It’s natural for your puppy to want to be around you a lot when you first bring them home. Everything has changed for them overnight and they will want to be near you as you are their source of safety.

Eventually you want to be able to leave your puppy settled for a few hours at home whilst you go out but it’s important you prepare your puppy for this and go at their pace.

If your puppy struggles to be on their own, and cries for you to come back make sure you don’t force them to be alone. This can do more damage in the long run. Instead give your puppy free access to you and work on gradually building their confidence to be left for short periods.

One way to get started is to scatter a few treats outside of the bathroom when you pop to the toilet. This will keep your puppy happy and occupied and start to build a positive association to tiny absences throughout the day.

Another thing you can do is set your puppy up with enrichment in their safe space. If it’s a pen or crate, leave the door open so they can choose to come out if they want to. Use an enrichment item that is heavy like a frozen kong so that they can’t pick it up and move around with it. You could also tie the toy down.