[angray]

We picked up our boxer puppy last week (Wed) and he is wonderful!! We are so happy with him. I don't even mind getting up in the middle of the night to let him outside. Right now things with him are wonderful. He is cuddly, gentle, very friendly, playful, etc. My concern is for when I got back to work next week. I'm off from school (I'm a teacher) for 2 weeks for the holidays so I've been home with him a lot this past week. Today I put him in his crate and went to run arrands. I was gone for about 2 hours. He cried when I left, and was still crying when I got home. Then he wouldn't eat his lunch, and was really whiny and whimpering. My husband and I both work - we both have to. My husband is home everyday at 2pm, which means that the puppy will be alone from 7am-2pm. I am concerned with how he is going to react. He was really upset today when I left for 2 hours. I'm thinking of leaving for a while everyday to get him used to being alone in his crate. Did anyone else have any difficulty with this? I read that the crate is the safest for them when you are gone, and that you should give them a treat when you put them in their crate. Is there anything else I should be doing? He doesn't mind the crate when the door is off, and he usually goes to lay in there to sleep throughout the course of the day, but so far we haven't locked him in there until today. I'm worried that he'll have separation anxiety or that I'm doing something wrong. Any advice will be helpful. I also try not to make a big productin of my leaving or returning (the book I read suggested that.) I guess I'm just concerned about whether this is a normal way for puppies to react when they are first left alone.