Can Dogs Be Left Home Alone? Tips for Ensuring Their Comfort and Safety

Can dogs be left alone at home? A question often pondered by pet parents, and rightly so. However, there are situations where you must leave the house without your dog, and having someone babysit them or put them in a dog kennel is simply not a viable option at that time. What can you do then? In this blog post, we’ll tackle that very question and clarify all doubts that we’ve noticed pet owners have regarding the matter. The short answer, btw, is yes, you can leave them and we’ll provide some tips on ensuring their comfort and safety so you can go about your business guilt-free.

Understanding Your Dog

While we did say it is okay to leave your dog at home, the amount of time really depends, and there are some exceptions as well. For example, dogs and anxiety is a real problem, and if your dog suffers from it, they cannot be left alone for a prolonged period of time. Exactly how much time would vary widely on a case-by-case basis. Separation anxiety can cause mental trauma to your dog, and they may act it out in destructive ways, like messing with the furniture or urinating.

Separation anxiety often starts from puppyhood, or if your dog is a rescue, it may stem from past trauma. If your dog is anxious, it is best to take them to the dog’s vet or a veterinary behaviorist for treatment.

Their Bladder Control

Unlike cats, dogs need to go outside to relieve themselves, as they are trained to do. However, since they cannot exactly be let out all by themselves, someone needs to take them out. A major factor when leaving your dog alone is considering how long they can hold their bladder. Several factors such as your dog’s diet, age, and build affect their bladder control. For example, puppies, smaller, and older dogs need to go more often than young and large dogs, like a Bernese Mountain Dog.

How Emotional is Your Dog?

Is your dog extremely affectionate and prefers to always cuddle up with you, or do they prefer spending time on their own, lazing away on the bed? Your dog’s ability to stay alone can vary from a couple of hours to a day depending upon their daily exercise requirements and required socialization.

Once you’ve got these grounds covered, you can make a calculated guess about how long you can leave a dog alone at home by themselves. From there, you can work on making their stay as comfortable as possible.

Keeping Your Dog Safe and Comfortable

Once you’ve established the amount of time your dog can stay home alone, it is time to start dealing with your pet-parent guilt and minimizing it by ensuring your dog’s stay alone is as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Here are some tips to follow:

Create a Safe and Comfortable Space

Everybody enjoys a comfortable and safe space to chill in. Make your home as safe for your dog as possible, ensuring there are no hazardous electrical cords around, close all doors and videos and remove any items that the dog might try to swallow. Consider investing in a comfortable bed for the dog, and place their favorite toys and blankets on it. Also, if possible, set up their room in a place where they can watch the outside world; that’ll keep them entertained.

Exercise Before You Leave

When our sleep is messed up, we’re given the advice that we ought to exercise more and tire ourselves out. The very same logic applies to our furry little friends. One of the most effective ways of keeping your dog content while you’re gone is by tiring them out. Take them for a long walk or an intense play session. When your dog has expended most of their energy, they are going to absolute delight in just sitting back and relaxing while you’re away. If you’ve got an active breed like Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, this step is a no-brainer.

Set Up a Pet Camera

Let’s get back to pet-parent guilt again. Not knowing what your dog is doing is rather stress-inducing, to say the least. And we can’t expect a “I’m OK” text from them either. However, technology is a gift that keeps on giving, and now, with pet cameras, you can check up on your dog while you’re away with nothing but your smartphone and an internet connection. Some pet cams even allow for two-way communication so you can talk to your dog and say words that relax them. However, you might want to make them comfortable with that first, otherwise, it can freak them out. Dogs and separation anxiety is one of the great worries of owners, and this can be limiting to an extent.

Get Them A Friend!

You might have come across the meme where people say they got their dog a dog. While memes aren’t a great source of actual information, in this case, it is actually good advice. Dogs are naturally social creatures and they like to stay in a pack. If your lifestyle is such that you often have to leave your dog alone, consider getting them a friend. Can you imagine anything cuter than coming home to two Mini Goldendoodles?

Crate Train Them

There are conflicting opinions about this specific practice. Some call it “caging your dog,” while others stand by it. While that debate is definitely worth a philosophical discussion, it really boils down to whether or not your dog enjoys it. Some dogs find comfort in their crates, which, nowadays, is really essentially a small room.

Crates are the most effective way of ensuring your dog stays safe while you’re gone. However, similar to the pet camera situation, you must crate them first by slowly building up a routine and positive associations with the crate. Again, this technique is only worth it if the crate is indeed a space where the dog feels safe. Otherwise, forcing them into a crate would be similar to caging them.

Well, What About Puppies?

We hope that gave some clarity regarding teen to adult dogs, but is that the case with puppies as well? If yes, then how to leave a puppy alone you may ask?

Well, it’s a procedure. Puppies have a much lower tolerance for being left alone than adult dogs. Puppies under 10 weeks shouldn’t be left alone for more than 1 hour, and the time gradually increases from there, with a 6-month-old puppy being able to stay alone for a couple of hours. Remember, these are generalized numbers, and every puppy is different.

Before leaving your puppy alone, it is better to train them to be alone first, as otherwise, it can be a stressful situation for them. Do the following to train them:

• Gradually increase the time you leave them alone
• Provide them with a safe and comfortable environment when they are alone
• Leave behind toys and things they can play with
• Have them exercise beforehand
• If separation anxiety arises or persists, consult a veterinarian or certified dog trainer.

Conclusion

Don’t let pet parent guilt weigh too heavily on you. Both human and furry babies need to be left alone sometimes, and that doesn’t make you a bad parent—it helps teach them independence. Just make sure to take every precaution you can: inform a neighbor or a friend, place stickers outside indicating “dog inside,” or even use a GPS tracker for worst-case scenarios. Dogs are a beacon of joy, and we should do everything possible to enrich their lives, whether we’re with them or away.