[Hayle101]

I'm on maternity leave, so I'll be home for at least 2 months if not more. Now I'm worried, since he's so young and still in learning stage, that Spud will get too attached. Today was my first day off, and he was around me all day, so now if he's going to be around me all day for 2 months, is it possible for him to develop separation anxiety when I have to leave again? If so, how can I prevent it? I'm usually gone from 7am to 3pm, so after 2 months being around me all day, he'll go back to 7 hours with no-one home. Please I know separation anxiety is serious and even dangerous in some cases I don't want Spud to develop it.

[tickle]

You worry a lot about spud. Is he your first dog? Separation anxiety is not always experienced by dogs the way you think. He may not if you just go about your normal business through the day. Go out shopping, go out for a walk, come back and see how he is.

You are expressing a lot of human traits on spud.

[Sariss]

We got my Great Dane puppy Apollo when my husband was waiting for his residency and therefore could not work. We actually did it because I work long hours (10-13 hours a day) so he would get proper training and socializing.

Apollo is now 11 months old and my husband has been working for a month. Even though he was home all the time he made a point to go out and do things once Apollo was about 6 months old or so to get him used to being alone. He would crate him and go for an hour, then come back. He would only let him out when he was calm, and when he let him out he didn't make a huge deal of it. He then kept extending his time away.
Apollo now spends about 5 hours some days in his crate while we work and he is 100% fine.

[Alty]

Separation anxiety is not usually caused because a human being is suddenly home for 2 months.

I have a question for you, and forgive me if you've mentioned this before and I forgot, I answer a lot of questions and it's not always easy to keep everyone separate.

Is Spud crate trained?

When you go out now, to get groceries, or to visit friends, or whatever, how does he react?

If he's not displaying separation anxiety now, it's unlikely that he will when you go back to work. But, if you coddle him too much, you can cause issues. Remember, even though you love him, he's not human. He is a dog. You have to treat him like a dog, because he really can't be human, and giving him human emotions and traits, is setting him up for disaster.

[Lucky098]

Don't devote all of your time to your dog 100% of the time while you are home. Put him in a crate and leave him there for a couple of hours. Go out and do things like you would as if you were living a busy lifestyle.

Separation anxiety can be created by owners who fret over their dogs and basically sit and stare at them all day long.

You need to worry about a lot more than making sure he doesn't create separation anxiety when you go back to work.. your whole world is going to change with a baby. I would suggest that you start treating your puppy as if you have your baby right now. Don't give him your undevoted attention if you don't think you can give him plus your baby your undevoted attention.

I know he is a puppy, but he is going to grow up really fast. By 1 yr of age, he will be considered an adult. You need to be ready for an adult dog and not worry about him so much as a puppy. No he should not be left alone for 5+ hours at a time.. yes he should be well socialized and he should know basic obedience.. but I think you are turning a mole hill into a mountain. Just relax and have fun with your puppy.. don't worry about making him anxious. If he is going to be an anxious dog, than he will be an anxious dog. But you would be seeing the starts of this by now.

[Hayle101]

Spud is MY first dog I have for myself, the other dogs were my family members dogs and just helped out, this is the first one I have for myself.
He's not what I would say CRATE trained, but he has two dog beds, one he had since he was a 4 week old puppy, and he whined when we took it away sitting in the spot where the bed used to be, so we put it back. This bed is a box with a door cut out of it, since he was only 4 weeks we weren't planning on keeping the bed but he likes it, and the other one is a round dog bed, now he knows these are his bed, and ussually when I leave home, I come home to him lying in one these beds. So he's trained to know where his den is, but it's not a crate. He uses the one he had from 4 weeks as his safe place, and the other bed he chews his treats on and takes his toys to.

[Alty]

I would really consider crate training him. It will keep him safe when you go back to work, and can be a great tool in helping to deal with separation anxiety, or helping to prevent it.

He's still very young, so he can definitely learn to accept a crate.