How to teach an animal to stay at home alone: tips and life hacks
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Teaching an animal to stay at home without owners is not a problem. The problem is that she behaves calmly when alone. If the animal is left alone and is not used to it, it is stress for it, which can have various manifestations. In particular, some animals can damage household items. Sometimes the problem also lies in the anxiety of the animal and improper upbringing of the pet. “UP.Zhyttia” turned to veterinarian Victoria Sherstyuk and cynologist Vladyslav Plakhtiy to figure out how to train an animal to stay at home alone without harming it and the owner. Why an animal can be nervous when left alone Being a cat owner and being a dog owner are different experiences. They require different approaches in education, but sometimes they overlap. Dogs According to cynologist Vladyslav Plahtii, when an animal is born, it has a “predominant reaction”. She determines what the dog will do if left in an unknown situation. “If we are talking about a puppy, then for some it is less disturbing, and for some this anxiety is manifested more clearly. Some animals have a greater need to be near people, in society and feel attention. If we are talking about more adult dogs, on their anxiety can be affected either by a socialization disorder or by some traumatic experience,” explains the canine specialist. These are the main causes, and of course, the approaches to correcting this anxiety vary. But there is also a common feature – gradualness and step-by-step. Dog/Depositphotos You can’t leave an animal when it is in an anxious state: barking, whining, scratching. “It happens that people lock the animal in a room for five minutes on a timer and only after five minutes, no matter what it is doing there, they come to it. It is not recommended to do so,” the dog specialist emphasizes. Leaving a dog alone is like being thrown into a pit. There are three reactions, explains Plahtii. At first, the dog tries to get out, somehow to manage this situation. If she sees that her actions do not give results, she begins to bark and call for help. Then the dog realizes that nothing is working and it stops trying or, in other words, “enters energy mode.” “In this case, the dog calms down not from comfort, but from hopelessness. But with this approach, you can disrupt the dog’s socialization and shake up its anxiety even more. And then in the future, people will face even bigger problems,” the dog trainer emphasizes. Anxiety in a dog occurs not only when it is left alone at home, but also when no attention is paid to it. People who work remotely have such a problem. The difficulty lies in the fact that the owners at home do not pay attention to the puppy, and if they leave, the animals start to panic, even if they are regularly exercised. “Such stories about a dog biting something are often related not only to insufficient physical activity and hunting instinct, but also to the fact that the dog receives attention through such actions,” adds Plahtii. Cats If cats are not in contact with their owner for a long time, they also have an increased level of anxiety, says Victoria Sherstyuk. “The animal wants contact with the owner, but there is no contact. But if it is a long-term absence, for example, for one working day, and the owner also devotes little time to the animal outside of working hours, the cat begins to attract this attention in all possible ways. And we all understand what “, she emphasizes. Kit/Depositphotos First of all, you need to spend quality time with the animal. Then the animal gets used to it and waits for the owner to actively spend time with him. How to train animals to stay at home Experts agree that training should be done gradually. One of the most common reasons for aggressive behavior in animals when they are alone is anxiety. Attention and love are the best cures for this. But to them you can add a few more exercises that train animals’ endurance and the ability to “stay at home without an owner”. Dogs In order to teach a dog to stay alone without harming itself and the owner, there are several stages. Each of them is important and you should not miss any of them, emphasizes the dog trainer. Gradualness is our main rule. For the first stage, there are exercises with goodies and exercises to create positive associations, which train the animal’s endurance and the ability to “wait”, – emphasizes the cynologist. “Owners face the problem that the dog can’t stay at home alone, it can’t stay in the room without a person. Sometimes you go to brush your teeth, and the dog sits under the bathroom door and starts barking, growling and tearing at the door because she is very anxious. Although the animal understands that you are in the bathroom, it still cannot calm down. Most often, this is a mistake of people, – the expert continues. – Since when they go somewhere, they try to calm the dog down, something must be said to it instead of to simply teach her to remain alone.” A dog plays with a person/Depositphotos Exercise with treats This exercise is designed to teach the dog to associate the person’s departure as part of a game, a learning process in which the person always returns. The exercise takes place as follows: the person walks away from the dog for a few steps – turns – gives a treat. This should be done quickly, no need to delay before returning, but do it immediately. For example, the dog is lying on the sofa, the owner moves away from the dog just enough to leave a distance between them (2-3 steps), but at the same time, so that the dog does not have time to break away and follow the person. “The logic is that the person moves away from the dog at a distance at which the dog remains calm and does not rush to run after the person. You can start from a small distance (one or two steps). Within 5-7 minutes, this distance should be increased. But not to allow the animal to break down,” explains the dog trainer. It is important to pause between leaving and returning. Because at this moment the animal is in an anxious state and does not understand what to do. And this condition does not teach the dog to react calmly, but on the contrary shakes up anxiety. You can also try to tie the dog outside and repeat this exercise with it. According to the specialist, the main point is to encourage the dog before it starts to get nervous. If the dog started barking before the person returned, they had gone too far. It is also important to note that the law of Ukraine prohibits leaving a dog on a leash in public places. That’s why Plakhtiy advises to do it on platforms for walking animals. Creating associations The next step is to create associations. You can move on to it only after you have trained the first stage well and the dog does not break away and does not run after you. In this exercise, a person has to pretend that he is going somewhere. It happens as follows: the owner goes into the corridor and returns back in a few seconds. “You don’t need treats here. Dogs who have been with a person for a long time understand that if a person goes into the corridor, he will go somewhere. At the same time, the dog understands that the person will now leave and leave him alone. At this stage, the animal may start to worry.” adds the dog trainer. The exercise should be performed several times in a row. When returning, you can simply enter the room and not react to the dog, as if nothing had happened. If the dog does not react to the owner leaving and returning, then one more action can be added in the corridor. For example, start packing (put on a jacket) and then return to the animal again. This is the cycle. In this way, it removes the dog’s reaction to a certain action. And so with each stage: getting dressed, putting on shoes, rattling the keys, leaving the door. The main goal: to achieve a minimal reaction of the dog to these actions. This is actually done over the course of two or three days. Eventually, all this will lead to the fact that it will be possible to leave the dog for longer. Cats In theory, it is easier to leave a cat at home, adds Victoria Sherstyuk. Cats are more independent, and if you spend enough time with him before and after work, then there is nothing to worry about. It is also important that the owner can be in one room and the animal in another, says the veterinarian. So the animal will not get used to the fact that the owner is constantly at home and will not worry when he leaves. However, if the cat is stressed, becomes aggressive or cannot calm down when you are not at home, you should pay attention to this. Should we leave food for dogs? Dogs need to eat twice a day, experts say. Therefore, if the owner feeds the animal in the morning and in the evening, then during the day it is possible not to leave food, but only a bowl with water. Cats The situation is more complicated for cats: they constantly need to eat in order to get their daily calorie intake, the veterinarian emphasizes. “Cats need to have food in normal, constant access. However, it is not appropriate to leave a large bowl of food here. The best option is an automated feeder that can add food from time to time. This is the only adequate option,” emphasizes Victoria Sherstyuk. Otherwise, overeating can happen and it also provokes certain diseases. Water for cats can be left in different places and vessels, then it will be more interesting and easier for the cat to find it. Cats/Depositphotos Do you need a specialist for this? “If everything goes well for animal owners, that’s great. But if the animal is problematic, it’s worth contacting a specialist who has more knowledge and can identify a specific problem and choose specific solutions for it,” says the veterinarian. Cynologist Vladyslav Plakhtiy also believes that it is possible to train an animal to stay at home on its own. However, not everyone can do it. “Usually people do this: they try on their own, and if they fail or the situation is difficult, they go to a specialist. If people do the exercises, don’t do everything in a hurry and pay attention to the dog’s emotional state, then everything will work out,” he emphasizes. If you decide to turn to a specialist, choose him responsibly. “A specialist should have a professional education and, ideally, a license. This saves time and nerves for the owners. Because sometimes you can achieve a result in one meeting,” the dog trainer summarizes. You may also be interested in: Getting to know your puppy: how to make it easier to adapt to a new home Why cats eat houseplants and how to help it Travel with an animal: what you need to know about traveling by train with four-legged friends
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