Separation Anxiety

[Puppy Madness]

We've had our 3 month old puppy Stanton for about 3 weeks now, and his separation anxiety seems to have gotten worse over the last week.  He does follow us from room to room in general, and if he notices when we leave, he'll cry for probably 5-10 min we're guessing.

 

The only time he doesn't cry when we leave is when he's distracted with a peanut butter kong toy.  This would be fine, but the last couple of times we've gone out, he's somehow gotten over the baby gate into our living room area.  The first time, he managed to get on top of his kennel and jumped over the baby gate from there, so we moved the kennel.  Then the next time, he chewed one of the screws lose that holds the baby gate to the wall and squeezed through the gap between the wall and the baby gate.  There has only been some minor damage when he's gotten into the living room, but how can we stop him from trying to "escape"?  I'm not even sure why he's trying to get into the living room area as we're not there anyways and none of his toys are there either.  Is he just mad that we left him alone?

 

He's even started crying if we leave him on the balcony for longer than a few minutes go potty in his potty area.

[Jennifer and Luci]

Luci does a lot of the same, crying when I even leave the room.  I would crate him when you have to leave.  For safety, if nothing else.  Even with a gate, Luci is crated each time I leave.  She's gotten too smart about getting into things she shouldn't and has even figured out how to get on top of the kitchen table if given the chance.

[Jennifer Goaring]

How is he getting out of his kennel / crate?  I would imagine at 3 months old, you are crating him whenever you are not there with him, right?

 

I think it is all pretty normal... these doodles really like their people.  Even my 13 month old and 17 month old doodles cry when I leave them alone at times... like if they know I am upstairs trying to sleep (I work nights) and they have to stay down in their crates (too destructive to stay out!)

 

But when I leave the house, they do OK -- usually left with treats in their crates with them.  Sometimes I come back and they haven't touched the treats but clearly have been napping... then they happily greet me and then go get their treats to eat in front of me.  Silly doodles!

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

At 16 months old, Barley still cries outside my bathroom door when I'm out of sight. He doesn't need to be right next to me all the time, but he has to be able to see me. I think doodles really love and need their people.

I second what several other posters have said. If you are just using a gate, I would start putting your pup in his crate every time you leave. I think it would be better for his safety, especially since he sounds like a little Houdini. When I crated Barley, I would leave him with a soft toy to cuddle and a hard chew toy such as a filled Kong or a hollow bone filled with Velveeta. I also started leaving the CD player on with harp music to calm him down, as well as covering three sides of his crate. So, he definitely became less hysterical and I was happier.

[Aimee Santa Monica]

I would get him crate trained when you leave?  Till he gets used to you leaving, that way he is safe and you don't worry.  My 2 pups are 5 month old, and when we have to go somewhere for a few hours ( i hardly leave them) i have them on a leash, Ayla is connected to my barber chair near my couch ( it spins), where she likes to lay on her favorite spot. She goes there even when she is not leashed. Storm is potty trained and a mini, so we don't worry about him climbing up into things , but we still have him on leash to the diningroom table.  This has worked for me, while i am potty training Ayla .