Pup Developing Separation Anxiety?

[Inka3095]

Hi :)

I have a 16 week old shiba inu puppy who is generally a very good pup with only the usual things to worry about (mouthing/biting/jumping up/pulling on lead) - all of these I believe are normal and can be corrected gently over time with consistent training etc.

However, she decided that from day 1 she will not be outside the house alone. As in, just will not tolerate it. Anyone familar with the noise a shiba is capable of producing will understand when I say she violently disagrees with it. We had to accept this for the sake of the very close neighbours and bought her an ex-pen for inside the house.

She now spends the time we're at work in her ex-pen with a potty pad, water, beds, chew toys etc. She shows no anxiety when we leave the house each morning. She lets us put her in her pen then stands on her bed and calmly watches as we leave. I have never heard her making a fuss when I arrive home each day either. However, when we are home and have to put her in there for one reason or another (like sleeping in the afternoon as I do shift work at the moment) she seems to know we're home and screams blue murder without a break for however long she's in there.

She also screams/shrikes for a good 15-20 minutes each night after being put in her crate for sleeps. Some nights about once a week she doesn't settle down at all and works herself up into a right state. We have tried to ignore all this behaviour and just hope that she'll learn in time, but it doesn't seem to be simply about getting attention now, it is true anxiety that seems to be motivating her to yell and scream (I can't describe the noises she makes... it's out of this world in both quality and volume).

Going out and saying 'NO!' will just be giving her attention surely? So we're just unsure how to combat it.... the graded leaving her alone thing would be ok if THAT were what was upsetting her, but for example, at night, she starts her tantrum as soon as the crate door shuts so we'd just be rewarding her noises? I'm no trainer but that's the gist of what I have read so far about this stuff...

oh, just to clarify, she doesn't hate or fear either her crate or ex-pen and will choose to go into either when she wants during the day. It's just the separation from us things (when we're home) that she objects to...

Thanks heaps for any advice :)

[mumof4girls]

Can you leave her out of the pen, is she a mischief maker lol, Would she sleep on the bed with you? Maybe give her a chew toy whilst on the bed ? Not familiar with the breed are they family dogs? Rogue is an Airedale and he wants to be with us 24/7, he loves his family especially when we are home :-)

Edited for missing letters lol

Edited October 15, 2012 by mumof4girls

[Inka3095]

Yeah she chews everything when unsupervised (carpet/furniture) and isn't reliably toilet trained either (despite our best efforts)

[persephone]

Inka..it sounds as though to be comfortable with this pup, you might need a few more 'tools' in your basket than you have . :)

if you are in melb... there are some DOLers who are professionals and could help you on a 1:1 basis- at home, where the problems are happening :)

Try contacting members cosmolo .and erny ..

Hope you get some assistance soon :)

[minimax]

Yeah she chews everything when unsupervised (carpet/furniture) and isn't reliably toilet trained either (despite our best efforts)

Don't stress on the toilet training, at 16 weeks you can't expect a reliable toilet trained pup!

[Inka3095]

Really???? Omg if that's true I'm so happy! I feel like I'm the most defective dog owner/trainer ever coz even such a simple concept of 'toilet is the grass!' I can't teach her

[Simply Grand]

Oh goodness, I wouldnt have said any of my three were reliably toilet trained until at least 6 months old (probably older ) I'm a lazy toilet trainer though so don't expect it to necessarily take that long, but definitely don't feel bad about her not having it down pat at 16 weeks :)

I agree with perse that it would be helpful to have a professional come and check out the situation so you can feel more confident about what is actually causing her behaviour and how best to calm her down.

[Inka3095]

Thanks guys :)

I'm taking her to her 2nd puppy class at the moment and was hoping that would help us a lot, but the trainer is 100% positive reinforcement, which, for this pup, I don't feel is necessarily going to work all the time. She responds well to 'AH AH' noises and learns we don't like that behaviour (licking/biting etc) so I think that's ok to do? We're not physically reprimanding her in any way, so I hope the voice negative reinforcement isn't going to traumatise her even at her tender age, lol.

If I could read her mind and know why she's doing some of the weird things she does then I'd be so happy! I'm planning on taking her to get some Erny love soon, so I might sort that out asap, thanks again

[Simply Grand]

I think punishment, within reason, definitely has its place in dog training. A verbal or mild physical correction shouldn't traumatise your pup :) I tend to think that around 16 weeks is when theit little brains start challenging us, not just going with classical conditioning, especially in such a headstrong breed. So you probably need to show her who's boss sometimes (without hurting her, as I'm sure you wouldn't).

Puppy school, Erny - *thumbs up!*

[persephone]

If I could read her mind and know why she's doing some of the weird things she does then I'd be so happy! I'm planning on taking her to get some Erny love soon, so I might sort that out asap, thanks again

..and that is such a good thought !Stick to that - it is what makes it possible to communicate to your dog what it is you want !!!

Understanding how your dog thinks, and how it(as a dog) responds to what's happening around it is a very much neglected part of dog ownership - so you are on the right track :) :)

You might enjoy this little ebook :) LINK HERE