[CorkyMax]

1. Calm your pet before you walk out the door by giving it a hollow toy stuffed with peanut butter. if you limit giving your pet this special treat to just before your departures, your dog will learn to look forward to your absences. Distracted by the special treat, your dog will spend hours enthusiastically trying to work the peanut butter out of the toy.

2. You can also stuff the hollow toy with cream cheese.

3. Dogs get lonely when left all alone because they are instinctively pack animals. To prevent your dog or cat from getting lonely, turn on the radio and leave it playing when you leave the house. The sound from the radio, particularly talk radio, will keep your pet company.

4. Before leaving the house, take your dog out for a vigorous walk to burn off some of that anxious energy.
5. To stop your dog from panicking during your absenses, consider crate-training your dog to give the animal peace of mind in the security of a mock den. Me-CorkyMax talking here: I hate crates and would only use it with the gate open and the dog liking the crate as a den.

6. This is what I did but I know this is not workable for a lot of people!--If you constantly leave your dog alone for extended periods of time, (like when you have to go to work!) consider getting a 2nd pet (Hey, maybe even a cat) to keep your dog company.[/B]