Need To Start Alone Training, Have Some Questions!

[Guest OhCatastrophe]

So I've had Miss Cleo since Memorial Day, I've been quite busy lately so I haven't been able to do alone training, when I leave she goes in the crate. I have left her alone for about 5 min, but I was just outside in the front yard and she could see me through the window. I've done this a couple times. One time I came back inside and she had taken one of the throw blankets and dragged it on the floor... but that's all. Although she won't be alone very long most the time (she will soon be my Certified Emotional Support Animal, so everywhere I go, she will too)but Alone training is necessary!

 

What increment of time should I do it?

 

How do I correct her if I come back and she's been destructive?

 

I do have another person in the house, my mother, who isn't use to having a big dog... that can get into things... She's bad at leaving things on the ground and the table where Cleo can reach, so I feel like she's going to be harder to train than Cleo. She seems to get mad at me when I confront her about leaving things where Cleo can reach... :/

[Brandiandwe]

Have you tried a search for alone training? There are loads of threads about this which explain it step by step.

[dante2zoe]

There are lots of good threads about how to alone train. I am fortunate that the ones that had SA issues came into my established pack and the adjustment didn't require lots of effort on my part. In my opinion, I wouldn't, however, correct her if she had been destructive. Correction after the fact is useless and she isn't trying to do something wrong, she is stressed and cannot figure out how to settle or comfort herself.

 

Hopefully, it will be easier than you think. Maybe muzzle her when you are gone? Mine understand that if the muzzles come out, I am leaving them to their own devices for a while. I have a routine that I use before I leave and that is part of it. Now, they all split up and settle down for a long nap before I even get out of the house!