Okay so our pup is a dachshund mix with mini pinscher (we think!?). We got her at 12 weeks from the shelter (stray dog) back in Feb. shes 23weeks old now and lots of work.
We’re a family of 3 with my kid being 5. I work remote 2 days a week and the rest in office pretty much all day. My wife M-F 8-5. I was able to take a week off when we first got her but geez it feel like now progress.
We have no other choice than to leave her solo at home the days I’m in office. We clear the living room and gate off access to dining room. I don’t crate her since we’ll be done for 8hrs+ but leave her with the crate open, and water and make sure she’s fed and potties before leaving. I do leave pee pads and she does a good job at hitting those with an occasional accident just off of them. I also leave Dog TV on for background noise
My question is how do we go about her being comfy at home? I’ll check on her on the ring camera and for the first 30min we’re gone, she’s howling and crying and tends to settle for a bit but paces back and forth for a while. Occasionally she’ll scratch at the door nap for maybe 10-20min max. But she never tends to calm down solo. I leave her with puzzles or a Kong and that keeps her busy for 20-30min but she whines while she plays with them.
I do the quick goodbyes and make sure to not make a big deal.
Any advice on making sure she doesn’t end up with life long separation anxiety because I’m not sure I can do this forever. I try doing the leave for 10sec and comeback in but sometimes she gets distracted with everyone else in the house.
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