Separation Anxiety in puppy

50Twuncle

arbrighton wrote: »

You've got a nine week old puppy. Comes with the territory. Naive to think otherwise

She cannot be left for an hour if she can't manage a minute or two.

Thanks - very helpful !

LittleOne

9 weeks is so young! This is normal behaviour for a puppy.


Our Springer Spaniel used to cry for hours on end when he was in his crate (this was mainly at night) The vet assured us that although it seems harsh to ignore him and is very annoying, in the long run it's important that he has time away and understands there will be periods where he'll be left alone.
He made a right mess of his crate every time. It was hard work and there were many sleepless nights! Slowly over a period of a few months the crying became less frequent, the messing of his crate was less frequent and he became a lot calmer when he was put away in his crate or left alone in a room.


One thing that took him a long time to grow out of was wetting the floor when a female came to visit the house. The vet advised he should grow out of it after a while but in the meantime we had to ignore him for a few minutes when we entered the house. Once he had calmed down we were then allowed to fuss him.


He's the most well mannered, loving dog now (He's 3) and can be left alone without making any mess or destroying anything.

arbrighton

50Twuncle wrote: »

Thanks - very helpful !

Well, there isn't much I can add that others haven't said. Puppies are HARD work. I used to go and sit with a friend's puppy for the hour or so between her going to work and her partner coming back til she was at least 16 weeks and it was a case of 'go to sleep on me then let me put you down' for a long time and I gradually left more time before partner came home. She cried at night too for a long time and toileted inside.

With our pup, we were very lucky, she didn't cry at night and slept downstairs from day 1. Only the odd accident inside, mostly as we didn't spot the cues in time but the breeder had done a lot of the ground work there. And we built up the time she was left from just about 30 seconds to half a day over a LONG time. She was fine with it, then her hormones made her very clingy then gradually after we had her spayed, she's got the hang of it again. But we worked damn hard for that to be the case.

Your pup will not be allowed at puppy training until fully vaccinated surely?

50Twuncle

It went OK leaving the puppy on her own for an hour on Monday - she has obviously learnt that WE WILL BE BACK and are not leaving her forever !!
She escaped from her pen though - pulling herself up the (3 times her height) sides and into the living room - good job we had a puppy gate to stop her leaving the room.
She has also figured out how to empty her KONG - by tipping it on end and getting the treats out !
She is still peeing and pooing on the carpets though - despite being let out every half hour at the moment - she comes straight back in and does her business indoors !!
She has her second jabs on Thursday and then Puppy training next week....

takethatfan1978

She will settle in but it does just take time. You say she was fine but do you know that she didn't howl the place down the whole time you were away? If she has not been left alone before she will not learn straight away that you haven't left her, she is too young!

If you are planning on leaving her for periods of time then the kong is a great thing and freezing it will also keep her amused for a while as it will take her a while to lick it all. Soaking some of her kibble with a small amount of cream cheese or peanut butter at the end of it will go down well Popping it in the freezer mean she will be there for a while and would then hopefully fall asleep once finished so will not notice you being away.

I didn't leave my lab alone for a good while but would give her a kong in her crate whilst I was around the house so that she learned to be alone and to settle easily. If the howling is still going on when your wife leaves the room then some training will help. If your wife goes out and she howls ignore her until she stops, the 'second' she does go back in and praise and treat her. She will soon learn that howling doesn't pay off, it also means that she will not howl if left in the house. Having her distressed isn't good and it also isn't very nice for any neighbours that can hear her!

Toilet training wise, just keep going with taking her out every half hour and straight after playing,napping,eating etc. Will you be clicker training at all? It might be very helpful and can be used to teach her fun things, as soon as she wees/poos click or praise and treat her. She will definitely learn quickly. It just takes time.

Person_one

If you stuff a kong with wet dog food and freeze it they last ages and are more of a challenge. Make sure you're not overfeeding though, count it in the daily intake.

Summer and nice weather is perfect for house training. Taking her out every half hour and then coming back in for her to wee on the carpet isn't enough, she hasn't made the connection yet that outside means toileting. Go every hour instead, but don't go back in until she wees or poos. Even if that means you're sat outside for two hours! The second she goes, go mad with praise and fuss and instantly produce a treat, then go back in.

Mainly, don't panic! She's still a baby, everything you're describing is completely normal. Just remember the golden rule of dog training. Reward the behaviour you want, ignore the behaviour you don't want.

sheramber

50Twuncle wrote: »

It went OK leaving the puppy on her own for an hour on Monday - she has obviously learnt that WE WILL BE BACK and are not leaving her forever !!
She escaped from her pen though - pulling herself up the (3 times her height) sides and into the living room - good job we had a puppy gate to stop her leaving the room.
She has also figured out how to empty her KONG - by tipping it on end and getting the treats out !
She is still peeing and pooing on the carpets though - despite being let out every half hour at the moment - she comes straight back in and does her business indoors !!
She has her second jabs on Thursday and then Puppy training next week....

Don't let her out.

Take her out , on the lead, and hover around the garden, It is a good idea to have a specific area for her to go. Once she had used it it will have her smell on it, which will encourage her and give her confidence to go

Take her to that place and let her sniff around it. Don't let her wander off. or go playing Gently encourage to stay in that area until she goes. Walk her round slowly as they often circle before going.
If it is raining take an umbrella. If it is cold out your coat on .

If she has gone indoors the smell lingers so you need to clean thoroughly with an enzyme cleaner, such as Simple Solution., which will kill the smell rather than mask it.

Carpets are a problem as the wee can penetrate to the backing and underlay, which is not easy to clean.

Watch her like a hawk and when she starts to sniff or squat quickly, but gently, lift her up and whisk her outside to her toilet place.- so need somewhere reasonably close the door.

As you take her out tell her quietly 'uh,uh, outside'.When she goes praise her and give her a small reward at that place so she associates going there with a reward

Making the effort now will pay dividends in the future but remember she is a baby, with a small bladder and very little control. Look how long it takes a human baby to be toilet trained.

arbrighton

50Twuncle wrote: »

She escaped from her pen though - pulling herself up the (3 times her height) sides and into the living room - good job we had a puppy gate to stop her leaving the room.
She has also figured out how to empty her KONG - by tipping it on end and getting the treats out !
She is still peeing and pooing on the carpets though - despite being let out every half hour at the moment - she comes straight back in and does her business indoors !!
She has her second jabs on Thursday and then Puppy training next week....

Ours was actually thinner than the gap of the bars so the first time she went in, she rejoined me in about 30s. Took about 3 weeks for her not to be able to fit through!

And it was probably about eight weeks before she was 'let out' rather than escorted to do her business. Ok, partly as we were living on a building site but to make sure she was doing what she should and the prompt for it/ praise. 'Get busy' and as soon as she started either, 'good dog'

Beckyy

Try an DAP/Adaptil diffuser or collar, and some distracting toys (a stuffed kong maybe, with a bit of PB to keep the treats in). If you're out you could leave a radio or something on for background noise.

Assuming there's someone at home all day with her, you should start by gradually leaving her alone for a minute or so, increase this over time and never make a fuss when you return. Try to make sure she's tired with regular mental stimulation (short training sessions very regularly), this will mean she's more likely to sleep when she's alone.

If she has a stair gate on the room could you leave her out of the pen? Having some more freedom might help her a little bit with settling in better and becoming familiar with her new surroundings.

Toilet training wise it's not unusual but if she is peeing excessively or not emptying her bladder it might be worth discussing with the vet on the off chance she may have a urine infection.

You say she comes straight back in and toilets indoors, does she have free access outside or are you physically taking her? I would put her on a lead if suitable and take her out, to the same area if you can (we always used our gravel area for this). When she does go start to pair a word with it 'Go Pee' or something similar, only say this when she goes and offer lots of praise. Eventually (many weeks!) she will start to link the two and should be able to pee on command as such, but please don't try and use the command before it's paired as it will lose any meaning it has started to gain.

Personally I would never let our dog actually finish his business in the house as if he started to as pup, I would pick him up and dash out mid pee (this wasn't always wise when I had to clear up a trail after:rotfl:) however I think it helped for us.

Cat wise - make sure they have a dog free area to retreat to. As long as they have this they will learn their boundaries with each other other time.

GwylimT

Hows pup doing?