New Puppy Help!

[Amanda Joyce]

Hi everyone - I'd really appreciate some advice about my new small Goldendoodle puppy, Charlie. Charlie is 9 1/2 weeks old I've had him for a week.

So the difficulty - Charlie has tolerance for being alone. Even when I go to the bathroom and shut the door briefly, he becomes frantic and gets diarrhea, same goes if I have a shower (even though he can see me through the glass), or put him in his crate. I bought an exercise pen and put it in the living room but he climbs up the wires and I am concerned that he might injure himself. 

I have tried stuffing kongs, exercising him until he is tired, giving him all his food in his crate, but the moment I leave - he loses interest in food and toys. I have tried ignoring him, but cannot do this if he makes a mess of himself. 

I took him to the vet yesterday for his second set of shots and they checked for any physical reason for the diarrhea, but he is in very good health. The vet said that he thought Charlie had separation anxiety and recommended a trainer, but this trainer charges about $200 an hour

I would really appreciate any advice or suggestions! Thanks.

[Trevor]

We had the same problem in the first couple of weeks with our Sepp. He was in the crate a lot at first for potty training purposes and started barking and whining as soon as we left his sight and just would not stop. Same when we left the house. We were stressed out beyond words in the first few weeks. Here is what we learned:

1. These guys are babies. They are so young and it may take them several weeks to get used to being away from their pack of Mom and siblings. They will also need to learn that their new pack members (you) always come back after you leave. To learn this and to establish this trust will take time, but they will learn it. Practice this daily by leaving his sight for seconds at a time, then coming back, then leaving for a little longer, then coming back, repeat. We look back at this time and feel that we expected too much too soon. Being left alone is the hardest thing to learn for a pack animal like a dog and especially a young dog, so it will take time and patience.

2. According to our vet, a puppy of 9.5 weeks or even older does not have "separation anxiety" yet. This is a behavior issue that takes a while to develop. Our vet laughed when we asked her if our puppy had separation anxiety at 13 weeks. I don't think that the recommendation of your vet to work with an expensive trainer to tackle "separation anxiety" in a 9 week old puppy is helpful. However, you can work with your dog on your own.

3. Tire him out, no matter how much playing, wrestling, training, fetching it takes. It sounds like you are already doing this.

4. This will pass. We have been able to leave Sepp alone for 3 hours by the time he was 6 months (uncrated), and now he can be alone for 5-6 hours if necessary (even though we try to avoid leaving him for this time if we can avoid it).

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I think that this is great advice here.  The one thing I would ask tough is what are you putting in the kong and how much?  We always recommend that you don't change the food from the breeder for the first two weeks that they are home.   That is so that they don't develop diarrhea issues.  I would wonder if something in the Kong might not be doing this to him (if he is even eating it).   

[Ginny Nightingale]

That was my thought too--a puppy getting upset does not usually get diarrhea but might throw up--I am wondering if the vet did a fecal check--also the new food is very likely to be causing the issue--the pup may be getting upset because he has to go so frequently and with the issues he is having, he can not hold it. 

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

I'd really recommend Doggy Dan. Www.theonlinedogtrainer.com. It's about $30/mo but 3 day free trial. He is terrific - has many humane ways to establish people leadership/bonding with puppy! It really worked for me! The videos are great. Promise I have no vested interest. Just a cheaper way to help quickly. He's literally at your fingertips which I love...

[Jaime + Oliver]

I second the Doggy Dan recommendation. He has a whole series of "bringing the puppy home" and the first weeks of having a new puppy.  There is a section specifically devoted to puppy alone time and how to start working on it.  It's definitely worth checking out!

[Moe]

My puppy didn't have  diarrhea but she couldn't stand to be alone for even a second. She couldn't just be in the room with us, she had to be in our lap. Crate training was a disaster. I couldn't do it. I eventually just got out a cloth pocketbook and carried her everywhere I went. Every day I would put her down, go out of sight for a few second in the beginning, then gradually increased the time. Ever time I left I'd give her a tiny treat if she held it together until I got back. It probably lasted a few weeks. She is 4 now and has no problems being on her own. Hang in there.

[Amanda Joyce]

Thank you everyone for your responses, it has really helped. I subscribed to Doggy Dan and spent the weekend watching videos; since putting some of the ideas in practise, Charlie has settled down somewhat. We have been doing short separations and he's only had diarrhea once... Just a note on that, the vet did test his stool but couldn't find anything wrong - I've been feeding him the same food the breeder used, I use it in his kongs and also as treats. I guess he was just settling in. Let's hope it continues!

[Robin and Libby Louise]

Good news!  It's so hard being a new puppy mom!