I'm no expert on any of this, but here's my opinion anyways... take it for what it's worth (probably not much, lol).
When we leave, we are never gone for more than a couple hours because our 4 month old boy is so young still. And when we leave, he is walked first to pee (and we make sure we don't leave him if we think he might need to poop still either), and hopefully worn out with some hard playing/running. Also, I have heard from many people that you should not make a big deal out of leaving, no saying "bye bye!" or "I'll be back soon I'm gonna miss you so much" or anything like that. Just quietly slip out the door, like it's no big deal, like you're just walking into the other room or something.
Also, start out with very short times. Like (still not making a big deal) walk out the front door and wait for 30 seconds then come back in, and still don't make a big deal, just quietly let him out of his cage and play a little. Then next time try two minutes, etc.
We've been doing this with our boy, very slowly and gradually over the last month, and now he might bark once sometimes, but then lays down to sleep within a few minutes of us leaving (we've peeked in the window before to see). He has learned that we always come back, and there's nothing to get all excited or anxious or excited about when we leave.
Since we also are never gone for long, we also use a crate. Less trouble to get into in there, and (at least we imagine) he feels all secure in his little sleepy-time den.
Good luck... I'm sure others will give some helpful advice too, and hopefully chime in on whether or not what I'm doing is the best way to go about it as well (this is my first puppy - it's not easy, I know!!!!).
Lauren & Nikko |