Puppy Parents Anxious About Separation

“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]”

“Ok so we’ve had Abra for 5 months and she is 7 months old now. She is a golden retriever x lab. I’ve had the summer off but now I’m back to work. All that time with Abra has created separation anixiety. Me and my partner dropped the ball on not training her right from the gecko but here’s the issue. For being 7 months old she is extremely destructive. Every time we have tried to leave her alone she will eat carpet, the linoleum, her crate (like she bent the wire) We transformed our office into a”

“Hi, My puppy is a 4 month old Labrador! We picked him up at 8 weeks and have crate trained him the whole time. He’s settled amazingly and has just been doing so well. I’ve had labs my whole life but have just moved out. This is the first time I’m experiencing having a puppy with no other dogs in the house so it’s a bit harder. Two weeks ago, I removed his crate because he was happy to come upstairs to bed with us and the crate is MASSIVE and is driving me insane. He’s been sleeping on his own li”

“I have a 6 month Brittany spaniel girl. She is my best friend, and amazing girl. I love taking her on walks, and I also love to do small hikes but there is limited local hiking without driving. We drive 7-8 minutes to a beautiful spot, and even that gets her salivating like crazy. There is very nice hiking within 30/40 minutes and I want to take my baby. I have tried prescription nausea / motion sickness medication/ and it stopped vomiting on the longer ride but she still salivated a lot. She do”

“4mo toy poodle, had her since 8 weeks. She definitely has some separation anxiety, but it doesn’t seem too extreme. And it’s only with my mom who is the one with her/taking care of her the majority of the time. She’s been pretty reliable with potty training for a few weeks now but very often pees on the floor when my mom leaves for even 2-3 minutes and I’m still in the room. She will stand at the gate whining, but she doesn’t seem extremely distressed other than the crying and trying to get thro”

“My puppy will be 10 weeks old when school starts in a week and a half. Problem? My parents have work and me and my sister have school till 3. So he will have no human near him from 8AM-3PM. What do I do? I’m going to try and ask a friend who has a dog who also has a parent who works at home, but I’m scared my pomsky will be too much work for them. Idk if playpen will work because I don’t want him to be sad and have this 5 times a week. What do I do? Please help submitted by /u/Embarr”

“I have had a 10 week old Cockerdor puppy for a week now. He’s made some great progress so far. But we are looking for advice on a few things Playpen and separation anxiety advise We have been using his playpen as an area for him to safely nap during the day when he gets overtired and starts trying to bite everything. When we first used it, it took him ages to settle down and he would cry for 30 minutes even with us in the same room. Now he cries for maybe 5 minutes, but if he’s super tired he ju”

“Mini Aussie - 13 weeks old has been with my husband and I for 5 weeks. Friday & Saturday night we have to go out of town to work and haven’t taken him with us since he is not fully vaccinated. My MIL has taken care of him 3 weekends of the 5. She keeps telling me his is very “consentido” which translates to spoiled and maybe could be taken as untrained/bad. I believe his behavior is developmentally appropriate. Her complaints are him following her everywhere, biting/chewing her pajama pants”

“Hi! First time poster here :) My mom just adopted a female american shepherd puppy three days ago. She's almost 3 months old. I was staying at my mom's place these past few days and spent most of my time cuddling and playing with the pup. She sat in my lap during her first car ride when we took her home, I took her out for her first walk around the neighborhood, etc... a lot of firsts. I'm leaving tomorrow morning and won't be back until christmas - what are the chances the puppy”

“Hi guys I need advice with my new puppy It’s been 2 weeks since I got him he is so adorable and everything but i recently started college again and I’ve been caught up with school and personal stuff and especially proposals for my career. I love him dearly but it’s a lot to maintain I’ve been training him and showing what do’s and don’t but it’s hard on me. It’s my first time owning a pet and I thought I could handle it.I love him but I think he would be even more happier rehomed or something. W”

“I have a 12 week working cocker spaniel. He’s been home for three weeks, he’s a lovely little chap and is doing well with toilet training and his food but the sleeping situation is really starting to get me down. I’m trying to crate train to mixed effect. In the daytime he will not settle in there at all, but at night he is mostly happy to be put to bed there. I sit with him in his puppy pen to wind down and wait til he is calm to lift him into his crate with 9 times out of 10 he accepts. Occasi”

“Hi all ! I am bringing home a new puppy and will take a week off work to adjust her and then will WFH for another week while she is settling in but I was curious if it would be okay to leave her alone for one day when I go into the office? I live in a high rise in NYC and she will be a relatively small pup so my main priority is to pad train her (in this case I bought grass-like pads) so she can do her business when I am not home but I am anxious thinking about if she will be okay. Any advice? &”

“I have a puppy who just turned 7 weeks old. He was 6 weeks old when we got him. I understand that he ideally shouldn’t have been separated from his mom until 8 weeks, but it was a bad situation, and what’s done is done. I can’t change that now. My biggest issue is that he will NOT stop biting me. Redirecting him to a toy doesn’t seem to work because he just comes right back to bite me again. Even if I leave the room and come back, he starts doing it again. When we go outside to potty, he constan”

“Sorry in advance for the long post but we’re at a loss. For context, my partner works full time Monday to Friday, and I only work weekends. We work around each other because of the issues we’ve been having (our pup not being able to be left alone). I have a 13 week old Whippet, we had him at 10 weeks old. He’s overall a good puppy, he’s been very easy to train, however he is a proper Velcro dog. Straight away we noticed he couldn’t be alone for any length of time. He’d follow us room to room, an”

“I'm super anxious over having a puppy, even though she's technically my mother's. She's a 2 months old beagle, super sweet, very small. I currently live with my mom, so I take care of the pup too. I was very happy when we got her yesterday, but at night I got hit with an immense anxiety. I am autistic and dread change, so that's probably why. I'm very scared of fucking it up for her. My mom is also getting overwhelmed, which does not help. We have a cat, that I adore, who”

“Hi this is actually my first Reddit post but I just really need help to make sure our puppy makes it. For context, this puppy is located in Southern Africa, which is where I am now. My mom actually moves between there and the U.S. a lot so when she went over here she was told that a litter was recently born. There’s a doghouse outside and that where all the dogs stay, but the puppies were staying in a separate doghouse outside. They were isolated from all the other dogs but the mother who went b”

“So for background I'm an industrial worker, so I cannot leave my shifts to visit during the day. I will try my best to provide exercise and playtime whenever I am home, after shifts and days off. I will also try to provide as many toys as possible for him. For where I'll be keeping him, I have a tiled open space, are 10m² of open tiled space, mostly shaded from the weather. Ill have a crate and toys ready for him there. There will also be an automatic feeder and water. I am very nervous”

“I recently adopted an australian shepherd, she’s 10 weeks old and I’ve had her for a week now. At the shelter I got her at, she was with her sister and my brother has now decided to adopt the sister in a few days. He lives next door and we share a backyard so the puppies will spend lots of time together, but with separate living situations. However, as of right now they are both finishing off antibiotics for kennel cough. My brother already has a dog in his home, so we think that we should have”

“Our teeny tiny toy poodle/bolonka is having a hard time being by her self. She is now 4.5 months old, we have started separation training with enrichment and for about 20 minutes or however long her kong/mat/ toys last she is okay. Our problem now is she can’t relax at all, like not at all, after her enrichment she just runs around looking for us whilst barking and yapping. It’s giving us anxiety now. We set up a camera to watch and every time after the enrichment she just searches and barks and”

“Hi All, Im getting a lab in the coming weeks and I have a personal commitment about a week into getting the puppy that will include having to drive 2.5 hours to a family members place. Is this going to cause any issues? I planned on taking off the first week of getting the pup but then we have to travel that following weekend. I figured it didn't hurt to hear opinions. I love this sub . Thank you submitted by /u/Stuckatpennstation [link] [comments]”

“My puppy is absolutely delight, she is 6 months old and I love her to bits. I only got her 2 months ago but I feel like we have already bonded and do feel she loves me from her behaviours like kissing/licking on my legs, I dont allow her to kiss my face and coming close sitting near me. But I just feel it really you know! :D First, I live in a tropical country where there are snakes, stray dogs and my landlady has 5 protection dogs who are good but are like stray as they dont get that much healt”

“My puppy is just about 9 months old. I work away from home 4 days a week. One day a week he goes to a neighbors house who WFH and has a fenced yard and there are usually 2-3 other 2ish year old puppies there (hers and 2 other neighbors) and they play hard most of the day, though they all relax for a little bit throughout the day. (They are welcome inside the home whenever they want). Then one day a week I take him to a daycare facility at his vet in which they try to pair dogs with others who ha”

“hello all, I am getting a puppy next week! she is going to be a roughly 8/8.5 week old and I will be getting her with a four day stretch before I go back to work. I have read a bunch of posts from people who are seemingly full time employees or students that won't be home hardly ever, and that is not the case for me. Im home 4 days straight, gone from 9-6 for the other three. So here's my big question how does leaving her alone work? her Current home has already worked with her on the cr”

“We'll be out of town 3.5 days. Our good friend will be watching our 8 month old puppy in their home. I trust them on following the feeding schedule, watching over his safety, and puppy proofing their home. They're super excited! He's a Chihuahua, a pretty stoic and strong little man! But he loves his mama, and I worry about him settling in and being comfortable. We'll be dropping him off in the morning, with all his things - his bed, his favorite toys, blankets, food and treats.”

“Hey everyone. I just recently got a 8 week old female doberman puppy about 3 days ago. I’m aware that they become fearful when alone at this age and that it’s their natural puppy instincts to cry out when they feel alone and vulnerable, but she will whine even when we’re on the bed and out of sight. When i take my other dog out to potty, she yelps cries when left alone for that short period. I don’t want this to become an ongoing issue, anyone have any advice on how can i start to get her used t”

“Hi guys. My puppy is currently 15 weeks old. From the month I’ve spent with her and all the experiences I’ve exposed her to, I can count all her identifiable fears on one hand. She is overall a tough and curious cookie. Although this is 1 year in the future, I recently had some life circumstances that would lead me to be moving out internationally. I plan to take her with me when that time comes. I do know dogs can sometimes understandably not adjust well to moving, let alone internationally. Si”

“Our 7-month old puppy is on day 4 post spay. My husband and I both have hybrid work schedules so we’ve been lucky enough to be able to have one of us with her all the time since she has the procedure. Now that she is feeling better we are hoping to leave her by herself sometimes but she has fairly significant separation anxiety and we are worried about her running around and jumping while she is anxious home alone. Should we just pay someone to dog sit if we both need to leave at the same time u”

“I have a 14 week old cattle dog (??? Embark results pending) mix puppy who's been home with us for just over 2 weeks. It will be a few more weeks before we need to leave her alone for longish stretches (up to around 3 hours at a time at first), but we're working on shorter stints in her pen now to get her ready. I'm struggling to figure out what exactly it's safe to leave her alone with in her pen and what things could be dangerous. I'd say she's a pretty average chewer,”

“Our dog (14 / 15 week old Dachshund) had been doing really well with separation anxiety training. We could crate her and leave the room, and even leave the house entirely, she’d maybe peep for a bit at the start but settle quickly, sometimes not even peep at all. Her longest successful stretch alone was about 1h15min. When I entered the appartment again she just was chilling in her crate. Yesterday we left the house and ended up gone way longer than planned, around 2 to 2h15min. When we got home”

“Hi everyone, first time puppy owner here. We got our havanese pup three weeks ago, he's 15 weeks old. He didn't come from a rescue, just a regular breeder. We've made a lot of good progress with potty training etc, but he has horrible separation anxiety. He loves his crate, sleeps in it fine overnight in our bedroom. I had last week off work and I got him on a good napping in crate schedule - has a white noise machine, a cover on three sides, goes in with a Kong and is even fine for”

“Hi everyone, I really need to vent because today I went through an experience that 100% traumatised me, and I need to talk about it with someone. My puppy is 5 months old, full of curiosity, and has absolutely zero sense of danger. We're currently staying at my dad's place. Earlier today, he went outside to take out the trash and left the front door slightly open. I was in another room grabbing her collar when she slipped out, ran across the street, and made it to the sidewalk on the oth”

“Hi everyone. I need some help with our Tibetan Spaniel puppy Bandy. He was born on January 31 2026 and came home with us on April 18, so he's almost six months old now. I work from home and my wife is home too, so he's almost never alone, which might be part of the issue since he never really learned how to handle solitude. We first thought he had separation anxiety but that doesn't seem right. When we leave him with his grandparents or with a calm dog sitter he's totally relaxed”

“I have an 18 week old Mini poodle/ wheaten terrier puppy. He’s crazy smart, and so so good except that he seems to be incredibly attached to ONLY me. I’m worried it’s developing into some form of separation anxiety. We are a four person household, my husband two young children and myself. If I am even out of sight for a second he loses his mind, even if everyone else is still in the room. He doesn’t care if my husband or kids leave. He’s gotten good about when we leave in the morning for school/”

“Hi! I have a 6 month old Sheltie named evie. I love her more than anything on this Earth. Im her only owner, but I live with my parents so when im not home (around 6 hours a day) my mother is who cared for her. Otherwise, im the one who feeds her, trains her, plays with her, takes her on walks, gives her treats etc. However, our love seems very... one sided. (Kinda sad here) One of the reasons I wanted a dog was because I've never felt like i was somebody's favorite/most important person”

“Me and my partner have a 12 week old schnoodle (minituare schnauzer x poodle), we have had him since he was 8 weeks. We both alternated taking time off work to stay with him and settle him in on the days when we're both in office we've had family come and spend time with him so he has never been alone in the house. He is really attached to me, when I leave, even if my partner or anyone else is home he cries and barks. My partner said he usually gets over it pretty quick but it's so u”

“Hi everyone, I'm looking for advice because I'm feeling really overwhelmed. I have a 3.5-month-old Pomeranian. I got him when he was 8 weeks old. I work from home, so we naturally spend a lot of time together. From the very beginning, I tried to help him get used to being alone by leaving the apartment for short periods, even if it was just a few minutes to take out the trash. Unfortunately, he has struggled with this almost since day one. As soon as I pick up my keys or put on my shoes,”

“I wanna first say that I understand he’s a baby and doesn’t want to feel abandoned, and I don’t want that either. I work from home outside of an occasional 2-hour stretch throughout the week where I need to leave. I’ve been erring on the side of too much caution when it comes to responding to his crying, but maybe that’s doing more harm than good at this point. I’ve been home almost 24/7 with our 9 week-old mini poodle puppy since we brought him home last week, and he seems to be getting more co”

“hello, I am the dog-mom who own's a three year old Shiba-female. Yet my girl has been very anxious since the moment i have brought her home from a breeder. She was literally scared of everything, even walking down the stairs, and loud noises. Me and my family thought it was just due to the new inviroment and thought it would be solved later on. Shortly before puberty she still was like that and we thought puberty would change that. I know Shiba's need to be socialized a lot, which we tri”

“Please I just need anyone even if it’s just me person to give me advice. I have a 2 year old maltipoo that I love to bits. She has horrible separation anxiety; it’s so bad she literally eats the wall when the dogs gate is closed. I’ve tried basically everything and nothing has worked. We can’t put her in a crate because her previous owners kept her in a crate for days at a time, it was so bad that when we first got her she was terrified of going outside, she loves going on walks now but she bark”

“Hello I have an Viszla who is 8 weeks old. We have had him for 3 days now, but we live under a flight path and it’s causing an issue with toilet training and maybe his general mood. The planes are quite regular as it’s a major airport, he’s now ok when in the house, but when in the garden he will take himself back inside when the big planes go overhead. Even if in the middle of going to the toilet he will go back inside. I am aware it’s very early days but I want to get things right as soon as p”

“I adopted a puppy about two weeks ago. Unfortunately I have a family emergency and need to travel out of state for 5 nights. Ideally I did not want to leave puppy until I had spent at least a couple months with her, but it is what it is. I’ve been working with her a lot training wise (mostly crate training and potty training). One of my friends kindly offered to watch her for me and I don’t doubt she’ll keep up with the potty training, but feel bad asking her to do crate training as I know it’s”

“I am doing this job for a friend. Puppy is about 8 week old, slightly potty trained. After signing up for 5 day long sits I arrived to find the family would be in and out during the sits. And they have grandchildren visiting. The days they've been in and out have been awful. The puppy schedule is all whacky, just about to nap then kids come in, kids leave open gate and puppy disappears to pee in nearby rooms, kids and grandparents want to have lunch so I'm asked to take puppy outside and”

“Hi all, my 5 month old Fox Red Labrador bitch has always been anxious (she used to cry in her crate every morning from 4 30 but she seemed to get over that) but we're currently on holiday and things have gotten much worse. She's started whining or howling not only when she's on her own but also when she's just got a barrier between us or when she's with people but her favourite person (my wife) isn't there. For example we're staying at a holiday camp. After the beach”

“Hello. I have a 12 year old lab, 2 year old husky, and a month ago we adopted a 9 week old husky who turned 3 months today. We’ve brought him to a few puppy socials where he did good most of the time, but resource guarded a toy at one social and treats at the next one. The trainers throw tons of treats on a ball pit for them to find and he gets pretty sassy about it if a puppy tries to take one he wanted. He is the first dog I’ve experienced resource guarding with and I’m lost on what to do in a”

“My puppy is 10 weeks old. it’s been a week today i collected her. we’ve made massive progress with her crate downstairs, feeding in there, treats, she goes in twice a day for enforced naps and i’m up to leaving her in there without crying and me leaving the room. this morning i went upstairs I was quiet for half an hour so she didn’t know if i was here or not and she was fine. when she’s out of the crate i’ve been going in and out of the door not making a big deal about 10 times a day. staying o”

“my puppy is about 3 months old he’s a dachshund / aussie mix i got him almost 2 months ago and i’ve noticed he has really bad separation anxiety. we don’t leave him alone much at all because me and my boyfriend work different schedules so he just stays with whoever isn’t at work but i’ve noticed that when i do leave him alone despite leaving him enrichment toys, lick mats, treat puzzles, slow feeder all the things i’ve seen to do online he will whine for about 15 minutes after i leave (which has”

“My fiancé and I brought home Ivy, a 12-week-old miniature dachshund, six days ago. We love her, but we are both overwhelmed and experiencing serious puppy blues. I work full-time from home. My fiancé works on-site Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, so most weekday puppy care falls on me while I am also trying to work. We currently live with my fiancé’s parents. This is a temporary setup until we move into our own home sometime next year. Our only private living space is the attic, which f”

“My husband and I have a 14 week old (turning 15 weeks tomorrow) Havanese x maltipoo pup we picked up 7 weeks ago. It’s been a journey, but it feels like things were getting better for a few weeks until this past week!!! She started barking a lot more when we were not near her, getting pickier w food, whining more in her crate, her 2-3 hour naps have turned to like 1 hour max, and now, it seems like she hates me?? I am the one that mainly does everything for her — bathe her, feed her, brush her,”

“Hello! I adopted my puppy 6 weeks ago, I believe he’s around 6-7 months old. I’ve been WFH with a flexible schedule and now my work is unexpectedly requiring 5 days back in office. My puppy is crate trained, potty trained, and goes to a daycare for 2 hours a few days a week and he LOVES it. He’s very social but also prone to being overstimulated and has a consistent nap schedule to keep him, and us, happy and regulated. I try to give him at least 6 hours total of crate time during the day since”