How long can a doodle puppy stay home alone?

[Rebecca bratter]

How long should a doodle puppy, 4.5 months be able to stay home alone?  If you've seen my previous post, you know that my aussie doodle Madiba and I have separation anxiety. We are working on leaving her alone for short bursts, the max to date has been about 2 hours.  I am having an argument with my husband, he thinks she can stay alone for 5 or 6 hours?  She has not had an accident in the house for about a month, she's really good but again we've never left her for more than 2 hours and she can hold it that long.  Otherwise someone is always here and she rings her little bell when she wants to go out.  I realize the answer probably depends on a lot of things, but your input would be appreciated. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

That is a great name!  

[Adrienne]

I like this...I learn something new everyday.  Thanks for passing along this information.

[Adrienne]

Oh, cream cheese sounds good.  I will have to try that with Dougie.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Sounds like you may be the one with more separation anxiety.  I can sure understand that.  My husband retired about the same time we got our first doodle so they have never had to spend much time alone.  They can tell when we are getting ready to go out and come and lay on the bed while we get dressed.  Sometimes we tell them, "No, you are going to stay" and they know it is not their time to go with us and they stay on the bed.  You are right to just take your things and walk out when you are leaving and not make a big deal about it.  As long as they have someone to open the door for them when they want out and feed them, they will be fine when you are gone.  Give your husband and your dog a kiss goodbye and enjoy your time in South Africa.  They will be fine.  BTW, we have some doodles that stay with us when their families are traveling and I take photos of our activities and send them e-mail.  It makes everyone feel better to see the photos.  Maybe your husband could do this for you.  Just takes a few minutes and you will feel better about being away from her.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I'm sure she can probably hold it at least 4-5 hours. Good idea to see how long she will go before asking to go out. I have one with a bladder of steel and one who would go out every two hours if we are home. They are 3 and 4.5 yrs old and I still have a sitter come once a day during our work days. But we are gone 12 hours. I think they would hold it but I wonder how comfortable that would be for them? And the occasional diarrhea just can't be held that long, and boy do I hate coming home to that smell and mess!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna definitely has a bladder of steel... even when we're home she only pees max. 3-4 times a day!  I let her out and she just lies on the back porch, no interest at all in peeing unless she absolutely HAS to.

[Hua]

My 3 months old mini goldendoodle puppy Charlie can hold his bladder for about 4 - 5 hours if left in the crate.  I left him in his crate in the morning at around 7:30 and come home during lunch (around 11:30 - 12) to feed/play with him and let him outside, then I get home at around 5 to 5:30 in the afternoon.  He's only had one accident in the crate at the very beginning. When left in the house, he'll potty about 2 - 3 hours after he drank water.  He can slept through the whole night (10 to 6), but I don't give him water after 8.  I think it kinda depends on the dog, but it's important that you set a feeding/water schedule and stick to it and the puppy will grow used to it.  Charlie also used to have really bad separation anxiety too.  The first week I got him was so bad he made me cry several time because he wouldn't stop barking/crying/whining when I'm out of his sight.  It was aweful and so hard not to give in when he whines/barks.  But I basically toughed it out (I really had not choice as I only had two weeks of vacation and had to go back to work after that), and start leave his sight (i.e. turn my back or just step out of his sight) for longer and longer period of time (start with 5 min, then 10, then more and more) and whenever he escaltes from whining to barking, I leave the room and put on my headhphone and turn my music on the highest volume, and only go back when he quites down.  It took almost two weeks but he eventually realized that he's not being abandoned and it's no big deal that I leave because I'll always come back.  Good luck with your puppy. 

[Rebecca bratter]

Ugh this sounds so painful.  Madiba is doing great with the potty training it's just the separation anxiety thing we are struggling with.  I need to tough it out too.  So is Charlie now completely over the separation anxiety?

[bouchot]

I usually leave mine home alone for 7-8 hours and so far she's never had an accident, she is almost 6 months old. I was really surprised she graduated from her crate so soon. Initially, after I stopped crating her, I would go check on her in the middle of the day, but I started increasing the amount of time she staed alone in the house little by little until we got to the full work day.

I'm very proud of her!

[Adrienne]

Dougie is almost 13 wks old and the longest that I have left him is 2 hrs also.  However, he sleeps through the night, 7-8 hrs, so I think that if he is sleeping he can probably hold it a little longer.  He loves pumpkin, so I freeze it into a Kong and I leave it with him in my absence.  He doesn't even care that I am leaving...  (I tried freezing peanut butter but he didn't like it--silly Doodle, who doesn't like peanut butter?)  I am thrilled that Dougie is such a Pumpkin Fanatic because my last dog had a serious case of separation anxiety and could care less about ANY TYPE OF FOOD left in his crate.

[Sally S Miles]

There are many variables to consider - individual differences are apparent.   While I see several references to your pup being 'overly attached' and then wanting to leave unattended = asking for trouble.  I don't think she is overly attached, although as a pup she has to learn to manage it, but there is such a thing as feeding an insecurity.

A stressed dog is more likely to get into mischief, a teething puppy is mischief covered in hair, and a stressed dog is more likely to become more stressed by the loneliness.  

My thinking is that you really need to crate train your dog - for safety reasons - for later on when she needs to go to vet or groomer, or travel.  Teaching your dog that you will be back is important, they do learn to push our buttons and we have to teach them which ones to push when.    Five minutes in a crate - stretch the time slowly.  Have her stay in her crate while you get ready - - there are dozens of ways to accomplish this, but in the long run I fully believe that crate training saves lives and sanity.  We both work from home, an absurd number of hours spent in jammies - so any time somebody puts on pants that have a zipper, or real shoes - the dog thinks it's time to go for a walk!! Even doing laundry gets her happy - washed jeans of course are the signal for what - another walk? 

Dogs are smart and your Doodle has Aussie Shepherd in her - that means she is a herder and no matter what you mix with a herder - you get devotion.  I adore Shepherds, oh my - A mix means varying percentages on that drive, but it's there.   Find her a job - teach her that her job is to wait for your return - something with meaning and momentum will give her focus.  Then give her another job when she gets the first figured out, make something up!

I do love her name, she's such a pretty pup! Have you taken her to any puppy classes?  Maybe hubby could take her to classes, sometimes another voice to speak of such things can resonate better in an individuals head.

 

 

[Rebecca bratter]

This is great advice I appreciate it.  We are really trying, we are leaving her alone every day now for a few hours but she absolutely hates it. I give her her highest value treats I go out the door saying nothing, just walk out and my husband makes sure she stays and then follows me.  She barks and whines for a bit then quiets down.  She is really sneaky, she knows when we are getting ready to go and she is so darn fast that if she sees me open the door, she runs out before I even see her, hence=must put her in the crate.  And while she has not been destructive at all when left alone, she is a klepto.  She herds whatever she can find and hides it.  Yesterday's casualties; my husbands wallet, belt, and sunglasses. She doesn't chew them just puts everything in front of her crate and then hides it under a towel or blanket.  Is this dog smart or what???  We are desperately trying to find her a job.  Right now her job is carrying something in her mouth out of the apartment and into it and during her walk.  Her job is also to retrieve things.  How can I make waiting for my return her job? I would love that but I've failed miserably so far.  She goes to puppy school, she graduated puppy, she's now in level 2 and she does agility class from time to time, she's incredibly agile and a hell of a jumper.  Hubby and I are very different with her, he's defnitely less emotional but when it comes to staying alone in the house, we are both losing that battle with her.  I just have to suck up the pain of listening to her bark and whine, I'll try the headphones thing suggested above.  I am also thinking to maybe get a few in home training sessions on teaching her to stay.  She can stay in class when offered a treat but she won't do it at home and now she's always anticipating when we are going to leave.  What would you think at some point about getting her a companion, an older dog? Our place is big enough for 2.  Maybe an older mentor with a laid back personality to keep her company??