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I'm going to chime in with some encouragement. Gertrude Marie is a clingy pup and she can now stay home, uncrated, for several hours without destroying things. When we first got her she ransacked the house, ate a portion of her bed, jumped on tables, ate my crochet hooks (grrrrr), ate my crochet project (extra grrrr - that was a difficult intricate pattern with a small hook!), dragged several skeins of yarn to the middle of the floor and thoroughly entangled them, and was basically a horrible house guest! Nowadays I can put treat containers around the upstairs and (we finally got our door last week) shut the door. She whines a little bit and paces here and there, but for the most part she chills out in her bed and enjoys her treats. I also hide smaller treats around the room and we have a Furbo camera that I can use to shoot treats at her. To help her adjust to the door I've been leaving the room and going downstairs and watch her on the camera. When she heads towards the door I "toss" the treats at her. Eventually she gets to the point of starting towards the door, pausing, looking at the Furbo, pausing . . . we're still working on it because that door is only a week old, but she's getting there and I can see her processing, "treats vs following - which is more rewarding?" She's the type of dog who jumps up any time I shift in my chair, grab my purse, say "alright," (I'm in the habit of saying that before I go to bed for some reason), grab something from the printer, etc . . .. Even if my husband is up here with us she'll still make to follow me. I send her back to her bed with a "yes!" once she's settled and occasionally she gets a treat to remind her good things could happen if she stays. It took about 2 years to get to this point, but I will follow that by saying I wasn't giving it my all. If I had pushed for it we would have made faster progress, but since I work from home and prefer to stay home it hasn't been a high priority. She was also fine in her crate, just barked a little more than she does with this new freedom.