I have to leave every day for work. Pepper is alone for around 7-8 hours, he mostly sleeps, and then can play till almost midnight. I take him with me once a week, usually on Wed, to break his week a little and drop him at a daycare close to my work (would love to do it more often but they're pricey
). He sleeps for a day afterwards so that's good. I used to be gulity leaving him, but we both got used to it, there's no other way... Now, he does starts whining when he sees me getting ready but when I'm leaving, I always give him a crunchy treat and he jumps on his bed and waits for it - with his mouth full, he can't whine lol. I try to spend as much time as I can tending to Pep in the mornings, evenings and weekends, forget the day-trips to the mall now
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I think staying calm and not making big deal when he leave is the key, trying to distract them somehow helps as well.