So my husband and I just got our chocolate lab "Sadie" this past friday night, and we introduced her the crate the next day throughout the day little by little (a little throughout the day i'll leave her in the crate for 10 minutes or so while I do what I need to do and she is fine), she is completely fine sleeping in there when I put her in there when she is napping or sleeping at night, she doesn't cry, only when she needs to relieve herself or hungry. She is a very sweet and loving puppy, loves to follow me throughout the house... today was the first time I left the house for only 45 minutes (quick grocery shopping), when I left she didn't do anything, she just laid down and chewed on her toys, when I came back she was completely crying at the top of her lungs! As I came through the door, she stopped, I didn't acknowledge her as I came in, and I went about nonchalantly putting away the groceries, when she saw me, she whimpered a little for my attention but I didn't give it to her just yet, as I sat down on the sofa she piped down and stayed calm. What can I do to not be so anxious when no one is home? I will say she is used to hearing noise throughout the day (I have music or netflix on my laptop I play as I roam around the apartment) and either the windows are open with light coming through or a lamp on... When I left everything was quiet (except for the AC) and dark to keep the room cool... should I next time leave a light on and maybe an AM/FM radio on to help her stay home by herself?
Re: Crate training Hello there! Welcome to the forum. 45 mins was probably a little long. Try just going out and locking up and stand in the street for 2 mins, then 5, then 10. And so on. If you leave her with a frozen kong she won't even miss you, and will soon learn you going means a treat and you are back before she knows it. She wouldn't have known you were coming back the first time. It's different from you being in the house (they can hear and smell you, even if you are upstairs etc). Worked for me, anyway! Best of luck with it!
Re: Crate training Hi and welcome It might be worth leaving a radio or TV on so it's not too strange for her if she's used to noise usually. I use kongs which can take quite a long time to demolish, especially if frozen this will help occupy her mind. It might be worth leaving the apartment for a few mins every now and then, building up the time slowly to get her used to you being out. I done this over a period of a week before I went back to work and slowly increased the time. Good luck Would love to see some photos when you get a min
Re: Crate training I agree with Ternaya and Julie! She is just a baby, build it up slowly. Bet you felt so guilty to come back to her crying They tug on your heart strings x
Re: Crate training Thank you so much for the advise!!! Ok I will try little by little leaving the apartment until she is used to it! Just having her less than a week and she is so smart and wonderful! I definitely do not want her having separation anxiety! So starting tomorrow, little by little i'll leave and come back in! Thanks again! once I know how to figure this forum out then i'll be able topost a photo... haha im trying to figure it out! Yes, when I heard her crying, i felt like a horrible human being!!!! haha! But I didn't want to run to her and scoop her in my arms though I wanted too, cos I thought if I do that, she will think her being alone was a bad thing, and I don't want her to learn that! It's been many many years since I had a puppy so i'm relearning.
Re: Crate training She sounds just lovely! I very much like the name Sadie. Yes, figuring out the photos takes a little time (see technical help) - but we love puppy photos! We can't get enough of them!
Re: Crate training You did exactly the right thing when you got back to find her crying - well done When you build up the time, don't just keep making it longer and longer. Kind of 'yo-yo' up and down, gradually increasing the average time, but always including some times that are less than the average.
Re: Crate training We had fairly major issues with leaving Penny in her crate when we first got her. I could only take a few days off work and as my OH and I both work full time (I came home in my lunch break) she had to get used to us leaving her pretty sheepish! She actually got used to being left during the day a lot quicker than at night. Here's the list of stuff we did for her (all at the same time) to help her settle: 1. Radio on classical music (studies proved it helps lower stress levels) 2. Clothing that smelled of us in her crate. 3. Ticking clock nearby to simulate heartbeat of litter mates. 4. Covered the crate so it was dark (this helped quite a bit actually). 5. Adaptil collar to help relieve any stress. 6. Rescue remedy also to help relieve any stress. 7. Frozen kong and toys in crate. 8. Large soft toy to snuggle up with. 9. Hot water bottle/puppy heat pad to simulate body heat of littermates. Gradually we phased everything out to the point where she is now more than happy to settle on her own with no fuss whilst we are out. The settling at night took a fair while longer.
