Separation training success

I'm on my second puppy, and I was really dreading crate training because it was a major stressor while raising my first one. I tried a completely different approach with my second pup than my first and I'm happy to report it worked amazingly.

(Important to note, I work from home so I basically never have to leave her alone.)

I got my 10 month old puppy roughly 2 months ago.

Tried leaving her twice near the end of the first week and she was really upset – pacing, howling and peeing on the floor. In or out of crate, did not matter. Her response was a lot more severe than my first puppy, so I just accepted giving up on dog-free outings for the time being. Didn't leave her alone even once for two months – always had someone watching over her if I couldn't.

Week 1:

I fed her meals in the crate, but didn't close the door on it for more than a minute.

Weeks 2~4:

She was alright with the crate door closed as long as I was immediately next to her. I took naps and did work directly next to it and let her out anytime I had to leave, even for short breaks like the bathroom.

In the following weeks I experimented with having the crate further away from me but still in the same room. Then bit by bit I incorporated leaving for the bathroom with her still crated. Around the same time I started experimenting with leaving her unattended while I was showering.

Weeks 5~7:

I started crating her even outside naptimes. She'd just be chilling in there while I went about my home life.

Week 8:

I started working on actual separation and she went from 2 minutes to 2 hours in a single week. Two whole hours of no howling, no destruction, no accidents. She still has a hard time staying asleep while I'm out so there's more work to be done, but it's unreal how easy this is.

I figured I'd share this since there is a lot of fear among puppy owners that being with your dog all the time will ruin their ability to spend time alone. Building trust with their owner and getting fully accustomed to home seem to be very big factors in their ability to tolerate being alone. Not insisting on separation too early will also keep their stress levels low and make them easier to get along with.

The less you rush, the sooner you'll get your freedom back.