Madge is beautiful!

First, make sure Madge gets tons of regular exercise. Play fetch with her until she’s tuckered out, take her for walks, give her obedience training, that sort of thing.

Also, be VERY low key yourself when you leave the house or come back home. In fact, it’s best to not even greet your dog or say good-bye. Just matter-of-factly leave as if it is no big deal. A lot of people don’t realize how much anxiety they create in their dogs by their own hysterical behavior around coming and going.

In general, don’t reward (or give into) barking, whining, jumping, pawing. Reward calm, non-dependent behavior with low-key praise.

Best to you & Madge!

getting her a baby sister? I only know cats, and it worked for my older cat. He got seriously upset when my kids started going to dad’s house after the divorce….all kinds of weird behavior. I finally got him a baby brother, which worked GREAT. To my surprise, he “mothered” the critter, even carrying him around by the scruff of his neck! It’s turned out to be much easier and more fun to have 2 than one cat.

And Bendecida, maybe your breed of dog is more comfortable with being left alone?

The breed makes such a difference, plus the fact that it’s a puppy. I’ve heard about some breeds that destroy the house when they are left alone. When Buster was a puppy he’d chew on shoes, boots and the baseboards something fierce.
Now he’s ok, except for some reason, just this morning, when I got home from church, I found the inner sole out of a pair of good Timberland casual shoes that I own, all chewed up, with 50 little pieces of rubber all over the carpet at the front door! I was so ticked off at Buster. :(( Now I have to look for a replacement sole for the shoes, which were in excellent condition. Now I’m the one who is growling! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

When my mailbox was outside she would act like I was gone for DAYS! LOL! Silly girl.
My Bother got a second dog, but then he just had two big babies on his hands!

My dog likes to sit in the window and guard the house and wait for us to come home. I don’t think it hurts anything. It beats her tearing up the house. My Bothers dog showed her how to get into the trash if we are gone all day!
“Now drag the coffee grinds onto the carpet if they are gone for more than 6 hours ok.”