sadI have no problem with him at night, he goes right to sleep. And in the mornings, from 7-10, he's great, sleeps, plays, is fine. But when my husband leaves for work at 10 am , Gambit howls and howls from his little soul. He's been crying now for about 20 minutes. I need him to settle down. I have locked myself in my room, I don't want him to know that I'm home because in less than 2 weeks, I won't be home. I'll be at work at this point, and when my husband leaves he will be alone. But, oh! The misery.
I feel terrible guilt. I know this is his den and he loves it and he's got his chewy rope toy and a kong full of kibbles and a little mess of water. And he won't ever have to "hold it" for more than 2 hours or so at a time. And he'll have people visit him every 2 hours, too!
But yet I feel guilty, listening to him howl and cry and shudder with his little sadness. :(
How do we get over this abandonment? Is he gonna hate me forever?
UPDATE: My mom suggested putting a blanket over the back of his crate? He's under a window in the kitchen, so maybe the sun is keeping him awake? Also, do you reccomend leaving a nylabone in there for him? I have a chicken one from the breeder, which is solid (kind of like plastic) and a "roarhide" one from the vet, which has a slightly flakey texture. Are they safe to put in there when he's alone? I don't want him to choke. I don't put stuffies in there because I don't want him to pick them apart and eat the stuffing, and he has a rope toy that he likes to suck and a kong full of kibbles and his blankie... also a water dish with a little tiny bit of water in the bottom if he gets thirsty. Any other suggestions?
UPDATE 2: 30 minutes later, he's put himself to bed. Finally. I am watching him on a web cam from the kitchen to my bedroom so I can see what he's doing without going in the room and letting him know I'm around. I think this is partially my fault, yesterday I caved and took him out at 10:30 and he DID potty, but I want him to learn to hold it and to relax into his crate. He looks so defeated on the cam...