Q. We only leave our dog once a week for a couple of hours. He cries when we leave and when we get home he's so excited he wets little drips on the floor. How can we make him more comfortable about being left home?
A. Teach him to relax in a dog crate while you're home.
Start with the crate in the room with you and close him in for a few minutes with a yummy chew-bone. Do this daily, so he gets used to it.
Over a week or two, increase his crate time to an hour. Then put the crate in a different room, so he's alone. Again, start with just a few minutes, increasing gradually to two hours. When he's learned to relax in his crate with you in another room, you'll be able to crate him when you leave and it won't worry him so much.
When releasing him from the crate, don't talk to him, just walk briskly to his potty place. When you get there, greet him, and he'll wet there instead of on your floor.