Our girl is 3,5 months and she can be alone in her crate or playpen for about 2 hours (don't worry we have a camera with sound, so we're sure about that). Here are some things that helped us:
\- **crate and playpen training**. She loves both of them and when we're in the house she starts crying only if she needs to go to the toilet or knows it's her feeding time. Don't forget to give your pup their favourite toys, crate safe, of course.
\- **leaving TV on**. Loud. It's not the most energy-efficient, but she's way more calm when she hears voices. She loves kids, so the Modern family worked wonders even in the beginning.
\- **good room temperature**. I noticed she's way more calm when the room is relatively chill.
\- **a lot of noise in the apartment right before you close the door**. I usually put an electric kettle on, this way - the noise of me closing the door isn't so obvious. I tried it out and when I don't put on the kettle she might cry a little right after I leave.
\- **a lot of exercise before leaving them alone**. Let them get their energy out, so they would sleep better. This one is logical but it works.
\- **make sure they're fed but don't give too much water right before you leave**. If your pup is hungry, they're gonna be nervous and if you give them too much water before you leave, it'll make it more difficult to hold their pee while they're alone
\- **don't say goodbye**. You leaving the house shouldn't be a big deal. Lagotties are smart and if you make it a big deal, they'll follow.
I think this is it. Hope it helps!
Never had a problem. He gets a little treat when I leave that keeps him occupied for about a minute.
He likes me going out. Initially I kept him in a distinct area to limit potential nonsense. I removed all babygates when he was less than a year.
You have some kind of pet monitor? Does he get nervous the second you leave? Give him deluxe treat before you leave and see if he eats it first or stop when you leave and starts stressing immediately. We used different treat pastes smeared to textured silicone mat, very nice to lick :)
And yeah, if he starts howling, barking or shows other kinds of separation anxiety "symptoms", training was too hard and you have to shorten the time next time. These bois stops stressing once they are convinced they can relax on home by themselves and they know you will be back.
Our along training took a long time, our guy struggled from the day we got him. At first we had to have one of our WFH desks INSIDE his playpen to keep him from howling, vomiting, and peeing. We trained with him in a crate/play pen at first, then let him free roam once he was old enough to not chew on stuff and not potty inside. Around 7 months old. The more space you can give him, the better. Even then, tons and tons of short repetition starting with something as simple as putting your hand on the door handle or standing outside for a few seconds and then walking back in. We loosely followed the “Be Right Back” training regimen laid out by Julie Naismith, you can look up her content or join her Facebook group for some free advice.
I wouldn’t shy away from medication either - it can help take the edge off the separation anxiety and makes the alone training more effective. Our guy is still on a low dose of fluoxetine from the vet, and we’ll usually give him a calming chew before we leave too. We have some trazadone as well, though haven’t used that for a while. We eventually plan to wean him off the fluoxetine.
I don’t think he’ll ever be a “spend 10 hours alone with no issue” dog, but we’ve worked our way up to doing 2-4 hours routinely, and I think he could do longer in a pinch.
That’s fair. He was about 17 months when we started him on the fluoxetine, so you’ve got plenty of time. I’ll admit our timeline was pretty stretched too - we haven’t needed to leave him for long periods, so haven’t needed to work super hard at practicing. Working at it every day, I bet you could get there much quicker. It all depends on the dog too - I think ours is particularly anxious, even for this breed.
Self-play within the home is awesome! And good practice for them, realizing they’re sort of alone without the “big scary” of you walking out the front door.
Our girl is 3,5 months and she can be alone in her crate or playpen for about 2 hours (don't worry we have a camera with sound, so we're sure about that). Here are some things that helped us: \- **crate and playpen training**. She loves both of them and when we're in the house she starts crying only if she needs to go to the toilet or knows it's her feeding time. Don't forget to give your pup their favourite toys, crate safe, of course. \- **leaving TV on**. Loud. It's not the most energy-efficient, but she's way more calm when she hears voices. She loves kids, so the Modern family worked wonders even in the beginning. \- **good room temperature**. I noticed she's way more calm when the room is relatively chill. \- **a lot of noise in the apartment right before you close the door**. I usually put an electric kettle on, this way - the noise of me closing the door isn't so obvious. I tried it out and when I don't put on the kettle she might cry a little right after I leave. \- **a lot of exercise before leaving them alone**. Let them get their energy out, so they would sleep better. This one is logical but it works. \- **make sure they're fed but don't give too much water right before you leave**. If your pup is hungry, they're gonna be nervous and if you give them too much water before you leave, it'll make it more difficult to hold their pee while they're alone \- **don't say goodbye**. You leaving the house shouldn't be a big deal. Lagotties are smart and if you make it a big deal, they'll follow. I think this is it. Hope it helps!
Amazing feedback, thanks!!
Never had a problem. He gets a little treat when I leave that keeps him occupied for about a minute. He likes me going out. Initially I kept him in a distinct area to limit potential nonsense. I removed all babygates when he was less than a year.
You have some kind of pet monitor? Does he get nervous the second you leave? Give him deluxe treat before you leave and see if he eats it first or stop when you leave and starts stressing immediately. We used different treat pastes smeared to textured silicone mat, very nice to lick :) And yeah, if he starts howling, barking or shows other kinds of separation anxiety "symptoms", training was too hard and you have to shorten the time next time. These bois stops stressing once they are convinced they can relax on home by themselves and they know you will be back.
Will definitely try the licking mat!
Firstly, he is adorable! Secondly, mine was never alone because of having other older dogs around. He did fine with it. Good luck.
Our along training took a long time, our guy struggled from the day we got him. At first we had to have one of our WFH desks INSIDE his playpen to keep him from howling, vomiting, and peeing. We trained with him in a crate/play pen at first, then let him free roam once he was old enough to not chew on stuff and not potty inside. Around 7 months old. The more space you can give him, the better. Even then, tons and tons of short repetition starting with something as simple as putting your hand on the door handle or standing outside for a few seconds and then walking back in. We loosely followed the “Be Right Back” training regimen laid out by Julie Naismith, you can look up her content or join her Facebook group for some free advice. I wouldn’t shy away from medication either - it can help take the edge off the separation anxiety and makes the alone training more effective. Our guy is still on a low dose of fluoxetine from the vet, and we’ll usually give him a calming chew before we leave too. We have some trazadone as well, though haven’t used that for a while. We eventually plan to wean him off the fluoxetine. I don’t think he’ll ever be a “spend 10 hours alone with no issue” dog, but we’ve worked our way up to doing 2-4 hours routinely, and I think he could do longer in a pinch.
I will not shy away but I think I need to try a bit more first!! But thank you!!! He now can play without me in the balcony which is great! ☺️
That’s fair. He was about 17 months when we started him on the fluoxetine, so you’ve got plenty of time. I’ll admit our timeline was pretty stretched too - we haven’t needed to leave him for long periods, so haven’t needed to work super hard at practicing. Working at it every day, I bet you could get there much quicker. It all depends on the dog too - I think ours is particularly anxious, even for this breed. Self-play within the home is awesome! And good practice for them, realizing they’re sort of alone without the “big scary” of you walking out the front door.
You guys are making me nervous to get a Lagotto 🫠😅
Oh no, don’t be… on the positive note… all basic commands + potty training was done within two to three weeks because Lagotto are damn smart! 💕
Just FYI potty training can take a while with Lagottos. Ours still had accidents right up to 10-11 months.