A very important part of a dog's training is to teach it how to be alone, and to accept the situation. There are some very important reasons for this. There are many occasions when your dog cannot accompany you; you have work commitments, social occasions, and other places where they would not be welcome.

The best way to start your dog on the path towards learning how to be alone is to start when the dog is a young puppy.

Foremost is to not unwittingly reward your dog for the wrong behaviour. By this I mean that when you have shut your dog outside or in the laundry or some other isolated spot; that you don't go to him when he's making a lot of fuss over being left alone.

He will probably go through a lot of different behaviours to gain your attention, but the only time to go to him is when he has been quiet. Initially the reward would be a treat of some sort, and a loving pat.

Your dog soon learns that the best way to gain your attention is when it's being calm. The logic behind this training is that is just as easy to train your dog to the right behaviour as it is to train it to the wrong behaviour.

You will start to become aware of the different situations where you can implement this type of training.

For instance, in the morning when you go to greet your dog, ignore their excessive behaviour until they present a calmer attitude. Of course, you cannot expect this to happen with a young puppy for a long period of time, so just accept a shorter time span of only 10 seconds for a start.

Another situation is when you might go out for a short period. When you arrive home, ignore your dog until it is calm. Try not to give any grand welcomes straight away. This only reinforces the fact in their eyes that you should not have left in the first place.

Even though we love our dogs dearly, and want to have them near us most of the time, which creates that bonding that is so essential. We do need to teach our best mate that they don't have access to us all the time.