Leaving Your Dog Home Alone - How Long is Too Long?

Modern people are always busy. While technology has progress tremendously in the past decades, our working hours do not seem to be reducing and most people have in fact spend more time outside of their home. Unless your job allows you to take your dog to the office, your pet is likely going to be spending a lot of time on his own at home. This can be very difficult for a dog.

It's important to realize that dogs are very active animals. Unless your dog is very old or otherwise debilitated, he will have enough energy to move for most of the day. When a dog is stuck at home with few opportunities for mental or physical stimulation, all of this pent up energy can lead to destructive behaviors. Dogs who are bored will look for ways to entertain themselves at home, and this entertainment can take the form of chewing on shoes and clothes, pulling things around the house, shredding your possessions, or really any behavior at all.

A dog needs a constructive or at least non destructive activity to use up all of that energy. If you are going to go off to work and leave the dog at home, make a strong effort to take the dog on a long walk in the morning before you leave. This will mean that your dog can take the day easy and rest up for the long walk you should take him on in the afternoon or whenever you come back from work.

If your dog is tired and has used up a lot of his energy before he is ever left alone, you will be able to leave him alone in the house for a longer period. However, regardless of the amount of energy he is left with at home, you have to bear in mind the amount of time that your dog will be able to control his bladder and bowels. Unless your dog has a special door or some other way to take himself outside to relieve himself, you shouldn't leave him home alone for more than ten hours. Many dogs will be able to control themselves for longer than that, but your dog will become very uncomfortable. If your dog is left in a closed off area when alone, he will not want to soil this area that he will consider his den, but if he does he will feel terrible.

Your dog will not want to sleep for the entire time that you are away. You will need to provide enriching and stimulating toys while you are out of the house. Your dog needs to have something to occupy himself and if he is having any separation anxiety, a food dispensing toy, a toy which your dog will need to work on in order to get food treats out of it, will be a great addition.

Separation anxiety can be a difficult condition for a dog. One of the easiest ways to keep your dog from being anxious while you are away is simply to keep your arrivals and departures very low key. Don't make a big deal of leaving the house and equally, when you return, don't greet the dog as if you haven't seen him in weeks.

Do you know that a puppy is not able to control her bladder for more than 8 hours before she reaches four months old? To find more resources about canine dog training and other canine dog breeds, visit CanineTouch.com today.