Why do Dogs Cry when Left Alone?
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Sometimes, after we've left home to go to work or to do a simple errand, dogs get extremely sad and begin to cry. Do you know why?
Dogs are social animals and do not feel comfortable spending the day alone. In addition to crying, when some dogs are left alone they tend to nibble things and damage the house a little.
In this AnimalWised article, we will give you some tips to prevent this from happening and teach you how to manage your dog's loneliness. Read on to learn why do dogs cry when left alone.
Contents
Why does my dog cry when I leave?
Just like to their closest relatives, wolves, dogs are social animals that live in packs in the wild. Even when domesticated and living in a human home, dogs feel that you are part of their social circle. When you leave and your dog is left alone, it will get sad and, in extreme cases, is known to suffer from separation anxiety.
This is due to "hyper-attachment"; your dog fears that you will never return. On the other hand, a mentally healthy dog will be able to manage its loneliness and learn not to cry when you leave. What can you do, then?
Teaching my dog how to be alone
It is very important that your dog learns how to be alone and to keep itself entertained wherever you may be; this will help to minimize stress. Separation anxiety, or simply crying, is a negative emotion that no living being enjoys.
The first step is to teach your dog to manage its loneliness, so get various toys for your pet to enjoy itself when you're out:
- Intelligence games
- Bones
- Toys
- Chew toys
The most appropriate tool to effectively deal with separation anxiety is definitely a Kong. Do you know how it works? The Kong is a safe and reliable toy where you add pâté or dry feed - in this case, wet the food to make it more difficult to remove. The dog can't fit its whole mouth inside the Kong, so it has to stick its tongue in little by little to get the food.
It is not a simple activity, and it will take time for the dog to remove all the food from the toy. This means that your dog will feel busy and entertained for a long time. This trick is widely used around the world, including shelters, where dogs usually suffer from a lack of emotional stability.
Other tips to prevent dogs from crying:
As well as using the Kong or other toys that you can scatter around your dog's environment, there are other tricks that can work (or at least help) at this difficult time:
- A comfortable environment. A warm place with ambient noise will make your dog feel comfortable and safe. Leave a radio on or even a clock so that your dog isn't sitting in silence.
- A soft and cozy bed, perhaps shaped like a cave, will also comfort your dog and help it to pass the time.
- Always take your dog for a walk before leaving to tire it out so it will sleep when you're gone. Why not do some exercise yourself?
- Feed it before you leave and always after a walk, never before, to avoid possible stomach torsion.
- Adopting another dog from a shelter so the two can interact and play with each other may be the best remedy of all. Of course, it takes time to introduce them to each other and for the adoption to be success and become best friends.
If you want to read similar articles to Why do Dogs Cry when Left Alone?, we recommend you visit our Behavioral problems category.
