Leaving puppy home alone

I have a 17 week old labradoodle. She’s pretty kennel-trained. She naps in her kennel in my room no problem. Easily naps for 2-4 hours (plus sleeps anywhere from 8-12 hours at night). I’ve been leaving her in her kennel from 8:30am until about 11:30ish while I go to work, then come home and let her out, have lunch, and bring her back to work with me in the afternoon.

My concern is that I’m worried she doesn’t actually know I’m leaving the house. I’ve tried putting her in her playpen in the living room and she often has strong feelings if I leave the room while she’s behind bars.

She’s no longer attached to my hip, thank god. I can go pee without her following me. She’s fine to free roam the hallway while I shower. The issue is leaving her home alone! I don’t like leaving her in her kennel for too long. But she doesn’t like being in her playpen if I’m not in the room! Also she was able to jump over the pen the other day when she had to go outside. She’s also counter surfing real bad – she has eaten butter, a muffin, a bag of treats, and grabbed slippers, just to name a few.

It’s entirely possible I’m overthinking things. She really has made so much progress and I’m so proud of her! I’m thankful she likes her kennel and that I stuck with the kennel training. But next steps is getting her used to me leaving the house.

I’m open to any and all tips and tricks!