# First time home alone



## Cat Mom Adopts German Boy (Jan 4, 2021)

Bear is now almost 9 months old. As a stay at home, homeschooling mom I've had the luxury of dedicating most of my extra time with him. And even when I'm doing things unrelated to Bear, he's always by my side. We stopped using gates and the crate long ago since he has no interest in chewing furniture or items that aren't his. He has truly been a fabulous dog. There have been times it's been too hot for him outside so we will leave him inside unattended while I swim with my son. As soon as he realizes we aren't in the house, he just sleeps. Aside from that, we've always taken him everywhere with us. If Bear can't come, we don't go.

So I've been nervous to leave him home alone not knowing how he would react or feel. So today after a good frisbee session my son and I decided to run to Dunkin without Bear. (The lady at the drive thru was bummed and surprised that he wasn't with us haha) Its about an hour round trip. He wasn't happy when we left, he was elated when we got home but everything went juuust fine. Nothing chewed, no mess and all my cats survived. 😉 I know it seems like such a small victory but it's something I've really worried about!

Now I don't plan to make a habit of leaving him alone but it will be nice to go out to dinner with the family now and then! My husband will be pleased to hear this. : )

All of my hard work and all the energy I've put into Bear has paid off and then some. (I truly give so much credit to this group for all the tough and honest advice) I know he's still young and not done going through phases but I'm just so proud of the dog he is becoming. Every bump along the way has resolved itself with some time and attention. And dare I say, I've thought about a couple years down the road when maaaaaybbee we might get another GSD? (The me of 6 months ago might smack me for saying that) 😂

Anyways I'm proud of my boy today. 😁🥰


Also, Bear is about half my size now. 🤣


----------



## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

It's a bit nerve wracking the first couple of times you leave them loose in the house. The only thing Samson has ever done is remove our shoes from under the bench and place them on the floor. He doesn't chew them,just rearranges them.


----------



## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

My oh so lovely 9 month old Becca had been on limited run of the house while gone also. She decided to give a rough texture to our kitchen door jamb. Sigh, and crating when gone again. Sounds like Bear is doing well so far. 🙂


----------



## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Good news but you really should have been building up to this by much shorter and much more frequent outings for months now. My wife and I have both been working from home for years and 1 or more of the kids are generally coming or going so it would have been easy for Rogan to have company for all of his 20 months so far. But we left him alone for a few minutes long long ago every day or two even if just to stay on the porch, get something from the car, get the garbage cans drive around the block. It had to be purposeful since I take the dogs with me every time I'm outside or driving anywhere unless it's really hot. 

But they learn early that being left alone is no big deal and I'll be home any time now....no stress of trying to leave them for an hour for the first time at a year+ old ....


----------



## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

^ so you left your dogs alone while you sat on the porch, she left hers alone to swim with her son..... i don’t see the difference.


----------



## ripwolf (Mar 24, 2020)

I thought maybe Zues had separation anxiety the 1st few mos I had him. I mean he threw a fit both when I left & came home. He would jump, howl & verbilize but he was very happy to see me when I came home. I couldnt take him with me, he wont behave when I leave him even long enough to run into a 7-11, still wont  I think someone he lived with left & never came back for him. Once he realized I was always coming back he calmed down. Now he greets me brings me a ball, hint hint. It only took a few mos(?) for him to catch on.

I love to watch him look around & think "where is that ball"  but he always remembers even when its outside & we're inside. HE found a toy that had been lost for awhile, I still dont know where it was he came bounding out of the bedroom ecstatic, he was jumpin throwing it around so happy! SO SMART!!!


----------



## Cat Mom Adopts German Boy (Jan 4, 2021)

Fodder said:


> ^ so you left your dogs alone while you sat on the porch, she left hers alone to swim with her son..... i don’t see the difference.


Yep, thank you for helping clarify. : ) Wasn't sure if that came across! (My post was a little long winded so I don't blame anyone for not reading the whole thing ) But yes, that was what gave me the confidence to attempt this trial run. He did so well alone inside while we were out on our property.


----------



## NadDog24 (May 14, 2020)

Good boy Bear! I still am wary to leave Nadja unattended in the house for long periods of time, not because she’ll destroy the house but because of my mom’s mean cat who will attack the dogs for no reason, I don’t want Nadja snap one day and injure or kill the cat so she goes in the outdoor kennel. Also Bear And Nadja have very similar, expressive eyes


----------



## Davycc (Jun 16, 2021)

Sounds very much like Zac. 6 months and we can leave him up to 5 hours (at a water park last Saturday and we missed our time slot and had to wait.) Kept checking him on the monitor, Slept, ate food, licked cat slept.

Please PLEASE let it stay this way


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

Our dogs did well when we left them home alone. They started crated and then earned their freedom. When we had cats they were always locked away in another room. My big-boy was too rough with cats and we did not want an accident. 

Yes, we have to get them used to use not always being there. My gal dog makes a lot of noise when we get home but our big-boy wants to take and hold our arms. Since that doesn't always work out we keep toys near the door and when we come in we say "get a toy". That seems to help with the urge to hold onto us.


----------



## hirakawa199006 (Feb 9, 2020)

mine is a veteran at the moment and we left sometimes 8h home. she just stayed on here couch and slept through it.


----------



## banzai555 (Sep 2, 2019)

First time I left Willow alone she tipped the kitchen garbage over. Second time she tipped the laundry garbage over (there was nothing in it but lint, lol). Kitchen garbage is no longer accessible. Problem solved! I leave her alone regularly now and she's fine, I just try to make sure she gets some good exercise beforehand. 

Also...funny how you get your first GSD and think, "I got a GSD, this is fine, this is all I really need" and then before you know it you're thinking how great it would be to have another one.....


----------



## Zeppy (Aug 1, 2021)

Cat Mom Adopts German Boy said:


> Bear is now almost 9 months old. As a stay at home, homeschooling mom I've had the luxury of dedicating most of my extra time with him. And even when I'm doing things unrelated to Bear, he's always by my side. We stopped using gates and the crate long ago since he has no interest in chewing furniture or items that aren't his. He has truly been a fabulous dog. There have been times it's been too hot for him outside so we will leave him inside unattended while I swim with my son. As soon as he realizes we aren't in the house, he just sleeps. Aside from that, we've always taken him everywhere with us. If Bear can't come, we don't go.
> 
> So I've been nervous to leave him home alone not knowing how he would react or feel. So today after a good frisbee session my son and I decided to run to Dunkin without Bear. (The lady at the drive thru was bummed and surprised that he wasn't with us haha) Its about an hour round trip. He wasn't happy when we left, he was elated when we got home but everything went juuust fine. Nothing chewed, no mess and all my cats survived. 😉 I know it seems like such a small victory but it's something I've really worried about!
> 
> ...


I think my guy (now 2) is now happy when I leave. “Thank goodness I can get some rest!” 🤣


----------



## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

WNGD said:


> Good news but you really should have been building up to this by much shorter and much more frequent outings for months now. My wife and I have both been working from home for years and 1 or more of the kids are generally coming or going so it would have been easy for Rogan to have company for all of his 20 months so far. *But we left him alone for a few minutes long long ago every day or two even if just to stay on the porch, get something from the car, get the garbage cans drive around the block. *It had to be purposeful since I take the dogs with me every time I'm outside or driving anywhere unless it's really hot.
> 
> But they learn early that being left alone is no big deal and I'll be home any time now....no stress of trying to leave them for an hour for the first time at a year+old ....





Fodder said:


> ^ so you left your dogs alone while you sat on the porch, she left hers alone to swim with her son..... i don’t see the difference.


Apologies if you weren't but assuming by your ^ that you're replying to me, I said, quote "we left him alone for a few minutes long long ago every day or two *even if just to stay on the porch, get something from the car, get the garbage cans (which are 100 yards away), drive around the block.*" and that's what you pick at, 2 words from a paragraph? That part of the early training was just to step outside the house and back in a few minutes later, quickly progressing to walking down the road for a longer period and finally doing errands or visiting somewhere while the dog gets progressively more trustworthy. All we ever had was the edge of a dog bed chewed.

And you decide to find fault with 2 words that was just part of it?

The point is the OP appears to be saying she hadn't been able to leave her dog alone after 9 months other than the occasional swim in her (I assume) backyard pool. My suggestion was simply to start earlier, more often and progressively, because it worked for me repeatedly.


----------



## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

WNGD said:


> Apologies if you weren't but assuming by your ^ that you're replying to me, I said, quote "we left him alone for a few minutes long long ago every day or two *even if just to stay on the porch, get something from the car, get the garbage cans (which are 100 yards away), drive around the block.*" and that's what you pick at, 2 words from a paragraph? That part of the early training was just to step outside the house and back in a few minutes later, quickly progressing to walking down the road for a longer period and finally doing errands or visiting somewhere while the dog gets progressively more trustworthy. All we ever had was the edge of a dog bed chewed.
> 
> And you decide to find fault with 2 words that was just part of it?
> 
> The point is the OP appears to be saying she hadn't been able to leave her dog alone after 9 months other than the occasional swim in her (I assume) backyard pool. My suggestion was simply to start earlier, more often and progressively, because it worked for me repeatedly.


for starters... the OP posted in Braggs! not one of the help or training forums, that alone would lead me to believe that she wasn’t looking for tips or critiques... she was sharing a success.

she said that she left bear in the house while she swam with her son on days when it was too hot for him to also be outside. she didn’t say how often, how long, or how long ago, either way, those times were also successful which gave her the confidence to leave him for longer. the purpose of this post.

i didn’t “pick at” two words, nor did i find or point out fault with anything....i selected 1 example of yours... it seems my point was missed... i’ll rephrase it....

so you left your dog alone for a few minutes long long ago every day or two even if just to stay on the porch, get something from the car, get the garbage cans (which are 100 yards away), drive around the block, she left hers alone to swim with her son..... i don’t see the difference.

the dogs don’t care if you’re porch sitting or swimming or driving around the block or checking the mail or talking to a neighbor or staring at the stars.

speaking of picking words apart...
you said the OP “appears to be saying” and “occasional swim” - both assumptions. you offered a “suggestion” but.... that time period has already passed.

_OP: yay! i’m so proud, my son just graduated from high school!
Repsponse: you really should have started him in kindergarten at 4yrs old, not 5._


----------



## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

OP said 
"Aside from that, we've always taken him everywhere with us. If Bear can't come, we don't go.
So I've been nervous to leave him home alone not knowing how he would react or feel."

From that, you don't understand how it might be fair to offer a method that leads to not being nervous to leave him at home not knowing how he would react? It's a very common COVID problem.

You honestly don't see the difference in leaving him in the house while you swim (often or occasionally is more splitting hairs) and progressively upping the distance, frequency and time away until you're no longer nervous to leave him alone not knowing how he would react?

I don't know what to tell you then unless you're just being argumentative. At some point, you can't help if someone doesn't understand what you're saying on an internet forum where I think it would be clear to most and I don't appreciate the personal attacks or sarcasm....have a great day.


----------



## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

> Fodder said:
> 
> 
> > ^ so you left your dogs alone while you sat on the porch, she left hers alone to swim with her son..... i don’t see the difference.
> ...


@WNGD 🤷🏽
...but i’ll move on now ;-)


----------

