home. But it could also be that the dog simply never learned to stay alone because its owners did not teach it to do so, or because it lived as a street dog where such demands were never made of it. Dogs with separation anxiety show intense signs of stress immediately after being left alone, such as heavy panting, excited pacing, scratching at the door (because they want to follow their human), as well as whining, squealing, and especially howling, and less often, barking. Whining indicates the dog's discomfort, while howling is an attempt to call back the group members. Some dogs suffer silently, they literally freeze. They lie motionless in front of the door until the human returns. After a brief joyful greeting, these dogs fall exhausted into their beds. The biggest problem with these dogs is that their owners often don't realize how stressed their dog is and how badly they feel when they have to be left alone. They tend to see their dog being alone as not being a problem. No barking, no whining, nothing is destroyed - that's how you want it to be. But the dog suffers silently and can't tell the human how bad he feels. If your dog falls into his bed exhausted after a long time alone, it is always an alarm signal. In everyday life, dogs with separation anxiety also tend to stay close to the human, following him with a placating posture when he changes rooms, and they usually do not move very far away even when they go for a walk. When the human returns, he is greeted appeasingly, the dog climbs up on the human with ears laid back and tail held down. Staying alone is difficult for these dogs everywhere, both in their own home and, for example, in the car. Who stays with the dog doesn't matter, it can be any family member, a good acquaintance or even a dog sitter you have hired. All that matters to the dog is that he is not alone. Dogs with loss of control, on the other hand, suffer from not being able to take care of their human for a while. They feel responsible for their human and feel that they have to take care of them. Therefore, they often endure being left alone for a short period of time because they assume that the human can manage without the dog even in the short term. Therefore, vocalizations usually occur only after a certain period of separation, with the dog rarely howling, but rather barking loudly and often for hours. The barking indicates the dog's frustration with the absence of the human and being confined. Therefore, these dogs rarely scratch at doors, but rather take objects from the human, which they then chew on and destroy. In everyday life, these dogs follow their humans wherever they go. In doing so, the dog is less concerned with being with the human than with controlling him. For example, they get in the way and limit the human, like to sit on their human's feet or lean on their human's legs. What is often perceived by the human as "needy" and cuddly is actually exerted control. When the human returns, the dog often jumps on him with full force. This, by the way, is not a sign of joy, as is often assumed, but rather a rebuke to the owner for going out without the dog. This is also evident in the dog's posture, which jumps towards the human with its tail held high. The presence of other people does not change the behavior of the dog. As long as "his" human, for whom he feels responsible, is away without him, he has stress and shows this clearly, even if another family member, an acquaintance or dog sitter stays with the dog.

Leaving your dog alone in everyday life

Depending on whether your dog suffers from separation anxiety or loss of control, training will vary. Dogs with separation anxiety are often insecure and lack confidence. It is therefore important to strengthen this in everyday life through targeted activities where your dog can act independently and reach the goal by making his own decisions. Mantrailing, tracking or searching for hidden objects are very suitable for this. Your dog should independently solve tasks that encourage him to think and try things out. Brain games that require your dog to find food by opening drawers, moving switches, or pulling out boxes provide a variety of opportunities in this regard.

Loss of control is evoked in dogs who, from their perspective, feel they are in charge of one or more group members. These dogs are convinced that they must lead, protect, and control the group. Leaving such a dog alone leads to stress as it cannot fulfill its role. Therefore, a change in the structure of life with the four-legged buddy should be made. Only when he no longer feels responsible for you, he will learn to be alone. To achieve this, you need to show your dog that you are the leader. This is not referring to the traditional and often misunderstood "submission" or "dominance". It's not about punishing your dog or being strict with him. Instead, you need to set clear rules and structures for living together and enforce them consistently. It is important not to give your dog the feeling that he has to take over territorial tasks.

If your dog constantly enjoys unrestricted freedom of movement, has his place right next to the front door or is allowed to bark at passers-by in the garden, he can get the feeling that he is responsible for territorial security in your home. It's also important to note who makes the decisions. If you want your dog to accept that you go outside alone, you will have to make many decisions in the rest of your daily life. However, if your dog takes the initiative to play games, demands to be petted, or gets you to open the patio door for him, then he is making the important everyday decisions himself. Your dog must therefore learn to orientate himself to you and your decisions. Therefore, keep him busy with retrieve training, where you give him precise instructions. Only if he follows them, he will reach the goal. For example, you could throw two or more objects and send your dog to a specific object.

Additional essential training tips:

- Make sure your dog is sufficiently exercised before you leave the house (for example, by playing fetch or sniffing games). Both physical and mental exertion are essential here! A tired dog will be more inclined to lie down and relax if you leave him alone. However, you should always pause after exercise before leaving your dog alone, otherwise the transition from activity to rest will be too abrupt for him.

- Avoid saying goodbye to your dog excessively, otherwise you will give excessive importance to being alone. Your dog will realize that you are excited too and that something "out of the ordinary" is about to happen. This will hardly calm him down.

- Also, don't overdo your dog's greeting upon your return. It is perfectly normal for a dog to greet returning group members after a separation, but you should be calm and collected about it, much like a mother dog with her puppies. After all, nothing special has happened and there is no reason for an exuberant greeting. An excessive greeting could cause your dog to see your return as an extremely enjoyable event, making him more and more nervous for your return, since something exciting will finally happen again.

- Never punish your dog for turning the house upside down, barking, or urinating in the apartment while you are away. He is not doing this to annoy you! He is using this behavior as an outlet to deal with his stress, as he has not yet learned an appropriate way to handle such stressful situations. Rather, use this as an opportunity to take a few steps back in training, because obviously your dog wasn't ready yet.

- Leave your dog alone only as long as his current training level allows. So you always have to find a solution during the training time to take your dog with you or to let someone else take care of him. Even if it was "only once" longer than you achieved in training, this experience can set you or your dog back completely in training. Never scold if your dog has destroyed something in your absence.