leaving dog alone
 

Does anyone have any hints on preparing our yorkie for being home alone for an hour or two?He is one year old and up to this point never been left alone(we have six children-someone is always home). The older children are going to college and we have to take them....Spike is an easy going perfect yorkie,But I know this is going to be an issue.Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

for an hour or two? Is he housebroken? Is he out of the chewing stage? If yes to both, then I'd just let him stay out. Leave food, water and a radio or tv on and more than likely he'll sleep the whole time! good luck!!! :)

Hey welcome to YT
I would say he should be fine for a hour or two.
maybe put him where he can't get into anything or hurt himself.
and also you can try to leave for a few minutes at a time and see how it goes. If that goes good then leave longer...
Good Luck and Welcome to YT

well assuming you are not leaving tomorrow, i'd say start getting him used to being alone (we had the same problem with Layla, up until June 12th, she had never been left alone) go out for 15 min, say a key word to him, i say "mommy will be RIGHT BACK" leave with little fuss, come back with little fuss.. he will realize when you say whatever word that you are leaving.. no big deal... and that you DO come back... again no big deal.. if you have this big fan fare when you return he will get very anxious waiting for you to return.. after oyu have come in and settled down, maybe give him a treat or a special toy, but again, very low key... in no time he'll be used to you leave and look forward to your return :) we are now able to leave layla for up to 3-4 hours no problem :) make sure you close any doors he shoudnl't get into and remove any toys with string or something that could be a problem if you aren't there... leave him maybe an interactive toy like a Kong or a special toy he only gets when you leave, so again, he will associate the toy with you leave and it being a great thing!

:goodpost: :biggrin: :yeahthat:

Thats what we did with Tede
 

only you know if your dog needs a pen. or out.
I think this is good stuff. We did this hes never been afraid.

:goodpost: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

We also put on the the solo harp music or animal planet!!

Hi, maybe you could leave him in the house and hang around outside for a few min, peeking in the windows to see what he is doing, sounds like he is a very good baby, pottie trained and no chewing:) i tried that and with in minutes both my boys had my rugs in to the living room:rolleyes: they are stinkers, no way could i leave them for any amount of time with out there crates:rolleyes: good luck to you;)

yes forgot to mention, we leave the cooking channel on :)

Great advice!

He will be fine! I think you should prepare by leaving him alone for ten ninutes, just take a short walk or something, then move up to twenty minutes and so on and so on. Let him get used to being alone slowly. As long as you have proofed the room, he will be fine. Eventually, you will get to know whether you can let him have the run of the house whilst you are out, it is all about correctly judging what your dog is ready for or not (as the case may be).

This is what I did. I also left him in the kitchen (puppy proofed of course) with water, biscuits and some chew toys (including a stuffed Kong). I also left a radio on in the same room for noise as it must be strange for a pup to go from noise to quiet all of a sudden. I even put my washing machine on before I left for even more comforting noise. I didn't make a fuss when I left and I didn't make a fuss when I returned (until a few minutes later. I kept the whole thing low key, like it was no big deal. He is not bothered at all although he is pleased to see me when I return from work. Iworried myself to death the first day back at work. My mum went to look in on Oscar after he had been alone for an hour and he was fine. We are more worried than they are.

All dogs need to get used to being alone for at least some time, it teaches them to be indepenent as well.

Just let your yorkie get used to it slowly.

I'd try going out for a 1/2 hour or so, and see what he does. A couple of hours isn't that long, and I think the only thing he'll do is miss you. Make sure you put up anything, and everything he might get into to, and remember those electrical cords too.