my lab is now 11 weeks and settling in fine apart from few hiccups..eg biting and when I leave I can hear him crying, when I come home few hours later he is asleep, do I just continue doing this in hope he will eventually stop?
A few hours is too long for an 11 week puppy. Up to an hour is fine, after that I would get help with puppy care. He is a social animal and needs people around to learn from. When you leave him leave a filled Kong, this should help him get over the initial separation. I always make the separation one minute at first and work up to an hour by the time the pup is six months old. .
thanks, yes I suppose it is, but its the initial separation that sets him off when I return he is fast asleep... I will buy a kong hopefully that works
The problems with separation anxiety could come anyway if you leave him too long. He may begin to anticipate long stays alone with your leaving. I strongly advise you don’t leave a pup for a long time, there will be many life lessons he’s missing out on at a crucial age. You can’t socialise a pup if you are not there. .
Have you thought of setting up a webcam? My concern would be that you say he’s asleep when you get home but he might have been crying for 3 hours prior to that?
I don't have webcam... am with him all night it only the day he has to be left for few hours here and there, he is happy and progressing every other way just the separation.
Hi Jacquelina, we are all with our dogs all night but during the day your puppy needs you, he is just a baby. He is obviously not happy being left because you said he cries. Separation needs to be built up very gradually or you may well be storing up separation anxiety problems in the future which will be much harder to sort out. Could you maybe have someone pop in to be with him when you are out, a friend or relative to play with him etc? x
I have to leave our Honey (12 weeks now) when taking the children to school and picking them up on my day off (15 to 20 minutes out). She does whimper a little but one day we'd forgotten a pack up, I was quiet at the door (5 mins after setting off) and listened before I went back in the house. She was quiet and quite content in her crate. Luckily next door neighbour is a dog person as well, she said it's only a minute of whimpering if that.. She sleeps in the kitchen and has got used to it over 2 weeks now, no fuss at all at bedtime!. Slept through 'till 6am yesterday.
he is on his own for 2 and half hours at the most but leaving him that's when he starts crying I don't know for how long but when I or my partner come home we look through the window and he is asleep, I just want him to be ok and if I could stay here all day I would
Or buy 5 or 10 of them. We bought one kong every month until we had ten. It's much less time consuming to mix 7-8dl of kibble with some hot water in a bowl and fill all ten in one go. We stick them in the freezer and it's two weeks before we have to refill. The boy is so excited to get his kong, that he doesn't even notice we have left.
These are for my two - red for the young one, purple for the senior one. The ones in beakers are newly done - fill with kibble, then fill with water, soak for a minute, then drain - simple. Keep in the freezer - there's always a kong ready to give - they have 3 each per day .
wow you guys ! this may sound a stupid question but do you give it to it frozen or let it defrost apologies in advance for dimness....
Yes. Sky tends to toss hers around to dislodge the kibble but Red licks hers (wet dog food) so it keeps her occupied for quite a while . They know when it’s ‘kong o’clock’
We also give it frozen. He starts by licking it. It lasts maybe 60-90 mins. Towards the end, he picks it up and drops it again, trying to dislodge any last pieces of food.
Mine are frozen too but it took a while for my pup, when she was tiny, to become accustomed to them, I think she found them too hard work frozen so she gave up on them until she was a bit older. If your pup struggles with them frozen you could try normal kibble until she's a wee bit older.
Wow @Atemas are those brand new Kongs? They are in fantastic condition. Harls is really hard on hers and we have discarded a few already because of the damage to them. She is super determined to get the insides out so she really chews them. But I am really impressed by how lovely yours are. And we only have the black kongs for Harls - for extreme chewers. And we don't consider her a destructive chewer.
