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How well does your dog behave when you leave them home alone?
Does your dog turn into a wreck… become hyperactive, or growl or howl? Or do they destroy your home in an effort to keep occupied while you are gone?
When you leave your companion at home, absence might not make your heart grow fonder. The key is to understand that bored dogs are often destructive dogs. Dogs are pack animals.
They’re loyal and dependent socially upon their ‘pack’ — which is you when your dog lives in your home! Your dog has an intense attachment to you.
So when you start getting ready to go out and you’re running around trying to get stuff done, your dog’s ‘sixth sense’ takes over and tells them that they will soon be alone. And alone does not sound good to them. In fact, it sounds downright dreadful.
So dogs howl to let you know they don’t like it. Or follow you around with puppy dog eyes while you’re getting ready. Your dog may bark all day while you’re gone… cry their hearts out… chew on things… or who knows what else?
Your happy-go-lucky four-legged friend provides you with constant unconditional love, devotion, friendship — and even health benefits. (Dogs are shown to bring joy, relieve stress, encourage exercise, raise morale, boost self-confidence and self-esteem.)
Five Ways to Enhance Your Canine Companion’s Best Health Your happy-go-lucky four-legged friend provides you with constant unconditional love, devotion, friendship — and even health benefits. (Dogs are shown to bring joy, relieve stress, encourage exercise, raise morale, boost self-confidence and self-esteem.)
So naturally, you want to keep your dog as healthy as possible. Here are some tips to help:
Feed your dog an appropriate raw diet for their body.
This means high protein with a few veggies — not a corn or animal by-product based diet of kibble (fake food). Pet owners and vets have witnessed vast health improvements doing this. Benefits include proper weight, cleaner teeth, more active and less achy, reduced flea problems, and a happier disposition.
Supplement your dog’s diet with omega-3 oils.
If you feed your dog kibble, supplement with small sardines (the ones canned in water, one sardine per day for toy breeds, 2-3 sardines for medium dogs and more for large dogs) to supply omega-3 oils.
Alternatively, an organic free-range chicken egg on alternate days adds nutrients and variety. Reduce his kibble accordingly, or you may find the caloric intake too great.
Keep your dog fit.
It can add years to your dog’s life, and give your dog a better quality of life. (Just like it will for you.) Provide at least one opportunity each day for your dog to get exercise.
Provide your dog with chew treats.
They provide pleasure, mental and physical exercise, and make your dog easier to live with. Plus, they help keep your dog’s gums and teeth healthy. Avoid rawhide, as it provides no nutrition and can cause stomach or intestinal blockages that can be life-threatening.Also avoid gluten-based treats (due to potential allergens).
Raw bones are best, providing natural glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen and calcium. Watch your dog while chewing — heavy chewers can destroy a large knucklebone in a short time, causing a heavy digestive load.
Encourage mental health and agility with food-stuffed toys.
They provide an interesting challenge and stimulate your dog’s brain. Certainly not a replacement for taking them for a walk or run, or playing fetch in your yard or a park, but it will help distract them from their grief over separation from you.
However, it’s much more than just a distraction. Think about how dogs lived before they were widely domesticated. They hunted, foraged, and scavenged for food. They had to work for their food, and chew vigorously when they found it. No lying around all day for those dogs.
Unfortunately, after dogs became domesticated, they also began to be ‘deserted’ due to long work hours and commutes, and leisure activities that don’t include them. Dogs Who Aren’t Bored are Less Destructive!
