If your puppy cries when you leave, is it “just puppy stuff”?

There is a lot of mixed advice out there when it comes to puppies who don’t like to be left alone. If you have an adult dog who cries for hours on end when you leave the house, that is deemed to be separation anxiety and you need to consult a behaviourist. But when a puppy does it… we say leave them to it, they’ll grow out of it?

When you first bring your new puppy home, chances are they’ve spent their entire lives up until this point surrounded by their littermates and their mother. They’ve known constant company and only one home, and then one day, suddenly, all of that familiarity is gone. They are in a brand new environment, removed from everything they know - would you want to be left alone?

There are two truths that we can hold simultaneously. The first is that a puppy who craves companionship, comfort, and affection - especially in their early days with you - is normal.

The second truth is that distress is distress. Whether or not it’s “really” separation anxiety or is indeed simply a symptom of a puppy being a puppy, dogs who are in distress at any stage of life deserve comfort. They deserve to feel safe, and they deserve a compassionate approach that will help them overcome their anxieties at a pace they can handle.

The “cry it out” method is as emotionally damaging for puppies as it is for babies. Yes, your puppy will have to ‘get used’ to being left alone. That does not mean that we should simply throw them in the deep end and expect them to figure out how to do that on their own. Doing so could even create a lasting impression of alone time being a scary thing, especially during such a developmentally sensitive period.

2023 can be a year for meeting our dogs where they are at, and addressing behavioural concerns with compassionate, evidence-driven methods. Let’s leave “cry it out” or the belief that puppies will simply grow out of certain behaviours or anxieties on their own in 2022.

If you’re not sure how to help your puppy through this stage of their life, just get in touch! Your dog does not have to be diagnosed with separation anxiety to benefit from this training protocol, and teaching them that absences are safe from the very beginning can make all the difference.