My Poor Dog...

[CigarNut]

After seeing all the videos posted by other dog owners of their dogs’ antics when they are left alone, my wife and I (alright, mostly me) decided to get a camera so that we could see what our dog, Dug, does while we leave him alone.

What we found is that Dug waits by the door we left from. Staying in that place for hours. And hours. It’s pitiful... Mostly he sits staring at the door. Occasionally, he scratches or licks his feet. I was more than a little stunned.

I’m beginning to think that I’m a bad dog owner, but I figure leaving him staring at the door is better than locking him in his crate (he hates his crate)...

On the slightly brighter side, It is very entertaining when we come back through a different door...

And, no matter what, he is always very excited to see us!

[stearns]

I've got a puppy cam for my little one, she has a play pen around her crate so during the day she can walk around a little with the crate door open. She spends her days dragging her blanket around the pen and napping wherever it lands for an hour or so, then repeating

[massphatness]

My dog waits for all of about 5 minutes before jumping up into our bed and snoozing

Could be the new environment your dog is reacting to, Michael - after time, I'm guessing he won't be doing that

[jledou]

We are fortunate enough to have windows that look out to the front yard and ours can sit in his bed to watch the neighborhood. This is of course when he is not sleeping ... which is 90% of the days now.

You can try leaving a radio on in the house to see if that might calm him down and interest him in other things.

[markem]

Our dogs neither notice when we leave or when we arrive home. They do, however, know when it is food time.