What to do if your puppy cries or destroys things when you're not home
When someone decides to foster a puppy, one of the first problems they have to face arises at the moment of leaving it alone in the house. You have to go to work, go shopping or simply carry on with your daily routines, and then it's time to say goodbye to the puppy, close the door and hope that when you return, the animal is fine and there is no suffered in our absence. Because if the animal becomes distressed and does not tolerate this momentary separation well, it may suffer what experts call separation anxiety (or hyperattachment) and behavioral problems may arise.
“It is the first thing you come across after deciding to foster a puppy, as soon as it is time to go to work”, explains Marta, who along with couple, Pedro, have decided to live with a greyhound, who arrived at their apartment last September, when he was only two and a half months old. They had never had a dog in the house before. Her cub, a beautiful and affectionate female, already had to stay alone for a couple of hours during their first weekend together. Marta and her partner had to go out and they were clear that the dog had to adapt to their way of life, but that did not prevent doubts and some fears from arising.
There are puppies that spend hours crying, and others that destroy the floor when left alone. And there are also those who combine both behaviors to express their discomfort. The specialists explain that the animal is afraid of being left without anyone because it needs contact with its new human companions. Or because he misses his mother or brothers.
Hyperattachment has nothing to do with "normal attachment, the animal's healthy bond with its social group," explains Lourdes Farré, a veterinarian who specializes in dog and cat behavior. Another way to show this anguish is to urinate uncontrollably, and to do it outside of the place that has been delimited, such as a soaker.
Crying, destroying things or urinating uncontrollably are ways of expressing fear and discomfort because they miss them
The result is that the illusion and initial emotion of many people who take in a puppy, In a few days, it begins to transform into despair and anguish, if not anger or fear for the problems and destruction they will find when they return from work.
Animal behavior experts say there are ways to prevent these behaviors and to treat them if abnormal behavior caused by separation arises and persists. And they warn that what should never be done is to scold or punish the puppy: it is counterproductive and can damage the bond between the owner and the animal .
Basic guidelines
Separation, yes, but progressive
One of the first basic guidelines given by veterinarians and ethology experts is not to postpone the first separation for fear that the puppy will stay alone On the contrary, in this way the puppy gets used to spending a few hours alone in the house from a young age. “It is highly recommended not to wait until it is time to go to work to separate from the dog for the first time; and if we welcome the dog at home when we are on vacation, we must avoid waiting to leave the animal alone until we return from vacation ”, Farré points out.
Linked to this first guideline, specialists stress the importance of separating gradually, starting with short periods of time to gradually extend the periods of separation. “It is not good for the puppy to suddenly spend eight hours alone, from one day to the next, after having always been accompanied; you have to get used to it from now on, but gradually ”, points out Farré. The ideal is to start with periods of a few minutes and gradually extend the time. "If we do it suddenly, that's when the problems appear," warns the veterinarian.
“If we suddenly separate from the puppy, after having always been accompanied, that is when behavior problems appear”
Lourdes FarréVeterinary expert in cat and dog behavior
The objective is for the animal to lose its fear and verify, based on its experience, that its human companions leave home, but they always end up returning. If it is done from the beginning, when the coexistence between the puppy and its owners begins, all this will be much easier.
But if that's not the case, if the puppy spends his time alone crying incessantly or starts making a mess, you have to be alert. Behavioral problems, in addition to being annoying to the owners and the neighborhood, are often the indicator that the puppy is suffering from what experts call hyperattachment. “The dog does not know if we will return, he suffers from separation anxiety; in no case is he taking revenge on the owner”, warns the veterinarian Maria Pifarré.
Precautions
Limit its space
Another fundamental guideline to facilitate adaptation is to define the space in which the puppy will begin to live in the house . If the puppy feels comfortable and safe in her living space, everything will be easier, including managing the separation. In that space that we delimit for the puppy in his day to day we can leave him when we leave home, preventing him from going through the rest of the apartment when he is left alone. This way there will be fewer risks for the animal and also more guarantees that it will not cause damage outside its area.
“Whether it's a part of the dining room or a room, it will be his place, the one where he has to feel at ease, where he can be a little more closed off”, emphasizes Pifarré. It will also be in this place where the puppy will have his food and where he will begin to learn to relieve himself, first in a soaker, which will serve to teach him how to do it when he goes outside. It is very important, logically, that both places – the pee and the food – are sufficiently separated.
Experts recommend that the space not be too small, nor too large, since the puppy can become distressed if he feels confined. “Be careful because there are puppies that get overwhelmed if the space is very small; you have to play when we define the space, because depending on the dog, it may feel more protected in a smaller space, or it may get overwhelmed and start scratching the doors or cry more when left alone”, points out Farré. This is precisely what happened to Marta and Pedro with their greyhound, who, overwhelmed, ended up jumping over the fence that they had installed in the kitchen area.
Another frequent question is how long a dog can stay home alone, whether or not it is a puppy. “If a dog spends four hours alone, nothing happens; you have to learn to be alone. Ideally, if the owners work outside for eight hours, they should take turns, or have someone take the dog for a walk," explains Farré. In fact, this service of people or companies that take the dog for a walk in exchange for money has been spreading.
“You have to apply common sense. It is not good for a dog to be alone for twelve hours, locked in an apartment”
Maria PifarréVeterinary
Pifarré assures that it is about “applying common sense; It is not normal nor is it good for a dog's physical and mental health to be alone for twelve hours a day, locked in an apartment; Dogs are social animals, psychologically they don't have a good time when they are alone for so many hours. Farré adds that, in addition, "forcing the animal to endure so many hours without relieving itself can lead to physical problems, such as kidney disorders."
Not all puppies respond the same way to separation, either. To the character of each animal must be added the circumstances in which it was born, and whether or not it has been raised with its mother during the first weeks of life. All this will mark the character of the dog when he is an adult and will also condition his reactions when he is left alone at home while he is still small.
The character, having been abandoned or separated from the mother condition the reactions to being left alone
“There are puppies that, if they have been separated from their mother and siblings, miss them and cry when they are separated from their mother and siblings. they are left alone”, warns Pifarré. In the case of animals that have suffered the "trauma of abandonment", because their former owners left them on the street forever, being left alone can lead to more anxiety, because it reminds them of a traumatic experience, explains the veterinarian.
In the case of Marta and Pedro's greyhound, the puppy was raised by his mother together with his three siblings in Valencia, but they were all abandoned by their owners and ended up in a squat, in rather precarious conditions, before being collected by the association Greyhounds 112.
The solution
From home hacks to anxiety treatments
There are also some practical tips that help reduce the problems of leaving the animal alone. For example, leaving the puppy a little tired when we know that he is going to spend many hours alone. "The dog will be more relaxed, it will be a little sleepy, and it will stay calmer or go to sleep," recommends Farré.
Another trick is to leave an item of old clothing used by the owner within the reach of the animal, so that it finds a smell that is familiar to it and that will help it to calm down, to feel accompanied. It is also recommended that the puppy have enough light in the house, that it stay in a space that is always lit, even at night, and that during the first days a radio be left on so that the noise also accompanies the animal.
Pifarré explains that "a two-month-old puppy is comparable to a two-year-old child and a four-month-old is like a five-year-old."
If, despite all these recommendations, behavior problems arise and persist (destroying and crying), it is advisable to go to the vet and ask for help from an expert in animal behavior. With some basic guidelines and a relatively short treatment, the problems disappear in most cases, and the puppy learns to be left alone, without problems.
The treatment consists of leaving the animal alone in a more progressive way, so that it learns. “It is not normal, it should not happen that a puppy cries or destroys the house because he suffers from hyperattachment; Another different thing is if a puppy bites things because it wants to play, in a calm way, without anxiety”, points out Farré.
It is convenient to distinguish if the puppy destroys things because he is hyperattached or bites them because he wants to play
Veterinarians warn that in no case should you scold and repress the dog when you come home and find the pee or the destruction “It is useless to scold, it is absolutely contraindicated, it is counterproductive; the dog does not associate it and the emotional bond between the dog and the owner suffers, the dog becomes afraid”, Farré points out.
“You always have to educate positively, with prizes; it will be faster and more effective, and it will strengthen the bond with the owner: the dog will act to cooperate, because he loves the owner. If there is damage, we must ask ourselves why it has been done”, adds the veterinarian.
“It's no use scolding the puppy, it can be counterproductive. You have to educate positively”
Lourdes FarréVeterinary
There are owners who feel more at ease with the installation of a video camera that allows them to observe in real time how the puppy behaves when left alone at home. It's a good tool, experts say, for the vet to see how he acts when he's experiencing separation anxiety. “There are animals that are paralyzed when they are left alone, they do nothing because they are afraid, but they are not well. The videos in these cases are very practical to be able to detect the problem and start the treatment”, emphasizes Farré.
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