Hello all! First time poster but I've been reading a lot lately. So we rescued a 14 week old black lab from a terrible situation last week. She was in a very dirty home, had not been vaccinated, and was being neglected. The owner lied to us and told us she had been vaccinated, but when we took her to our vet he came clean. She had fleas and two different types of worms. We now have her taken care of for the worms and fleas and have an appointment setup to vaccinate. In the mean time we've been doing our best to train her. She's a very sweet girl and extremely smart, but she's got a pretty bad case of separation anxiety. She's very attached to me. So much so that if I leave the room for a few seconds she freaks out. When I get up to feed baby at night, she whines loudly even with my wife still in bed. We've tried all the suggestions for easing her anxiety (leaving the room for a few minutes and coming back). But nothing works. Is this typical for lab pups or has she been bounced around too much and we've got deeper issues?
Hello and welcome to the forum. At 14 weeks, she's still just a baby and so wanting to be with her "family" (which is now you) is perfectly normal. I got one of my pups at 8 weeks and the other at 14 weeks (even though they're litter mates - it's a long story). The one that came to us at 14 weeks was probably worse than the other one. Although, it might have just seemed like that, because I'd started working on separation with the other one immediately. Anyhow, a few minutes is too long to leave her to start with. It really needs to be a couple of seconds! It's a pretty slow process, but if you keep going with this, she'll get the idea in the end. Maybe have your wife doing some training or playing with her and you pop out of the room for a couple of seconds so she barely notices, and build up the time. Or give her a kong or chew to eat - or even her dinner - and leave her while she's occupied with that. I found that helped quite a bit to get the pups used to being alone but while they had something to do. Well done for helping this little girl. It sounds like she really needed someone like you to come along. We'd love to se some pictures! What is her name?
Her name is Rosie. I've tried distractions while I leave. I fed her and then stepped into the bathroom and she completely ignored the food once I stepped out of sight. I'll keep working with her and hopefully she just needs time.
Bless her. Sounds like she might have been ignored previously hence is sticking close to you as you are showing her attention and affection. It will take a few weeks for her to settle and get into a routine with you. I would continue as Snowbunny has said as by doing it several times a day, every day, will get her used to it. It's similar to having a baby who wants to always be cuddled.
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