[Help] Our dog HATES being alone. COVID made it worse. How do we fix this behaviour?Dog Talks

My boyfriend and I have a 13 month old cocker spaniel, Beans He is a GREAT dog (absolutely perfect) who is easy to train except for a few behaviour issues (ex. he knows when we’re calling him but he just does his own thing) that we are working on correcting.

However, the one thing I can’t see him manage is getting him to be okay when we leave. We had only had him 3 months when quarantine started, and in between March-June he was only alone MAYBE once (boyfriend was on the opposite schedule so I’d basically get home from work when he left). He has ALWAYS hated being alone. We initially crate trained him, but after a few months of him resisting his kennel we eventually let him sleep with us. However, we had always used to kennel for when we leave.

A few weeks ago we started testing just leaving him in the bedroom while we are gone. I would rather in the end be able to leave him home just around the house, but we aren’t there yet. He did great for the first little while, but then my boyfriend started working during the day and he went from being home alone for like 1-3 hours to 3-5 depending.

So I got home the first longer day, and he has ripped a hole in the carpet by essentially trying to dig under the door to get out. Frustrating, but obviously for longer times he needs to stay in the kennel. However, he gets so distressed he tries to dig out of the kennel and has apparently learned to open the side door. The next time I come home, he has torn up the corner of the wall, with about half the carpet under the door being destroyed. I thought my bf hasn’t shut the kennel properly, so we scolded him but once again learning curve. Next day, he has pulled up more carpet AND destroyed the padding underneath a large section of what he pulled up.

Now, we’re just gonna move the kennel so the side door is against the wall, but how the heck do I make him okay with being alone?? He’s an independent dog for the most part, is very food motivated but he won’t eat anything we put in the kennel until we get home. I am lucky that my parents are my landlords and are very understanding and don’t care about the carpet, but I don’t want MORE of my stuff destroyed. I read diligently when we got him to learn about separation anxiety and what to do. I know part of it is our fault because he was never alone, but we are now both full time again and he will have to spend 2-3 days at home for 3-5 hours at a time now (any longer my SIL will come grab him).

Sorry for the rant but please help me help my little Beans!

Submitted October 25, 2020 at 01:35AM by mystery-crossing https://ift.tt/35LuVIv