is he bored or developing separation anxiety?

[u/Not_a-coffeesnob]

is he just bored or developing separation anxiety?

took 3-4 month old pup in and it’s a little more than a week now.

the first 2 days hated his playpen even when i’m home. i think he just wanted to be with me 24/7. he whines, i tried to reward him when he’s quiet but seems to make him more anxious when he sees me go back and forth. i completely ignore him and he just naps. he will whine again when he sees me walking in front of him but again will stop. as i thought he was getting better, he climbed out lol. so i got a crate and bar playpen instead which seems to be working better. he seems to also know his routine now. go in and out without whining and sleeps in his crate with playpen attached without whining (only in the morning when he hears my alarm go off/if i don’t immediately wake up to get him out after alarm goes off)

the first 4 days i left for 5 mins to get mail/trash and he completely ignores me when i leave and come back. he just looks at me and goes back to napping. i even left for an hour a couple days in the morning and he was fine.

my mistake now is thinking he was fine and went to work for half day. he watches me leave and gets busy with the mat and doesn’t bother to look at me. he then starts whining for ~15 mins but stops and take his nap. he will wake up about every 1-2 hours to pee on his pee pad (i trained him to pee inside because he is not fully vaccinated) and will whine again for awhile and goes back to napping. repeats until i get back.. i had to do this again for another 2 days..

i think he knows the routine now and whenever i leave or go to the door at noon, he starts whining but i do it in the morning he is fine.

i feel like a horrible person now.. i feel frustrated and guilty for leaving him home alone.

i did lick mats, all his toys but he doesn’t seem too interested after i leave.. he just seem to nap in his playpen/crate.

i did noticed he has less energy during his morning play time so maybe he is unbothered then. he does have more energy later in the day and maybe that’s why he whines? maybe i need to play with him more?

any tips? suggestions? is this a sign of separation anxiety or is he just bored since he will stop after awhile?

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It looks like you might be posting about separation anxiety. Check out our wiki article on separation anxiety - the information there may answer your question.

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