Separation Anxiety

[Tammy]

I think I have created a monster.....will I ever be able to leave my pup alone? My puppy hates being alone! He can cry and bark for hours without giving up. Is this separation anxiety? I have had him for 3 months and he really hasn't had to be alone so I know it's my own fault. My job is part-time and I took off time when I got him. My daughter and son have also been home for the summer when I have had to go into the office. I am dreading school starting back. He currently goes to Doggie Daycare once or twice a week but it would be nice to be able to leave for 3-4 hours.
Any suggestions?

[Jenny and Cooper]

Hi Tammy, I leave the house when Cooper goes down for a nap. I'll wait a few minutes til he falls asleep before I leave. Turn the TV or radio on for background noise. My laundry room is right by the garage so I would turn the dryer on before I open the garage door so he won't notice. Lol. I still do that now, Cooper is almost 7 months old. When he wakes up and I'm not home yet, he just wait or go back to sleep. Try that, leave during your doodle's nap time :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

You need to start leaving him alone for brief periods so he has a chance to get used to it and knows that you will return to him.  You'll need to be very matter-of-fact.  I would exercise him first, then put him in his crate like you do at night, and just turn and leave.  Try not to come back inside when he is barking or crying....wait until he is quiet even for a minute and then come in.  Also show no emotion at all when you let him out of the crate.  You can build up your time away a little at a time.

[Tammy]

He does sleep in a crate (upstairs) at night but naps during the day downstairs. Should I try to get him used to taking naps in the crate or just gate an area downstairs and let him have more room?

[Jenny and Cooper]

I think it's fine gated. My Cooper also sleeps in crate only at night. He naps in a playpen area. Jane gave a good advice. Try a little at a time :) good luck!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I don't think it really matters....gated or crated should work.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Hi Tammy, If you got him when he was a couple of weeks old, then I believe he is still needs to be crated when you go out. Either, duplicate his crate and keep the second one downstairs for when you aren't at home, or put him in the upstairs crate when you need to leave. I bet doing so will make it easier for him to be alone, and will make it less stressful for you, as well.  

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

IN-HOUSE SEPARATION ANXITEY:  I have worked from home and been job searching from home since I got Teddy.  So maybe he's a bit spoiled because during most of the day/night he's around me.  No 12-hours at work with a Dog Walker stopping by for him.  He's had me pretty much 24/7 except when I go out to dinner/lunch or a sporting event.

However, I can't leave the room in my apartment that I am in without him following me.  Ditto going down to get the mail or even opening the sliding terrace doors -- he comes bounding !

It's really not a problem, but when he is resting in the Living Room and I go into the Bedroom to do laundry/clothes/clean or the Kitchen to snack or clean or Bathroom to shower, I never know why he feels the need to be RIGHT THERE with me.  I live in a small 1-BR apartment, not a spacious house.  I could understand if I left him on the 2nd floor to go down to the 1st floor in a house, but in my 1-BR, he is never more than 10-15 feet away from me.

He's just under 8-months old, does anybody think this is something he'll outgrow as he becomes older ?   

[EJ & Dante]

It's not likely he will "outgrow" it, but you can help him learn, if you want to.  Lots of mini separations, put him in his kennel or pen and don't let him out until he is quiet and calm when you return, and then completely ignore him (including no eye contact) after a separation until he has been calm for 5 minutes.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Like all our Doodles, Teddy is pretty smart.  When I would build his playpen and/or put on my jacket, he KNEW it meant I was leaving him alone in the apt. -- so he'd go "hide" in his travelling cage which is difficult for me to get him out of since it only has a front-opening.  LOL  If I couldn't put him in his pen, I couldn't leave.  LOL

He knew that meant I was leaving for a few hours, or a longer stay, in Dog Terms.

I say this because....when he is with me in the car, I will sometimes leave him while I get a coffee or sandwich or pump gas.  These stays in the car are NEVER more than 5-7 minutes.  Yet he barks more FEROCIOUSLY here than when I leave the apartment !!??  

Go figure !

He HAS to know that when I leave him in the car, it's shorter than when I leave him in the apt.  But apparently, he hasn't put it together.

Yet....

[Tammy]

Just thought I would update this discussion. Ollie did finally outgrow his separation anxiety. It just kind of happened
over the past summer. He mostly just lays by the door waiting for someone to get home but he doesn't freak out anymore.
Maybe it's just maturity?

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Sounds logical....Teddy does the same thing, waits by the door or in his travelling case a few feet away. He didn't like being in the playpen about 12 feet from the door; he'd escape, and then camp out near the door.

If I set up the playpen closer to the door instead of near the sliding glass doors to the terrace, he'd probably not have jumped his pens in the first place.