How beautiful are the animals! And how beautiful and companions our dogs are ... until that moment arrives, much feared by many, in which we must leave our home to go to work, to do the shopping, or simply because we have to go out, and our friends from four legs stay in charge of the place. And what fear we feel when we open the door! What will we find this time? What have they done in our absence?
That's why Positive World brings you a wide variety of tips , because each pet is different, it's just a matter of finding the solution!
1. A good walk
Dogs often have a lot of energy and the need to expend it. For this reason, it is recommended that before leaving him alone at home, you take him for a good walk , so that when he returns he will want to sleep peacefully on the couch instead of destroying it. If you find it difficult to take long walks, you can always turn to a good walker.
2. Interactive toys
These types of toys keep the dog entertained and alert. They usually have different degrees of difficulty and give prizes or rewards. Ideally, you should try which is the one that works best with your pet. A small observation: they are usually effective with the vast majority of dogs, but for short periods of time, since they quickly find a way to “beat” the toy and, once they do and get their reward, they will look for another way to entertain. The Kong tends to work for longer periods of time if you crush and freeze the mixture that you put inside it, so that the dog has more work to get hold of its treat.
3. Treasure hunt
The smell is one of the best - known abilities of dogs. And they love challenges! Therefore, instead of buying an interactive toy, you can resort to hiding different prizes around the house, or the space where it stays in your absence. The problem? Be careful where you hide them! If you do it between the books, you have a great chance of finding more than one broken when you return. If you hide them in places that are accessible to the dog, but create the appeal of looking for them, you are well on your way. What is fun for both of you?
4. Company music
It always depends on each animal, but many dogs benefit from companion music. For example, Spotify launched a function that allows you to create a personalized playlist for your pet, be it a dog, cat or even a bird. The program collects some data from your pet, and the playlist is assembled based on the musical tastes of the Spotify user, so that the animal feels accompanied in your absence.
5. TV for dogs
Like music, many turn to television as company for the animal. It is not usually very useful, but there are programs for dogs that are specifically designed for their accompaniment. DogTV is the Animal Planet signal that based its creation on scientific studies to create special content for our four-legged friends.
6. Smart cameras
What does the dog do when left alone? Well, that is a doubt that you can remove from your mind very easily. There are free applications, like Alfred Camara , for which all you need is another cell phone that you can leave at home. In this way, you connect it to the phone that you carry with you and you can observe and listen to your dog in your absence. There are much more elaborate systems, such as the Furbo Camera for Dogs , which proposes a device that includes a camera and a microphone through which you can observe and talk to your pet if you need to calm it, in addition to throwing prizes, and it has an alert of barking that reaches your cell phone.
7. Anti-bite spray
While trying to solve the underlying problem that the dog has a hard time being left alone, coming home can be an unpleasant situation, especially when you never know what you may find yourself with. There are anti-bite sprays , whose function is to prevent the dog from chewing on things that you consider valuable, or with which it tends to tease. They just have an odor that repels them. It is not a long-term solution, but it is a temporary one.
8. Sounds and attitudes to get used to
It probably happens to you that when you grab the key to your house, your dog is already anxious because he knows that you are leaving. The animal relates certain attitudes of its human and associates them with the event in question. Also when you wear a jacket, or shoes. For this reason, you must get him used to the sounds and attitudes that you usually take when leaving in another way. For example, try grabbing the keys and just moving them around, or getting in and out. You will see how confused your dog is! But how it helps in the long run so that the mere sound of the keys doesn't put you on alert.
9. Avoid punishment
We know it is difficult, but even if it has caused great damage, there is no use challenging it. The dog has no way of relating that punishment and anger are linked to what he did in your absence. In addition, it is proven that punishments generate more stress in our animals and worse results than teaching them things with positive reinforcement. So take a deep breath and find another way to vent your anger.
10. Find the definitive solution
The dog must be taught to be alone. If you suffer from hyperapego or separation anxiety , the ideal is to contact an ethologist. Meanwhile, you can try leaving it alone for short periods of time (start with 5 minutes, for example) and repeat it as long as the animal tolerates the absence. You can try all the examples in this article one by one for your entertainment, until you find one that makes your animal feel safe in your absence.
Do you have any other advice? What trick works for your pet?