Zitchdog

I snuck in through a different door and went around the house trying to see where he was - he was at the garage spot although there wasn't any cyying. Once he realised I was home he was super excited and jumpy so I tried to hold him down by his collar and get him to watch and sit. Took a few minutes but then he did briefly so I gave him a hug and continued to try and get changed with him bouncing around. I guess I'll just keep trying to calm down the welcome and try leaving him outside when we're home more. Maybe when we feed him I'll block the dog door and not let him back in for a while?

Lol how do you teach a dog it's ok to be alone? We did crate training when we got him - he couldn't stand it, took him less than a week to destroy it. If we leave it open he sleeps in it at night no worries but as soon as he is outside and/or it's daylight he can't be alone Not sure I'm cool with him being in the house when we're out - it's open plan and I'm bit worried he'd destroy the furniture.

No because as I said if he knows we're inside he howls, barks, scratches and throws himself against the door/window.

Ignore him when he's crying Try and be calm when we come home - go straight into training routine if he doesn't calm down. When we leave we pack up the house, put his toys and bed outside, say goodbye, give him a kong or something and close the door and walk away. I don't really want to get another dog, the crying is just breaking my heart

Hi, I have a 6 month welsh springer spaniel pup who is beautiful and (kind of) responding to training but is incredibly clingy/dependent. He follows us around the house (even to the toilet) he is totally over excited when we come home from somewhere, if he knows we're inside when he's outside he howls and barks and throws himself against doors/windows (has broken through dog door several times) and now when we leave home he sits at the back of the garage door and just cries, and is in the same spot when we come home. I'm really worried he's there crying all day. We have a kennel, toys, snacks outside, a bobble treat dispenser etc. Any ideas? I'm close to rescuing another dog from the pound just to keep him company...

Not on the ones I've got?

Thanks for everyone's continued concern. Like I said originally, he was sleeping in our room, having alarm clock, hot water bottle, old clothes of ours, chews, toys, radio light etc made no difference. Even with the crate next to the bed and my hand down with him didn't help. That is why he got put in the laundry so we could try to get some sleep. We also have the crate outside or in communal areas during the day and he sleeps and chews and plays in it all the time, it was just being zipped up that freaked him out. maybe he's claustrophobic?!! He's still in the laundry and I think he's sleeping in the crate, but I gave up trying to close it as he obviously couldn't stand it. We now just pop the crate in the laundry with the side door rolled up, an extra blanket on the floor of the laundry and if we're worried that he's not quite ready for bed or likely to cry a lot we chuck in a pigs snout too. he ADORES them!! Things have been much better. We only toilet him once a night and don't hear him crying very much, not compared to before anyway. We can take him out of the house as of this weekend and also start puppy school so that should help with the training and tiring him out a bit more. :)

Just after some quick advice on how much to feed the puppy. He's 12 weeks, about 6kg now and target weight when he's an adult is around 18kg. We have advance puppy growth wet and dry food at the moment (given pack by the breeder) and I'm a little confused by the feeding guides. Firstly, they seem to base the guide on the target weight as an adult, whereas I would have thought it would be based on current weight! For a 3 month old the dry food guide is 230g - 350g for a 15 - 20 kg body weight. This is over a day. For a 3 month old with the 410g can wet food, adult weight 10-25kg the guide says 1-2 3/4. I assume this means between 1 and 2.75 cans per day? This seems like a huge amount. On top of this, there is no guidance of how much to feed if you are using both, or even other food. Any ideas? Cheers Nat

we have done absolutely every one of the things above except for the pheromone spray and the wire crate. I'm not made of money - this crate cost $130+ and came highly recommended grr....

I don't know rosaline but I can sympathise, Zitch has decided 3am is his time... And he tore a hole in his crate last night so now he can escape. So many tears...

I spoke too soon... Last two nights have been evenly split between crying and not right up until the 3am ish toilet. After that he is not interested in sleep and howls and thrashes about for a good 3 hours til we get up at 6. He also clearly knew that I had said the k9 crate was indestructible because last night he clawed and bit his way through until the zip tore away from the fabric and he could escape. What the hell do we do now?

and another :)

Another pic!

Oh I'll also try and attach some pics. And to the person who was worried about a canvas crate being destroyed, I highly recommend this one - I think it's indestructable!!! http://www.k9softdogcrates.com.au/index.php?p=crates

Thanks everyone! Very pleased to report we had a better night last night! 5th night, 3rd in laundry, no radio or light, a luke warm water bottle wih a clock a cover and wrapped in my husband's shirt and a treat and a chew. However I think what did the trick was that when I zipped him up, I sat there for 10 or so minutes only saying shhh every now and again until he settled. He was a bit whimpery and wriggly still but nothing like earlier. I gradually eased myself out (leaving my stinky ugg boots at the door lol) and closed the door and went to bed. He may have started crying but I didn't hear it. Husband got up to toilet him at 1am and he wasn't crying and didnt pee but wad very upset at being put back in. I got up at 4am and he wasn't crying, did pee after 5 mins, cried at being put back til I gave him a treat and snuck out. He was however crying at 6.30 when we got up and I don't know how long that had been going on. Vast improvement however! Yay!