| Dog abhors being alone
The background. We got our mini schnauzer just three weeks ago. He's a little over a year old and is thoroughly good-natured. He doesn't mind being confined in a crate while we sleep--no whining or pawing at the door--and does great when we try tethering him, crating him, or locking him in his playpen during random episodes in the daytime, even when it means he gets left alone in a room. He's great at playing with his toys by himself. We're already making great strides with sit, down, stay, and loose-leash walking using positive training methods. No excrement has ever shown up on our carpet. He seems well-adjusted.
The problem. He hates it, hates it, when we leave. When my wife leaves and I stay, he whines a little and mopes around the door for a while. But when we both leave, he barks, whistles and yelps incessantly. We're at a loss. We tried sessions of leaving for ten-to-thirty-second intervals and returning briefly to give him a treat (the goal being to make some kind of pleasant association with our leaving), but we're worried this may be making matters worse--we don't want him to think his barking helps bring us back.
Is there standard wisdom on dealing with this kind of problem? He's great with confinement and all; it's just that the moment we go out the door, he becomes very upset. | 
