Lonely Labs

They were not happy with me one bit this morning. Normally, I would work from home throughout the week and they would be able to be out and about the house with me. Today I needed to be in the office and as I got ready for work, Dakota saw my dress shoes and got excited. In the past, this meant that she was going to doggie daycare. When I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door, the look on her face was something of betrayal.

Labrador Retrievers are people dogs. A lot of people do not understand why Labs have a problem being left alone for hours on end and will usually get even by destroying one or more things in the house. This is exactly why we leave our girls crated (kenneled) during the day, when we are not home. I can think of a hundred places off the top of my head, where Cheyenne would get on or in. Sure, our house is dog-proofed but, they will find a way around it. Dakota would probably sleep on the couch all day, which is a big no-no in our house. Separation anxiety is a reality with the breed and both of my Lab brats are too young to begin testing in the house alone.

Once Cheyenne is over a year, then we will begin to test them for a couple of hours here and there by themselves. Right now though, Cheyenne is still teething and Dakota is as spoiled as they come. Without human interaction with either of these girls, they will surely get into trouble. Alas, the girls will have a nice sleepy morning in their indoor kennels and this afternoon my husband will come home to let them out during lunch. Then it is back in the crates for the afternoon and I will let them out when I get home. This way they only have to go 4 hours without us. Why only 4 hours? Cheyenne is still a puppy and cannot hold it all 8 hours. Once she can, then the girls will need to learn to be alone during that time. However, that is some time away and, in the meantime, we will make sure they know they are loved but remain alpha in our house.