advice on howling

hello all im having trouble with benson when i comes to leaving him on his own
me and my wife left him for the first time and went to do a bit of shopping we were only gone for 1hr
i left my phone set on recording to see how he would be left on our return i listened to the recording and from the second we left to the second we came back all he did was howl the place down this is something we need to address
as we live in a flat and have neighbours above us as well as next to us
has anybody had or is having the same problem that could help with advice thanks

Even though an hour doesnt seem like a long time, if he's never been left alone before then you need to build up the time he's left very gradually, as in maybe at first 5 minutes, then 10, then 15 etc. What's he like when you just leave the room, as opposed to leaving the apartment? If he's not comfortable with you even leaving the room work on that first. The first few times you may literally be going outside the room, or outside your front door, waiting for a couple of minutes and going back in again. Also be very careful not to come back in if you hear him howling/barking/whining, as then you will be rewarding this behaviour, so only come back in if he is quiet.
Make sure he has LOTS of things to do to keep him busy when you leave, like buster cubes/activity balls, stuffed kongs etc but also make sure you don't just give him these when your going out as you don't want them to be a signal you're going to leave and create anxiety around them.
Another exercise is to do everything you would do if your were going out, putting on your shoes and coat, getting your bag and keys out etc but then don't actually leave, just sit back down on the couch for a snuggle with Benson! Dogs learn by association, and they will quickly learn to associate certain things you do (like putting your coat or shoes on) with you leaving, and start to feel anxious very quickly, however if you change that association then you can help to make them feel less anxious and worried as they will learn that the 'bad event' of you leaving doesn't always happen when you do certain things.
Good luck!

Can't add anything to that - excellent advice.

sab44 wrote:Even though an hour doesnt seem like a long time, if he's never been left alone before then you need to build up the time he's left very gradually, as in maybe at first 5 minutes, then 10, then 15 etc. What's he like when you just leave the room, as opposed to leaving the apartment? If he's not comfortable with you even leaving the room work on that first. The first few times you may literally be going outside the room, or outside your front door, waiting for a couple of minutes and going back in again. Also be very careful not to come back in if you hear him howling/barking/whining, as then you will be rewarding this behaviour, so only come back in if he is quiet.
Make sure he has LOTS of things to do to keep him busy when you leave, like buster cubes/activity balls, stuffed kongs etc but also make sure you don't just give him these when your going out as you don't want them to be a signal you're going to leave and create anxiety around them.
Another exercise is to do everything you would do if your were going out, putting on your shoes and coat, getting your bag and keys out etc but then don't actually leave, just sit back down on the couch for a snuggle with Benson! Dogs learn by association, and they will quickly learn to associate certain things you do (like putting your coat or shoes on) with you leaving, and start to feel anxious very quickly, however if you change that association then you can help to make them feel less anxious and worried as they will learn that the 'bad event' of you leaving doesn't always happen when you do certain things.
Good luck!

Great advice. Build up to it gradually and if you can exercise him before you go it that should help as well.

We also found that leaving a radio on helps, we have radio2 on during the day anyway, so we just leave it on quiet if we have to go out.

thanks for all the advice we will try that and we have got a dog behaviourist coming to visit us on Wednesday to help as well will let you know how we get on

Keep us posted