Training Problem Finder: Two Questions, One Plan
Tell us your dog's stage and what you're working on. You'll get the cognitive reason the problem happens, a practice routine you can run today, and the guides and games that actually apply.
1Which stage is your dog in?
2What are you working on?
Your plan
Adult crate and alone time: separate boredom from distress
In adults, destruction and vocalising on departure are two different problems. Boredom responds to enrichment; genuine distress needs graduated desensitisation and never responds to correction.
Lead dimension: Empathy
Routine: Record, then rebuild
Daily micro-departures plus one recorded absence
- Record the first 20 minutes of one absence — distress shows in the first five, boredom shows later.
- If it's boredom: front-load a problem-solving session and leave a long-lasting chew at departure.
- If it's distress: build absences from seconds, never exceeding the point where the dog stays relaxed.
- Decouple your departure cues — pick up keys, put on shoes, then sit back down, several times a day.
- Keep arrivals and departures deliberately uneventful.
Know when to progress: The dog settles within five minutes of a recorded absence and stays settled — extend duration only then.
Read next
Games that support this routine
Train the dog in front of you
These routines assume a typical profile. Dognition's assessment shows where your dog actually sits across the five cognitive dimensions, so you can pick the method that lands first time.
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