First and foremost, your dog must receive proper exercise before you leave the house. Dogs who are full of energy will not be content being left alone for hours on end. So, the first step in training is to drain that energy before you even step foot out of your house.
The second most important factor is your behavior and energy. Do you feel bad about leaving your dog? Nervous or anxious? Dogs pick up on our feelings and energy. If we are putting off nervous or tense vibes, your dog feels that, but they do not know why; instead, they just know something is wrong.
So be sure when you leave your dog that you are calm and confident. Do not become excited or go through a big goodbye routine. Instead, grab your wallet or purse and leave the house. When coming home, do not enter your home with exciting energy; instead, be calm, the same as you were when you left. You want to teach your dog that leaving and returning is not a big deal.
Next, it is all about baby steps. Start with teaching your dog to comfortable staying behind when you leave a room. To do this, you will want to find a focal point for them to wait on. It can be anything like a bed, mat, or training table. Put your dog on their focal point and take a step away, then come back and reward. Be sure you are rewarding calmly; this is a low energy exercise.
Never call your dog off the focal mat; instead, use a release command. With time build on this exercise with greater distance and duration.
Note this is not where your dog will stay in your absence; you are teaching your dog to be calm and confident being away from you. Your dog does not need to sit or lie down; your dog only needs to be relaxed.
Another thing to work on when training a dog is desensitizing them to their trigger points. Suppose your dog starts to show signs of anxiety when you put on your jacket, shoes, or touch the doorknob to leave. You will want to desensitize this action, meaning you need to remove any value that this action has to your dog.
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