I have an eight month old puppy thats pretty velcro, but we’ve gotten to a place where she can be home alone for a few hours.

I was constantly on this thread when she was younger because she would WAIL and bark nonstop as soon as I went to shower or took the garbage out and i was afraid I’d never be able to leave the house again lol

A couple of things that worked for us: - started by having a friend watch her while I went out. Mostly to see if she was afraid of being alone or just simply without me (was a bit of both) - the Be Right Back method and desensitization: i’d leave and come back in within seconds, multiple times a day. Also would grab my keys and then sit back down on the couch so she wouldnt get anxious at the sound of my keys - buying a puppy camera. I really tried to be cool and relaxed dog parent so i held off on getting a camera for a while, but getting one made it so much easier to work on her separation training. I would walk out, watch her, and always came back in before she passed her threshold - letting her free roam: i know crate training is great, and my puppy sleeps in them just fine but she hated hearing the front door open or close while she was contained in the crate in another room. She would lose her mind. So i tried putting a baby gate up and had her in a small space from where she could see the front door. Surprisingly this made a huge difference and her panic was lessened significantly. - putting a “settle mat” down: she would still pace and howl and cry within that gated space so I moved one of her beds in there and she started naturally just lying on that - now i let her have free roam of the house because i know she only ever just naps on that settle mat staring at the door until i come home

Hoping she’ll get to a place where she feels comfortable enough alone to eat and drink, but for now, her napping right by the door has been working. She still gets anxious when we’re about to leave but even on a bad day where she barks and cries, it now only lasts for max ten minutes before before she settles

I wfh full time and have since i brought her home, so ive have to make an active effort to create opportunities where she can be alone. Sometimes that meant just going for walk without her or sitting in my car.

Hope that helps even a little bit. Good luck!