Puppy Parents Anxious About Separation

“Our pup is a bit over a year now and we have built up alone time until 2 hours with lots and lots of patience (cockerspaniels are notorious for their separation anxiety). We have not yet succeeded to go past 2 hours as he starts showing real distress every time around the 2 hour mark on the pet cam. Now, we have left him alone this evening, I guess for the first time since it is getting dark earlier. Usually, he likes to watch out the window and does so when he is home alone as well, but because”

“Just back from 10 days holiday so a fair bit of upheaval for our little corgi (1 year old) - we spent two days travelling in the car each way and then were in a rental cottage with lovely walks nearby but no garden that she’s used to. She weed in the house a couple of times and hasn’t done that since she was toilet training. Since we got back, she’s been nervous and unsettled. She doesn’t want to go out into our garden unless we physically go out with her (we are doing this!) - if we don’t go to”

“I have a 4.5 month old staffy. The most separation we have done so far is me working in the spare room he doesn’t have access to for a couple hours a day. I’ve also left him for an hour to go for a drink. This weekend I’m going to a Pilates class for an hour and I’ve also been invited to go thrifting with a friend later on that day. I’ll aim to be gone for a few hours. I have a nanny cam for him and I’ll make sure he’s been toilet and that we’ve had a big walk and a play and that he’s not hungry”

“Our Bernedoodle puppy is 19 weeks (5months). We have had him since 12 weeks! We absolutely love him and he is an angel dog. He doesn’t love his crate but he goes in willingly at bedtime and after nighttime potty breaks. The only issue we are facing is he does not like to be alone. When we leave the house he goes in his crate and tries to escape for about 10 minutes and then naps no problem. We puppy proofed our (finished) basement so he could have some space during the day while we work (husband”

“I have a 3 year old Cane Corso mix that really struggles with separation anxiety. I have him at a point where he can at least comfortably stay at home with a family member if I have to leave, but I know that’s just a bandaid solution and not sustainable. I want to get to the root of the issue because it’s breaking my heart that he gets so stressed and I feel like a burden to everyone who’s helping me. My ability to work anything other than a part time job or go back to school is being severely i”

“Hey everyone I just got my Maltipoo baby. It’s been 3 days and I’ve been the primary care taker of him. (Feed, walk, play) my mother is home but she was getting used to him just like he was. I have work for 8 hrs and my mom ends up being with him. However he only follows me during the day, Velcros me and needs me to be by his side. This is my first day at work since I got him and my mom sent me this picture. (He even cries when he’s in the crate and I’m next to him) He hasn’t left the crate and”

“We have a 5-month-old male miniature poodle, and we’re really struggling with what seems to be quite severe separation anxiety. We would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experienced something similar. The problem has gradually become more noticeable, and at this point he has an extremely hard time being separated from either of us. He starts whining and barking if one of us simply goes into another room and closes the door , even though the other person is still at home with him. We”

“We have an almost 10 week old mini Goldendoodle, we brought him home on Monday. My husband works from home so he’s never had to be left alone for any period of time. My husband now has to go out of town unexpectedly for work next Tuesday just for the day. My mom can hopefully come hang with the pup for awhile, but I don’t think she can do the whole day. Wwyd? It feels too soon to leave him alone in the crate, but I feel like maybe I’m overthinking this? People have puppies and work outside the h”

“We are always home as we are still students. Probably within a week or two I’ll start leaving the whole day and he will remain with my gf. Puppy is almost 13wk (3wk with us) old, when he is sleepy we can leave him in the pen even for some hours while we are in a different room. Usually he notice us leaving and go back to sleep without fuss. Problem is that if he is awake and we place him in the pen he often starts barking for our attention. We ignore him and reward calm when he calms down. Today”

“Basically the title. My six month old mini poodle is so sweet but he’s super attached to only me. He’s not content if I leave the room even if my husband and children are there, he will cry the baby gate entire time. He also will not let anyone but me walk him. This is making me increasingly exhausted as we’re not able to share the responsibility, and my husband is frustrated and feels embarrassed the pup won’t walk for him or settle. Any advice? submitted by /u/snw2494 [link]”

“Hi everyone! I need some advice on how to bond with my 12 week old puppy. She is more bonded with my partner, who works from home. I do all the training and most of the playing. He gets angel side and it feels like I get her crazy baby shark demon side. Also they just have a better bond, and the crazy part, he doesnt want the bond. Any advice? submitted by /u/Smart-Finish-735 [link] [comments]”

“Hi all! I recently posted another question here but had a more practical version of it that I wanted to ask. Is it safe for me to leave my 10 week old puppy (mixed breed - part bulldog, part shepherd, part something else; 17 lbs already) in an ex-pen with 4 feet walls and a lined base attached to a crate with a non-grated cover over the pen (very fine soft mesh clipped to the pen - i.e. nothing we can get a foot stuck in) with a pee pad and safe toys while I'm out (with no collar that can ge”

“My boyfriend and I were out of town for his birthday mid-september. My mom and cousin cared for our 1 year, 10 month old shiba while we were gone, but when we came back we noticed a couple of things. First, we noticed that he wasn’t doing well in his crate. Before this trip, I would practice putting him in his crate while being in the same room and he did fine. He would just lay down and sleep for a few hours, if I didn’t already let him out. Since coming back, staying in his crate has been a st”

“My puppy is 9 weeks old tomorrow and has been with me since 7 weeks (due to unfortunate circumstances, I know she should have stayed with mom until at least 8). She is too small to jump on the couch so sometimes I pick her up and put her beside me. All day today when i let her on the couch she became insane, barking, bouncing around, nipping at me. Her lunging and biting almost seems aggressive and feels different than her normal puppy play. I tried ignoring her but she won't stop until I ta”

“Hi all, I recently got a golden retriever girl puppy (8w old) and I had originally planned to leave her in the garden when she's home alone, rather than inside, the thought being that it would be much more enjoyable for her. The garden is fully closed off, no way of exit onto the street, no view from outside, and all potential risks on the inside of the garden have either been cleaned up and away or covered so that she can't access it. She'd be alone for 2-3h max, and would have a sh”

“hi all, we recently got a cocker spaniel puppy, she’s around 12-13 weeks and we have had her for 3 weeks. she’s normally fine but i went out for dinner recently and she was aggressive (snapping and biting, then barking when in her crate), and normally when she’s aggressive in that way we put her in the crate and she settles down and goes to sleep. however, she took a long time to soothe and at first was barking, then trying to dig out of her crate and whining. she was given a toy to play with in”

“I rehomed my 4 month puppy a month ago , not because I didn’t want to deal with a puppy, I knew what I was expecting , I took the time to train and feed him and love him , yet my anxiety got so bad. And my household was not supportive , I constantly felt like I was doing everything wrong and he didn’t deserve me . I was not eating I was not sleeping , it was never him it was my anxiety that was so bad. It also didn’t help was the fact that my parents said I was not being firm enough with him . T”

“My pup is like 14/15 weeks staffy. He’s a bit Velcro and we are working on his separation training. I work from home 3 days a week when my partner isn’t home and my partner is home the two days I’m working from the office so we are mostly with him all the time. We have done short trips to the coffee shop at the end of our street and back for about 10/15 min and he handles that well and recently he did an hour by himself while I worked in my office which ofc he cried a bit but settled eventually.”

“We’ve had our puppy for 7 weeks now, he’s an English Setter. I am constantly reading this page and other puppy tips and online groups. I feel discouraged at times that my puppy isn’t progressing where he should be in his training/behavior. People make it seem so easy, he’s been anything but easy. The main struggles we’re having right now is the biting, I know he’s teething but he will bite us and our furniture more than any of his toys/teething toys. And we cannot get him to follow the 1 hour aw”

“Looking for tips on preventing separation anxiety with our new puppy. We brought our almost 11-week-old puppy home Saturday. She came from a breeder who gave her a really great first life, so we want to make the transition home as smooth as possible. She’s been doing well with her crate so far. Sleeping in it although we need to do crate games so she knows it’s not just for sleep. We’re doing enforced naps and she hasn’t really whined in it. Her crate is in the spare bedroom rather than our bedr”

“My 7 month old puppy can't be alone, and I know it's all my fault. I wish I read up more on how to leave my dog alone when I got my dog, practices to put in place to get him comfortable a little at a time, etc- I really had no idea this would be such a challenge down the road. Now we're in a place where we've gone too long placating to his constant need for attention and having someone in the room with him. Not that it's an excuse, but he was sick for a good chunk of having h”

“Hi everyone! We welcomed a wonderful new rescue puppy to our home 2.5 weeks ago. He’s about 3.5 months old. He has been an ANGEL, but we’re having some hiccups with separation anxiety. Unfortunately our little guy was diagnosed with parvo a week after we brought him home from the shelter, so for the past week and a half I’ve been with him around the clock since he was having diarrhea. He does FANTASTIC in the crate when I am in the room with him, and sleeps through the night. Zero accidents insi”

“I am in the trenches with my 11 month old English cocker spaniel puppy and would love to hear some success stories from others. For context: I have been working with a trainer who specializes in separation anxiety for the past 4 months now. At one point we got to almost 7 minutes but are back down to about 3 minutes now. We started anti-anxiety medication about 5 weeks ago now. It’s tough to say if it is fully working yet but with how long this journey has been and how much longer it will be I w”

“These are the things we have done from week 1 with our 15 week cockapoo pup to try and prevent separation anxiety. I work from home so have to proactively leave her. We have had her for 7 weeks, since she was 8 weeks old. Are we missing anything? What we have done : - Sleeping in crate overnight from day 1, me and my husband took it in turns to sleep on an airbed outside the room and slowly moved it further away each night until we were able to sleep in our own bed upstairs. - No naps on laps in”

“I have a 6.5 month Pomeranian puppy and she's a gem, but I want to make sure I'm setting her up for success as far as independence/avoiding the development of separation anxiety goes! Up until around the 5 month mark, she could only settle/sleep in her crate in our bedroom - so we were doing anywhere from 4-5 enforced naps/day with little to no fuss. Now that she's older, she can settle/sleep anywhere in my small NYC apartment - I work from home and she spends the majority of the day”

“hi!! i am a 17 year old first time pet owner with my family and am going to be getting a mini golden doodle puppy (8 weeks) on saturday and we have everything we need, but right now we have our crate and play pen for him in the living room/dining room area (they’re connected). every night though, my parents argue a lot and it’s really loud (i can hear them muffled from my room upstairs) and i’m not sure if i should bring my puppy upstairs into my room with me or stay downstairs with him? i don’t”

“I am having guilt leaving puppy at home while my fiance and I work. Context: our puppy is now 13 weeks old today, he’s a Groodle. He’s alone for 8-9 hours straight for 3 days of the week. The other 4 days either one of us is home most the day or my mum comes and plays with him halfway through the day. Is this cruel and bad for my puppy? We give him free rein of the house, leave toys, comfy bed and a crate for him to sleep in. I feel like he gets so bitey and naughty and I’m worried it’s because”

“I work from home Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays and my husband is home Wednesdays. We’ve had our pup for 3 weeks now and so far we’ve gotten lucky with him either having a later shift on Tuesday or a shorter one. Tomorrow he’s leaving at 9:15 and won’t be back until 4:15 (7 hrs). Puppy has been on a pretty strict ish schedule for potty training reasons. My work is flexible enough but I have a team meeting at 1 PM so I’m wondering if I should a) ask to leave early so she’s only alone for like 5.”

“Edit: wording, context (roommate had offered to let puppy out mid day) Hi! I’m kind of stuck and wanted to get some advice on my 4.5 month old puppy. I’ve had her for around 2 months and love her a lot, she’s a great dog with a really fun personality. Potty training is a work in progress, but she’s mastered all the basic tricks already. Shortly after I picked her up from the breeder I was laid off from a pretty cushy remote job and have been looking for work. I just got another job however it’s”

“My rescue 1yo aussie (had him for about 4 months) has the common problem of being super attached to me and feeling anxious when separated. Before me he lived in a person's backyard with his dog brother. We never left him alone in the house since we got him, as he would always stand at the door and get visibly more anxious as we left. We tried leaving him in different areas of the house for short periods (1-10 minutes) or tethered outside (to reduce the feeling of being locked up) - he will d”

“Hi, this is Sally, a 75-day-old Weimaraner puppy. This morning, we went to pick her up from the breeder, but from the very beginning, she seemed “sad” to us. We thought she might not understand what was going on, and she spent the entire one-hour car ride sleeping without ever waking up. When we got out of the car, she explored the garden and peed. We gave her some food by hand, as the breeder had recommended, and then, while we were eating, she went back to sleep. After two hours, we woke her u”

“Hi I am getting a little cavalier next weekend. I have booked 2 weeks off work but they have just announced we are back in the office 3 days per week. Had been home working. My plan is now to have a friend call in mid day and once bigger and allowed outside get a dog Walker to call. I am just worried now about toilet training on office days. As he will be only 10 weeks when I have to go back and I fear that’s too long in a crate to my friend calls in. Any advice or set plans with pens etc would”

“I am looking for some advice on whether this is normal and if it will settle. We got a 16 weeks old Cockapoo boy, we had him for 3 weeks now. He is an absolutely fantastic dog so far. It was an adjustment but he's learning quickly with most things. I am home with him all the time, so I do most of the feeding, all of the training, vet visits etc. He does great when I am home with him by myself. He learns commands pretty quickly. He zooms but can also play by himself and settle without my inte”

“10 week old spaniel, very clingy understandably for only being here a week. When were you able to leave yours on their own without them whining, howling and barking? And how did you build them up to that stage? My last spaniel was amazing on his own and was never clingy. Not comparing, just not used to the clingyness. Pup is very good at settling in his pen/crate and self soothing with a toy etc but leave the room for more than 5 minutes and he is not happy. Does it get easier? Any tips? s”

“I picked up my puppy on Sunday through a rescue. Didnt have the best start in life. Hes 6 months (estimated). He bonded very quickly with me but so fearful of my husband or new people in general. Im hoping because hes young its going to be temporary. He such a gorgeous boy and shows his cheeky side when its just the 2 of us. Would love to sit in the pub some day with him and watch the world go by 🥰 Any advice or guidance on navigating this would be amazing 👏 submitted by /u/Outside”

“Context, me and my partner both stay seperately and work full time. We just got a 3 month old bichon, and we stay approximately 40mins car ride away from each other. We had intended to start moving her as soon as possible from one house to another with her staying at my partner house from Mon - Thurs (Thurs night bring back to mine) and Fri - Sun (Sun bring back to my partner). Would it be too quick and would the puppy be able to adapt? Or should we just put her at one person house first?”

“i want to keep her but i also want to rehome her. I am a senior in high school and i’ve been raising this puppy for about 6 months and shes 9 months old, a golden retriever x golden shepherd and she’s the cutest thing ever. she is just very destructive and full of energy; she destroyed countless things like my shoes, chargers, the trash, and is hard to potty train but shes very smart and she poops and pees everywhere despite me walking her. i just think its a lot of responsibility due to me havi”

“My pup is a border collie, 13 week. I’ve had her for about a month. I have to take my pup on a 5 hr roadtrip because I have no one to watch her. Any advice ? I am already packed got her a seat buckle and will be with her while someone else drives. She is only 13weeks but she is well behaved for the most apart but it would just be new to her. She’s ridden in cars before but not for that long. I’m prepared for the bathroom/feeding breaks but is there anything else I should prepare for? submi”

“I have a puppy. It’s my parents male dogs daughter (Shih tzus) we took her home when she was only 6 weeks old. My sister was going to take her eventually. But while caring for her I’ve fallen so, so in love with her. Things are difficult at the moment with my sister so it’s not a good time for her to take on a puppy, either. So it’s set, she’s mine, she’s staying with me and I couldn’t be happier. She’s now about 11 weeks old. I knew it was going to be a change in my life. She unfortunately stil”

“Please no judgment- I got a puppy 3 weeks ago. I am the biggest dog lover and have wanted a dog my entire life. He is a menace. Barks when I’m not there, eats his poop, follows me all around the house (which I love that but I fear he’s almost too attached). I’m doing everything right I have an online trainer too but I’m mentally and physically exhausted from cleaning up and he feels like a legit new born. I feel like I’m starting to resent him and it makes me guilty. If I could go back maybe I w”

“Looking for some advice. First time puppy owner. I have a 14 week old bernedoodle puppy who I will be leaving for 5ish hours tomorrow. Our longest stretch yet. During the day we have a pen that we keep her in when she needs a nap, we need to leave the house, can’t be supervising her directly etc. She does great in her pen. Has never pooped in it and hasn’t peed in it since second week home. Tomorrow marks 6 weeks we’ve had her. Overnight she sleeps in her crate in my large walk in closet. She al”

“My family recently adopted a puppy, he’s a twelve week old lurcher who was found at a few days old on the side of the motorway with three of his siblings but no mum. I worry that he may be missing out on some of the key lessons he should have learned from his mother, he was thankfully with his brother in a foster home until nine weeks, when we took him home. He is great for most things, he always goes outside for potty and he picks up tricks very quickly. Unfortunately I am the only one in my fa”

“She's a 7 month old cocker spaniel. I thought being between jobs was the perfect time to get her because I'd have endless time to spend with her on her training etc. She's my first dog. I trusted the advice that I was given which was that she needed to see me as the best thing ever. Well she does. But now I can't even leave the house without her panicking, even if someone else is still there. I've been begging my parents to help me. Even just to watch her for a little while s”

“Hi everyone, TLDR: 11month old dog with separation. Have followed protocol for 4 months but wasn’t able to gain a bit of my life back. We will start now with a new trainer but I feel anxious once again. I would love your advice and hear about your experiences/ success stories. **BACKGROUND** I’m the proud owner of a beautiful and very kind Havanese. He’s currently 11 months old and has been with us since he’s 2.5 months (so since December 2025). He has separation anxiety and it’s been impacting”

“I had a family dog that was a yorkiepoo, and he become very attatched and impossible to leave alone. I don’t want that to happen ever again everything he lacked as a family dog I don’t want to happen here. This dog wasn’t entirely planned by me but it’s a Yorkie Maltese 3 month old and was held with the liter members until 2 months. I worry she freaks out so hard when I have to go to work, typical 9-5. I take her out as much as I can, I pay attention when I’m at home and don’t keep my eyes off h”

“My three month old puppy has super bad separation anxiety and i’m currently trying to train him. It is very hard since he’s super clingy and not calm. Any tips on how to fix this? submitted by /u/jellyfish4akitkat [link] [comments]”

“Me and my gf both love dogs and planning to have one but we both work 6 days and have to leave house for 10 hours . Is it ok to leave puppy alone during that duration ? My house also have garden and the puppy we want to get is a 10 weeks old Border Collie submitted by /u/Amazing_Usual8574 [link] [comments]”

“Hi I’m a 17M and I’m currently going into my Senior year of highschool. As a surprise my mom wanted to get me my favorite dog breed as a present since she’s known that I’ve wanted a puppy since I was 7. But one week in and I am heavily considering giving him back to the breeder. I really do love this dog and he so sweet but I’m going to be out of the house all day and I know that these dogs need a lot of activity and enrichment that I don’t see myself realistically achieving on a daily basis wit”

“It is early yet. We have had our 6 month old puppy for a couple weeks now. Now that we have been able to integrate her into the household, things have been pretty nice. She has been a relatively easy puppy as far as pups this age go. Too easy actually (apart from some kennel anxiety). She would much rather cuddle up on the couch than run amok. I've finally found some toys she likes that we can play with together. It's been a long time since I've had a young dog. I don't know when”

“I'm hoping/planning to acquire a puppy next year and working my way through learning as much as I can to prepare :) I live with my parents still while I'm completing my degree and the goal is to get the puppy in my final year of university. That way I'll have a year of flexible schedule with online classes and family support to get the worst of the puppy phase done before I end up working a full time office job! My concern is as follows - my dad is not a big fan of leaving the house”

“Hi guys, brought home a beautiful retriever lurcher x collie puppy yesterday and she’s amazing. She’s three months roughly but in the 24 hours we’ve had her she’s developed crazy separation anxiety with me! I’m in my final year of school and “my puppy will miss me” isn’t a valid excuse to not show up but I’m worried she’ll be a demon tomorrow for my dad. I’ve a dog walking side gig and was gone for maybe 40 minutes walking the neighbours dog, there was carnage. Apparently she screamed the place”

“We just brought home a new puppy last week. We have an upcoming trip in October for 8 days. Puppy will be about 16 weeks old at the time. Is this too long to leave a puppy? Should we cancel our trip? submitted by /u/scblooms [link] [comments]”

“Hi! We got a puppy 4 months ago, and we already have a 2 year old dog who is super chill, can be left alone for 5 hours after a long walk and no problems. The puppy, Kiwi, was fine in the beginning (first few days), but being a rescue when we left him alone started howling and crying for hours. Neighbour complained and I knew I had to do something. So, we began training. Big dog would cry when puppy would cry, so we try leaving them in different rooms. That made it worse. Left chewing toys, and”

“I have a 16 week old cockapoo. We got her at eight weeks. I still can’t leave her home without her freaking out and trying to rip her pen apart. Even if she’s in the same room as us, and in her pen, she will still sit there and cry if she can’t physically get to us. She’s even that way when she’s on the couch because she’s too small to jump down and she hasn’t gained the confidence yet so she’ll just sit there and cry on the couch. My girlfriend and I are exhausted. We can’t go out without her.”

“Hello! We are welcoming our puppy home at the end of September. We are supposed to pick her up at the end of a weekday, around 6pm, and we’re expecting to be back home around 8. I am worrying about her not having enough time to take in the change before we start putting her in her crate for the night (of course we’ll be taking her out every hour for potty training, even throughout the night) and she’ll get very anxious in the dark in this unknown place. I know picking your puppy in the morning i”

“Hi everyone, I am a recent first-time dog owner, my partner and I just brought home a pug puppy at 8 weeks old. We've had her for 2 weeks now, and initially her behaviour was very mellow, friendly, and more on the shy side. She was listening to commands (she knows sit, come, down, drop it and leave it now), she is crate-trained and we potty trained her to use the grass patch on our balcony after 3 days (we live in an apartment). We initially had her mainly in a pen for play, but seeing her q”

“Hi all. We picked up our White Swiss Shephard Puppy at 9wks and they are currently 10 and a bit weeks old. We are currently in the chaos of crate training, supporting them with separation, toilet training and getting them familiar with their collar, lead and harness. We are also first time dog owners so have read books and watched a shit ton of youtube/tiktok/ inta reels of puppy training advice and ownership advice. Puppy 101 has also kept us sane during our very emotional first week as puppy o”

“Hello everyone, I have some concerns about separation anxiety and just wanted to get some more perspective on it! We currently have a 14 week whippet puppy who we've had since ~8 weeks old. He currently sleeps in bed with us, we're currently working on crate training him (using the book "Dog Training and behavioural solutions") but he's struggling quite a bit and can't stay in for more than a few minutes before biting and pawing at the crate and screaming the house down”

“i have a 12 week old puppy (we’ve had him for almost 3 weeks) and i really feel like im struggling to have happy time with him. he’s so hyper which i know is normal for a puppy but i feel like he only wants to play and bite (hair, hands, everything) rather than cuddle. he was great the first few days and now that’s he’s settled in he’s been crazy. submitted by /u/nycrunner888 [link] [comments]”