Enough Is Enough

[dandybrush]

i have nothing to help here i think you are doing all the right things (i failed at crate training mine) one thing i have learned is you have to out persist your dog, they normally get worse before they get better, he is only doing it to get out so he has to learn that the longer he whinges the longer he stays in there (like i said i think you are doing all the right things)

i only started crating mine at about 1 year and I had the patience to out persist...but my OH didnt, so we failed, however he gets his timeouts in his crate and gets fed in his crate and can now stay in there for 10 mins with absolutely no whingeing, maybe longer thats untried another thing i did was when he was a baby i would make sure to lock him outside for maybe half an hour a day while i was home so he learned quickly that i can be home and he doesnt have to be with me i never let him in when he whinged and now i can lock him out no fuss. also he has no separation anxiety, i always give him something when i leave home and he basically jumps around the house with excitement for the treat till i give it and go haha

Edited June 17, 2010 by dandybrush

[Nushie]

The protocol for teaching him to accept you moving around is a great place to start IMO. Here's a copy of Karen Overall's protocol on this, which is really good if you want some easy directions to follow. http://home.gci.net/~divs/behavior/bemod_depart.html

Thanks Corvus. What Karen's steps are seem like exactly what i am going to try at home, except with him in his pen.

[mrs tornsocks]

Have you tried something like a Smacko's Chomp N Chew when you leave - they last for ages and it could very deter his whining when you leave?

I wouldn't be leaving a 12 wko alone with something like this.

No? Ok, I've used them with success

I am pretty sure they're not suitable for pups under 6 months, but you could check the packet.

[schnauzer]

None of these things may help but this is what helped out dog (adult dog btw)

I stopped her from following my endlessly, by shutting doors for a few seconds behind me and then opening them again. I would walk in and out of rooms shutting and opening doors so that she was cut off from me, just for a few seconds at first and then longer. I found this easier then walking in and out of my front door. of course if he is not stuck to you like glue, then it might not help

We shut her in the bathroom while out. We tried shutting her in the room for dinner etc but she never stopped crying. We found out through frustration that if we left she stopped. She will still cry if we are tarty leaving the house, but stops once she hears the car. We have been trying to work her up to having the whole house, but I think she has a hard time with the fact that sometimes when we go out the front door we take her with us, and sometimes not.

We prepare her morning meal (a bone or a kong) and give it to her as we are leaving. Basically we say right we are going, pick up her food, walk down to the bathroom but the food down shut the door , turn off the lights in the house, walk out the door, lock it and get into the car and drive away.

Yuki has moved from trying to squish herself into the floor, sqealing when picked up ( that was hard to handle, I felt so mean) and total resistance to going into the bathroom, to bolting full speed into the bathroom in the morning.

I know your littly is to young yet, but dog training got her from sometimes crying when we leave, to never crying when we leave so confidence can be a factor, you never know, when you can take him out the door a bit he might not be so worried about you when you go out the door alone, cause he knows outside is fun and safe and you will be ok.

Do you lock your dog in the bathroom all day whilst at work?

[angelsophie]

we use puppy pens and are back to getting Jazz our new baby loving hers the same way our toby does. We make it a game I close the pen and place safe treats and dry kibble under the bedding (we use the old cot sheets ect so there are layers) they also have a pp style hard crate without the door in their pens. so place a treat on it. Little bits of soft puppy liver treats ect a kong a few bits of kibble in the treat ball just had to "hide" them for the challenge as well as some easy ones!. Toby would salivate at the gate until popped him in before leaving. Now as I do this to Jazz' pen he puts himself in his pen waiting for the game to start LOL He used to be sooooo busy looking and scrounging for his treats he completely ignored me leaving. We phased it out with less and less treats after he was used to it. Might be worth a shot.

[Aziah]

Have you tried something like a Smacko's Chomp N Chew when you leave - they last for ages and it could very deter his whining when you leave?

I wouldn't be leaving a 12 wko alone with something like this.

No? Ok, I've used them with success

I am pretty sure they're not suitable for pups under 6 months, but you could check the packet.

s I said, I've fed them without issue

[mrs tornsocks]

Have you tried something like a Smacko's Chomp N Chew when you leave - they last for ages and it could very deter his whining when you leave?

I wouldn't be leaving a 12 wko alone with something like this.

No? Ok, I've used them with success

I am pretty sure they're not suitable for pups under 6 months, but you could check the packet.

s I said, I've fed them without issue

Understand, totally each to their own about what's fed to a dog and what suits the dog - and what's left alone with a puppy.

If this is the same product, personally I would err on the side of caution by adhering to the manufacturer's recommendation.

[all that glitters]

My shepherd took months to stop crying entirely when we left her, and I mean months! She would cry for ages in the first 5 weeks, but then it was about 5-10 minutes of whining and crying for months after that, and even though it wasn't much, it broke my heart and wrecked my days at work worrying about her! She was kept inside with a dog door but would run outside and bark bark bark. I started keeping her in the whole house only and suddenly the whining and carrying on stopped - so she stays indoors now when we are out and is 100% fine and displays no fear when we leave now. I can relax more too knowing she isn't barking and annoying neighbors or digging/escaping, she is safe in our house with a million toys, a radio on, 4 couches, 3 beds and a rabbit for company in his hutch. Different dogs like different things -- some won't be comfortable inside, it depends on the dog. My girl is an angel indoors and because she spends most of her time inside with us, when we leave she is happy to stay inside without us (in familiar surroundings). She hardly goes outside anyway even with her door open.

I found routine helps HEAPS.. I pick up my bag and place it near the front door, she knows that's a sign I'm going. Then I say "want breakfast?" and she runs into the kitchen and I put her round bed down and she jumps on it and sit on it (I used to ask her to do this to get her food) and I put the radio on. She gets her food and doesn't even look at me leaving.

I think a lot of it is just them maturing too and getting confidence in themselves. My girl is only 15 mths old.

Your dog will be fine in no time and You'll be looking back the same way a lot of us are

Food/yummy treats is good too -- they are so busy eating they don't freak over you leaving

[Elsha_UK_AU]

My 2 still make a noise and scratch at the door when we leave. They are in our laundry and back hall way (with all bedroom doors closed) so they have a decent run. They have 2 beds (trampoline) and soft squishy one, 2 water bowls, puppy pads and lots of toys which are rotated regularly. Our older boy is just as bad as the 20 week old....although they know our routine. In the mornings they come up onto our bed after their morning trip outside. We all snuggle together whilst hubby and I drink coffee. The boys then snooze on the bed with our fan heater on whilst we shower and get dressed. Once we are showered, they normally run in and out of the garden and the 20 week old gets breakfast. At 7.30 when we leave, we prepare their treats (normally a few scoobie snacks) as that is like crack to them - they LOVE them

I take them through to the laundry where their tramp bed is and they both leap on it and sit, waiting for their scoobie snacks. I give them a pat, give them their treats and leave, shuttig the divider into the lounge. We then leave immediately.

This morning they were particularly vocal and whining/yelping like they were being murdered. I got my hubby to back his car out, shut the garage door and turn off his engine so they thought we had gone. I am not kidding you, the minute the engine stopped they shut up! The alarm stopped beeping inside and all went quiet.

Do you have a laundry area you can put your little fella? What treats are you leaving him with? Have you built a routine up of him associating you leaving with getting a treat... (sometimes my 2 have disappeared and are waiting on their bed sitting down before I have even got the treat out of the cupboard) Where does he sleep at night? Are you spending much time with him in the morning? Ours sleep in our bedroom and so from my alarm time (5.30) to when we leave at 7.30, they are with us the whole time.

Good Luck....it is not easy and it breaks your heart when they cry.

Susan

Edited June 19, 2010 by Elsha_UK_AU

[Nushie]

Just a quick update. We spent the weekend working on some training in the pen. She has his little cries but they seem to be shorter now. And on Sunday morning after i gave him his breakfast he was quiet for 10 minutes before i let him out. We put him in for short periods on and off over the course of the day and if he wasnt chewing on his toys he just lay there (not in his bed mind you) and watched what was going on.

This morning i didnt change anything other then last night i really stuffed his kong so that it was firm before freezing. Didnt hear a peep out of him until i actually went to the door to leave and even then it was a whimper and then nothing.

Havent spoken to my OH to see how he was after i left. Guess that will be the test, see if he cries after the door is closed.

Thanks for all the help guys. We will try and stay on this and hopefully in a few weeks we will have a calmer puppy when i leave in the mornings.

Also on the plus side, we can start walking in the mornings. Only took him onto the footpath out the front this morning as it was raining and he didnt seem keen to get his daintly little paws wet. So we had a sniff around and then played and did a little training.

[persephone]

Good to read of some progress

[MolassesLass]

Good work

[Nushie]

We are really happy with how he is going. We only went to 10minutes max with him over the weekend. Didnt want to rush it as he would start getting restless if we left it much longer so we will sit with that until it looks like he is really settled and then we will push it a little more.

He is such a good boy

[Nushie]

I think i jinxed myself. This morning we had a few temper tantrums. Still nothing that like it was before, but i knew it was too good to be true

Oh well, it was always going to be a slow process. Still any improvement is better than none.

[all that glitters]

Thanks for the update He'll be good as gold in time, I think a lot of it comes with maturity and confidence, some dogs take longer than others to adjust to something (ie being alone) my girl literally took MONTHS. But we got there in the end Patience is the key, and keeping everything low key and calm.. come and go without excitement, don't greet or even look at the dog til it has calmed down when you get home etc.. all this makes the dog think "oh ok, mums not anxious about me being alone, maybe I don't have to"