Question about being alone

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09-18-2003, 04:06 PM
primabella

Question about being alone

My father works regularly from Monday to Friday and my mother works Mondays, Thursday and Fridays. We are 4 kids and usually out at school until 3:30pm. Now most of the time Mickey is home with somebody (my mom may start like in the afternoon and work until 6pm) but on some days he is left home alone all day.

Today is an example of "one of those days". When he is left home alone all day he gets sectionned off to the kitchen and everything is cleared out except some toys, his food and water bowls and some newspaper so he could pee. For some reason he ALWAYS pees on the newspaper, so we never have a problem with that. The thing is when I got home today he was SO excited to see me. He would run out, slipping everywhere, jumping, crying, shaking a little and moving everywhere around the house. I let him out to pee and kicked the soccer ball a bit so he could run. After a few minutes he was fine but the newspaper was ripped up and scattered everywhere. He HAD peed on it (two puddles).

I am just wondering, is this behavior normal? The shaking and crying and jumping, and the ripping up of the newspaper? It's happened only a few times that he'll be left home alone all day and each time he acts the same way. Is it normal? Thanks. :)
09-18-2003, 05:22 PM
Tonya

He's was probably bored all day and super excited to see you. I don't think it's bad to let the dogs have some alone time. Both my husband and I work, so our dogs are alone during the day sometimes. My husband has rotating shifts so he's sometimes home during the day. There is a deffinate difference in behavior on the weeks that both of us are gone all day. My dogs dig and chew more and are super hyper when I see them. I feel guilty about it, but at least they have eachother to play with.
09-18-2003, 05:56 PM
pitc9

I agree!! Both my hubby and I work, and my pups are in crates while were gone (they get into trouble together!!)
When we get home, they are SOOOOOO happy to see us, like Tonya said, they need quiet time!!
Don't worry about him!! He was just SO happy to see you he didn't know what to do!!!
09-18-2003, 07:01 PM
aly

It sounds like it *might* be a slight degree of seperation anxiety. He's used to someone almost always being there so he gets really anxious waiting for someone to get home. Since his case (if he does have it) is very mild, I would just ignore him for about 15 minutes before you leave and 15 minutes after you get home. Don't make a big deal out of departures or arrivals. I know it might be hard to tell your 3 siblings to do that though. But if Mickey thinks its no big deal for someone to come home, he won't have all the anxiety build up while he's alone. You don't have to ignore him completely. Just come home, say hi calmly, and then go about your business for at least 10 minutes. THEN you can love on him.
09-18-2003, 07:17 PM
primabella

Aly, I was thinking the same as you. I will try not to overexaggerate my entrances. We do try to make our departures quick. A quick kiss on the head or a hug and we leave. I think he just got used to the summer when there was always one of the kids or parents home with him. I suppose it's a change for him. Thanks for the tips. :D I'll tell my siblings and parents to "ignore" him when we get home. At least for a few minutes.

I forgot to mention, he also doesn't really eat or drink. His bowls were both still pretty full when I got home. I hope this doesn't develop into anything worse. :(
09-18-2003, 09:08 PM
aly

I'm sure he'll be fine. It just sounds like a case of spoileditis :D Don't worry, my dogs and cats all suffer from that condition too :p
09-19-2003, 03:40 PM
primabella

Quote:

Originally posted by aly
I'm sure he'll be fine. It just sounds like a case of spoileditis :D Don't worry, my dogs and cats all suffer from that condition too :p

Hehe no doubt about that! :D
09-19-2003, 10:42 PM
Tonya

He's probably sleeping all day. Aly's advice is good. Dusty has a major hyperactive problem when he sees us; I ignore him until he settles down and it works pretty well. He calms down alot quicker then he used to.
09-19-2003, 10:57 PM
wolf_Q

Quote:

Originally posted by primabella

I forgot to mention, he also doesn't really eat or drink. His bowls were both still pretty full when I got home. I hope this doesn't develop into anything worse. :(

I always leave Nebo with a bowl of food and water when I leave him. He only rarely touches either one. :rolleyes: He does, however, always manage to get the milkbone out of the milkbone ball.
09-20-2003, 08:55 AM
primabella

Thanks for the advice guys. :D
09-20-2003, 08:50 PM
lizbud

Re: Question about being alone

Quote:

Originally posted by primabella

Today is an example of "one of those days". When he is left home alone all day he gets sectionned off to the kitchen and everything is cleared out except some toys, his food and water bowls and some newspaper so he could pee. For some reason he ALWAYS pees on the newspaper, so we never have a problem with that. The thing is when I got home today he was SO excited to see me. He would run out, slipping everywhere, jumping, crying, shaking a little and moving everywhere around the house. I let him out to pee and kicked the soccer ball a bit so he could run. After a few minutes he was fine but the newspaper was ripped up and scattered everywhere. He HAD peed on it (two puddles).

I am just wondering, is this behavior normal? The shaking and crying and jumping, and the ripping up of the newspaper? It's happened only a few times that he'll be left home alone all day and each time he acts the same way. Is it normal? Thanks. :)

Primabella, I was just wondering how big is the area that he's
sectioned off in while everyones gone? Were you going to train
your dog away from peeing on paper? Can he hold it for 8 hrs.?
Sorry, but I've forgotten how old he is.Smokey was paper trained
until he was able to hold it longer & he told me he was ready to
get rid of the papers by tearing them to tiny shreds when I was
away.:D I stopped putting the papers down & he just waited
till I can home from work & he went potty outside from then on.
09-20-2003, 10:15 PM
primabella

Re: Re: Question about being alone

Quote:

Originally posted by lizbud
Primabella, I was just wondering how big is the area that he's
sectioned off in while everyones gone? Were you going to train
your dog away from peeing on paper? Can he hold it for 8 hrs.?
Sorry, but I've forgotten how old he is.Smokey was paper trained
until he was able to hold it longer & he told me he was ready to
get rid of the papers by tearing them to tiny shreds when I was
away.:D I stopped putting the papers down & he just waited
till I can home from work & he went potty outside from then on.

The kitchen is fairly large. :) When we were housebraking Mickey he wasn't grasping the idea of peeing outside so we thought we might paper train him. He never really peed on it so we switched back to outside. Confusing and a bad move, I know, but now he's housebroken. Mickey can hold it for a good amount of time. He pees before he goes to bed (in his cage), let's say around 12 and goes out to pee sometime around 9 or earlier, he'll let us know. I DO know that he likes to rip things up. Many time he has found some paper on the floor, tore it up and walked away. I think it is just boredom. I would wait until we get home for him to potty, but I wouldn't think it is a good idea since if he is alone for about about 7 hours, there are 2 puddles of pee.

Mickey will be a year old in October. :)