When you know you need to leave your puppy home alone, pre-planning is essential. The more time you have to plan your anticipated departures, the better. You also need a \u201cquick exit\u201d plan for times when something urgent suddenly pops up and you have no time to plan your absence.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pre-planning Checklist<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
• Communicate with family and friends who live close by who can help you and your puppy<\/li>\n
• Notify building manager that you have a pet living in your apartment<\/li>\n
• Write down phone numbers and addresses of the closest Veterinarians, and pet emergency centers<\/li>\n
• Give an extra house key to someone you trust – or install a \u201clock box\u201d on your door<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Scheduled Departures<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

  Knowing exact time frames of your absence from your puppy will allow you efficiently plan your departure and absence.<\/p>\n

  The amount of time you can leave your puppy unattended depends on a number of variables, including the puppy\u2019s age, health, and the pup\u2019s accustomization to being alone. You cannot leave a very young puppy (8-12 weeks) alone for long. They have just been separated from their mother and fellow littermates and leaving them unattended could cause harm to their emotional and mental health.<\/p>\n

  Young puppies also need to be fed much more often. It is best to start slowly and only leave your puppy for short periods of time. As your pup grows older and becomes more accustomed to your absence, you can then extend your time away.<\/p>\n

  1 -2 Hours Before Leaving<\/strong><\/p>\n

  About an hour or so before leaving, relentlessly tire your puppy out with lots of play and exercise. The play and exercise session will help your pup release a lot of energy and put your pup in a positive state of mind. After the session would be a great time to give your puppy a short training lesson with basic commands such as sit and stay. Your puppy has already burned off excess excitement and the exercise should stimulate the brain to be more receptive to learning.<\/p>\n

  Your puppy should be pooped out and hungry by now. Feed your puppy it\u2019s normal meal and clean up after. Hopefully, it will do it\u2019s business soon thereafter so you can clean that up as well.<\/p>\n

  Soon, your puppy will be very sleepy and ready for a nap – and Voila, you can finally get ready to leave.<\/p>\n

  [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” custom_margin=”|||0px” custom_padding=”|||0px”]<\/p>\n

  SECRET WEAPONS –<\/strong><\/h3>\n

  So up to this point, we have covered a good overview of the basics of preparing your puppy to be left unattended safely. Now it\u2019s time for the real juice of the article – tips and tools that will really help you and your puppy when you must be apart.<\/p>\n

  TOOL – Pet Video Monitoring –<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  By far, having a video monitoring system for your puppy is my best tip. The advanced technologies and capabilities of these new cameras are pretty spectacular.<\/p>\n

  Granted, it will some technical savvy and know-how to set these up – but the end results are more than worth it for your peace of mind.<\/p>\n

  With a properly set-up puppy camera, you can monitor your puppy from wherever you are. You just need to have access to the Internet either via a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Now you wouldn\u2019t need to dread wondering if your puppy is safe and sound. If you notice that your puppy appears ill, you can quickly go home or contact someone in your puppy plan to help.<\/p>\n

  In addition to basic video monitoring, some camera systems feature two-way communication and even treat dispensing! The price of these pet monitoring systems range from around $80 – $200.<\/p>\n

   <\/p>\n

  TIP – Choosing a Pet Video Camera<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  The main function of a video camera is good quality visual feedback, which most delivery pretty well. Having a camera that can dispense treats on command is impressive, but not necessary. If you are not tech-savy, you would be better off choosing the easiest monitoring system and avoid any gadget that is overly complicated.<\/p>\n

  A video camera with a two-way communication option is nice, but again not absolutely necessary. You could instead set up your own audible communication set-up by simply using your existing telephone and answering system.<\/p>\n

  For example, if you see your puppy tearing into something it shouldn\u2019t be tearing into, you can call your phone number and when the answering machine picks up – communicate and reprimand your puppy then. Just make sure the volume of your answering machine is turned up and near to the puppy.<\/p>\n

  Back in 2010, when technology wasn\u2019t so advanced, I used this exact method when I saw that my Shiba Inu puppy, Kitsune, began gnawing on the couch. I immediately called the home phone number and proceeded to correct her vocally by saying \u201cKitsune! NO! Bad puppy NO!\u201d I was still actively monitoring her on my laptop and I laughed to myself when I saw her perplexed reaction. She immediately stopped, tilted her head to my voice, and then walked away from the couch.<\/p>\n

  Just being able to hear my voice comforted her and helped her realize that she was not completely alone. Her destructive chewing never progressed and she quickly became accustomed to being alone for longer and longer periods of time.<\/p>\n

  TIP – Cancel Out White Noise<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  When you leave your pup, turn on the radio or television to block out the lonely white noise of silence. Puppies are naturally used to being around other yappy puppies, so having audio on would provide an additional layer of comfort. Perhaps if your puppy excitable or overly rambunctious you can program soothing music into it\u2019s listening repertoire. And if your puppy is mellow or introverted, you can instead program a talk radio station. Now talk about advanced psychology tactics!<\/p>\n

  TOOL – A Fuzzy Cuddle Buddy, or Two!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  Dogs are very social animals and your puppy was most likely brought into this world with other furry littermates. You can mimic these litter mates with a few stuffed animals placed in your puppy\u2019s sleeping area. For bonus points, you can take an old shirt and infuse your smell on it and place it on the stuffed animal.<\/p>\n

  Did you know that an in experiment involving baby monkeys left alone in a room with basically two choices – snuggling with a plush toy or food – the monkey\u2019s always chose comfort over the banana! Now, with your modified stuffed toy, your pup can have a miniature version of you to snuggle up with.<\/p>\n

  Relieved Pet Owners and Happy Pups<\/strong><\/p>\n

  Congratulations! If you are reading this, you made it this long article, hopefully with a lot of new knowledge and know-how to successfully keep your puppy safe and comfortable while you are away. More importantly, you now know that there is access to tools that will make leaving your puppy home much less stressful and frightening.<\/p>\n

  [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”1″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_line_height=”1em” custom_margin=”0px||0px|” custom_padding=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

  [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row” custom_padding=”0px|||” padding_mobile=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”3″ column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_margin=”0px|||” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n

  Thanks \u200bfor visiting Myfirstshiba.com! We do our very best in providing our readers with awesome content about our beloved Shiba Inu breed. Some of our articles include reviews and recommendations to our favorite products. We do earn commissions from affiliate links that help support our work and mission. Thanks again for visiting. Shiba Kisses To All!<\/p>\n

  [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  On occasion, our posts contain affiliate links. However, we only recommend products that we truly believe in. For more information, visit my privacy policy page\u200b. [et_pb_section admin_label=”section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”on” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”|||0px” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”on” width_unit=”on” custom_width_px=”844px” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”3″ parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ specialty_columns=”3″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”row_inner” padding_mobile=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”3″ column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_margin=”|||0px” make_equal=”off” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shiba-inu-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14895,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions\/14895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}