LogFAQs > #876906377

Is that a golden doodle? I didn't realize you were talking a puppy that young. You definitely want to practice some exposure therapy early to keep it from becoming a problem, but it's really not that hard. Just do the following things:
1. Make a habit of leaving the house a lot for a couple of weeks on short trips, even if it's just a walk. The more your dog sees that you always return, the less it will stress over you leaving. Short trips are better so they can associate you returning with their anxiety so they know it's unfounded.
2. At least for a while try to leave from a different door every time you leave (if you can). Otherwise your dog may begin to associate one specific door as the "bad" door because its the one you leave from and that can lead to actual damage as the dog gets older. The worst case I ever heard was a dog that got so anxious it tried to dig a path under the door, and in the process broke a tile floor and some of its toes.
3. Don't immediately focus on your dog when you return. Take a moment to do something for yourself, and THEN go praise/welcome your dog. If it thinks that it is the center of your world, it will whine a lot more because it knows it works. You don't want to reinforce that whining is effective.
4. You generally want to avoid using food as a reinforcement tool, but in this instance you can time your leaving to something like your dog getting breakfast. This will help associate a positive event (a meal) with your leaving and help take the edge off your absence.
5. Consider getting a treat ball, which is a ball with a small hole you can fill with treats. The dog gets the treats by pushing it around and (to the dog) it seems like a treat randomly pops out as it moves it. Usually a dog will spend a good 30 minutes playing with a treat ball before they get bored, and would be a good distraction when you leave.
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