Separation Anxiety?

[Swetha & Elsa]

How do you train a puppy to stay calm when you're not around? 

Elsa starts whining nonstop and then gradually progresses to (sad) barking as soon as I leave the room. I cannot even go to use the restroom without her whining immediately.  I'm working from home since we brought her home but I do plan on going into the office slowly in a few months and get a dog walker to come in a couple of times during the day.

Elsa is 12 weeks old.  We have her in an open crate attached to an X pen.  I'm usually working next to her but outside of her pen.  She has lots of chew toys to play with and enough room to run around inside her X pen.  I exercise her 3 times a day for 10-15 minutes.

 

Please help!

 

Swetha

[Susan and Bentley]

I work from home as well.  Bentley did the same thing but grew out of it.   You also have to make sure you do go out sometimes and leave him alone.  Bentley knows now when he goes in the crate and I'm going out - he doesn't make a peep.  My trainer also told me, which we never did, to leave him in the crate in the room with you or where he can see you so he gets used to being around you but not on top of you.  We felt too bad and never did it though - lol.

[Rebecca bratter]

We had serious separation anxiety problems with Madiba as well, in fact she still hates being alone but part of the problem is I hate leaving her alone and she, as all doodles, are so smart, she picks up on my emotions and works them.  She absolutely hated her crate from the very start, she would whine and scream and put up a fit.  Madiba is my velcro dog, she must be wherever I am in the house but even Madiba, now almost 11 months, with time has learned to stay alone for up to 3 hours, she just goes to sleep on our bed, and when she is really tired, she will now take herself to bed and go into the bedroom and crawl up on our bed and sleep blissfully.  These are all new habits, it gets easier as they get older.  We make sure that Madiba has plenty of exercise and we know that after a good run, she needs a 2 hour nap and down time so we can leave her alone or she will just go off on her own in the house.  Trainers can give you all kind of tricks that will help but from the point of view of a person who is highly attached to their doodle and she is to me, leaving the dog on her own for short intervals and working up helps as does tiring them out, not showing too much separation anxiety yourself, which I unfortunately do, and then just the natural process of getting closer to a year, will help your pup mellow out a bit. 

[DonMarie and Picco]

When Picco was a pup he did the same. We kept him in his kennel but he would bark & cry as soon as I left the room. I bought a citronella spray collar which worked!  We no longer use the kennel because he non-destructive but will put the collar on him sometimes when we leave; we have excessive barkers nearby and he might join in sometimes. I don't always turn on the collar but just put it around his neck and he doesn't take the chance of getting sprayed. 

[catherine grose]

Hope this naturally works out for you Swetha, sounds like lots of us are in the same situation, especially if we work from home - and its hard knowing that leaving your dude could be good for them if done right. But how to do it right?!  Hector is 7.5 months and i'm hoping that we are naturally turning a corner with separation anxiety as he matures. He now sometimes slopes off to sleep on the door mat (cool draft?) or kitchen whereas before he had to be in the same room as me. His naps were always disrupted because if i moved room he would sense it and wake up and move too. I work from home and so the only time he gets left alone is in the car when i go to the grocery store. The duration varies but is generally in proportion to whatever exercise i give him first. When alone in the car he wont play or eat, he just goes into stasis. For the last two weeks i have been putting him in his cage after his morning walk and staying in the room with him, trying to build up a routine of cage time without separation. Second new tactic is that the other day i left him in the car with a store bought real bone (dried?). He ate it and barely noticed my return. Fingers crossed i can build on this.

[Swetha & Elsa]

Thank you all so much for your input.  I will definitely try to get her more exercise...that seems like a popular idea.  I guess I need to work on leaving her alone and to get her used to not having me around all the time. 

Catherine - I hear you!  That is exactly what happens to me!  If I move from my spot, she wakes up and follows me.   

Here's hoping that she will outgrow this phase. 

[Mindy White]

We're having some anxiety issues also.  I think the problem is partially because we're his third home and he's only seven months old.  He is slowly getting better, he will actually go out the dog door from the patio to the yard on his own now.  He hates the crate and barks like a crazy person when I leave for work, I make it a matter of fact routine in the morning.  Come on, Tango, go to bed.  Good boy.  See ya later.  Then I leave.  I feel bad for him but I know once I'm gone he calms down and sleeps or chews his hoof.  I think Rebecca is right, they do pick up on your emotions quite a bit : )