My Puppy Has seperation anxiety Any Tips To Help Him?

lucasdaddy

ive had my puppy since sunday and everytime we leave him alone either at night or during the day he constantly barks and cries and wee's and poo's all over the floor and jumps in it in a desperate effort to get back to us is there anywere i can get help or any tips anywer? thanks.

Tropez

If possible, allow the puppy to sleep in close proximity to you - even just outside the door with the door open so it knows you are there. He's a pack animal and wants to be with his pack. It can be very distressing if he is forced to spend an entire night on his lonesome.

If you haven't already, invest in a crate. A puppy wants to be clean and will be less likely to foul where he sleeps.

How old is he and how long are you leaving him for at night? As a rule, a puppy can only hold on for a few hours (his age in months +1 converted into hours) so a three month old puppy will need to relieve himself every 3-4 hours. Puppy won't go potty on the floor if he's crated at night and also let out to potty enough.

You need to try and gradually increase the time the puppy is on his own. Start by leaving the pup on his own, preferably in a not-too confined space but somewhere where he can't destroy something out of frustration or swallow something he shouldn't be swallowing and then slowly work up from there. Puppy will likely have had constant company early in life and therefore adjusting to being on his own is difficult and potentially distressing for him.

Beckyy

I wouldn't let the puppy sleep in areas which he won't be allowed to in the future, it will confuse him more.

Practise leaving him alone for very small periods during the day. A few seconds, then a minute, then 2 minutes, and so on. When you re-enter the room do not make a fuss of him, just act calmly for a minute or two then give him a stroke.

At night times, I would set your alarm for half way through the night to take him out to the toilet. I used to do 3am when my dog was a little puppy. I used to get up, pop his lead on and take him into the garden, wait for him to do his business saying his 'toilet word' when he goes, then small praise and back indoors. Sitting with him for a couple of minutes to settle, not fussing him, then back upstairs to bed.

I didn't used to get up to him whining and crying unless it was for prolonged periods of time. We were actually sleeping downstairs for the first few nights of having him anyway as we were re-carpetting upstairs, so I guess this helped.

How old is he? How old have you had him? Where did you get him from? How long is he alone for during the day and night? The answers from these might help with more advice. Keep us posted!
One big thing, is don't tell him off for peeing/pooing when he's alone, and please don't use those 'puppy training pads'. They might as well be called 'teaching your dog to pee indoors pads', because they defeat the object of toilet training totally.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

try dog appeasing pheremone plug in DAP, works wonders!

gettingready

Congratulations on the new pup

Please look up any info you possibly can on separation anxiety and work on it from "right away" - it is terrible to try to work on with an adult dog.

My Zara is 4.5 now and I practically house bound as she barks the place down each time I need to go out and do not take her with me.

This is a very serious problem for both dog and the owners - and of course neighbours...

Sigh...

All the best

sarabe

Your puppy had never ever been alone in his life until the first time you left him alone in a strange place.

He is missing his Mum and his siblings and the fact that he is crying and barking would indicate that he is very distressed but I guess that you know this already.

The weeing and pooing could be caused by the distress but it is more likely to be that he needs to wee and poo and you are not there to tend to his needs.

Please, please, please don't leave him alone tonight. Do you have a crate for him? If you do put it in your bedroom and time your bedtime so that it coincides with the pup being ready to sleep. Make sure that he has been outside to wee and poo and that he has eaten and had a drink. Put him in the crate and stay there with him until he drops off. Then put out the light and get some sleep.

When he wakes in the night needing the toilet, take him out to the garden and then straight back to bed again. Again stay with him until he drops off to avoid him getting distressed again. If you are lucky he'll sleep through to early morning.

If you do not have a crate for him then you need to get one tomorrow but for tonight sleep downstairs with him. If he isn't in a crate then he'll just move away from his bed to toilet so you may not hear him.

To get him used to being left you have to do it very gradually. The best way is to give him a prize like a stuffed Kong or a tasty chew either in his crate or in the kitchen with a stairgate in the doorway and leave him for literally 10 seconds and increase the duration by 10 seconds at a time until you can leave him for as long as you need to. The prize should be picked up when you return. He only gets it when you leave him.

You are aiming to get him to look forward to you leaving and be slightly disappointed that you are back so soon.

In my experience the pup that is left alone to cry, especially at night will have separation problems as an adult and the pup that sleeps in a crate in the bedroom is getting used to settling down at night and to sleeping in the crate. This means that in the future your dog will happily settle in their crate wherever it is which makes visiting relatives or camping or having to leave your dog with someone else so much easier.

Fang_3

Do you ignore him before you leave? You should. Making a fuss of him to say 'goodbye' is not something a puppy, or indeed a dog can comprehend.

alarox

This is a really interesting thread, some really good advice there. I can vouch for the crate training, was sceptical at first but it really works. I did what the previous post advised, and had the crate in our bedroom for a few weeks after we got our puppy. She only sleeps in it, and dogs hate messing their sleeping area so it trains them to hold it until you let them out. Letting them out once during the night is a good idea while they're so young, their bladders are only small! Roxie's 8 months now and still needs to sleep in the crate, though she's moved downstairs now.

As for the separation anxiety, I'm still working on that. Roxie will howl and howl when we're gone, even if it's for a few minutes. She gets really shaky and whines when we reach for the car keys, coat or shoes too. One bit of advice I read was to leave the house, but go back after twenty seconds or so. If your dog howls or barks, keep doing it, going in and out until the one time your dog is silent, then praise them. Then repeat the whole thing again, leaving slightly longer each time you go back. It'll take a while but I'm sure it'll be worth it. I'm also putting on my shoes or picking up the keys randomly without going anywhere to break her fear of those actions.

Good luck!

zaksmum

When my Jack was a puppy he went ballistic at first when I left him alone at night.

I got a crate and encouraged him to go in it during the day by putting a cuddly toy in there and letting him nap with the door open near to me. Gradually I moved it further away till it was in the next room and eventually closed the door of the crate. He did cry a bit but I stayed around so he could hear me.

It only took about 10 days and he would happily trot into his crate and sleep all night without kicking off.

I made a point during the day of leaving him for short periods on his own so he got to understand that I would come back and hadn't gone for good.

He's coming up to 3 now and while he's not exactly overjoyed if I have to go ou without him, he accepts it and saves his energy for the rapturous welcome he gives me when I come back!

I've got to say, nobody's EVER so happy to see you as your dog is!!!!!!

staffiecat

Congrats on getting your puppy

With our first puppy we had exactly this issue with separation anxiety, we rescued her from the RSPCA shelter and she had been used to living with her siblings - her first night at home with us and we planned for her to have her space downstairs but she was upset. My OH slept with her in 'her area' for 2 nights. We had wanted to use a crate but the RSPCA asked us not too because of her history. In the end we bought a nice comfy bed for her, put it alongside our bed and she has slept there ever since. Wherever your pup goes to sleep you will need to get up through the night to give them the chance to pee and poo - think of them as babies, they have needs and they are learning and also in a very strange environment.

To help with the separation though you should practice leaving the puppy alone, as another poster suggested I would leave her/him for a minute by themselves and then go back and then longer etc - do it in different intervals - child stair gates can help with this to confine them to one room or outside of the room you are in so that initially can still see you...

Good luck!

Humphrey10

My (adult) dog barked at night (though not when we are out, I think at night she knew we were there to hear) when we got her, so I just let her sleep in my room now, it seemed easier than faffing about with crates etc. And her little doggy snores are very soporific!
It also means that if she needs to go to the loo she wakes me up so I can let her out, rather than her just weeing on the floor.