Hi everyone Just wondered how people are getting on when they go out? We seem to have cracked the barking and whining at night time now, fingers crossed! Although, Bella is still in her crate with me in my room : she let me sleep for 7 hrs last night tho so if that's what it takes!! Lots of family coming tomorrow so it will be back in the kitchen in her crate from then on hopefully.... During the day however, if I have a shower she will whine and make some noises but they soon stop and also if I'm in the same room I just ignore her until she stops. Ive also been out a couple of times and always leave filled Kongs. I filmed her today and she was ok to begin with, playing with her Kongs, she has her crate open and a pen that corners off half of the kitchen, after a few more minutes of wandering around, in and out of her crate, she started to whine louder accompanied by some barks for good measure. This progressively got worse. And 15 mins in was quite loud. She also had a poo on the kitchen floor. Is this normal puppy reactions to being left and will it just phase out eventually or should I be starting to worry? She's 9.5 weeks now. On another note she's learnt plenty of tricks with clicker training but when my friend tried to get her to do them with her she wouldn't - is that usual? More proofing and familiarity with other people needed? I should also probably add that I'm the only one at home with her and we have become very close. Thanks ?
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! Im having the same problem with Izzy. I went out for 2 hours this morning and when i came back shed poo'd and rolled in it...lovely. Even when im in the house shes whines and barks in her cage and yet at night sleeps no probs.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! Does she sleep with you Wendy? It's hard isn't it , I wanted to film her just to see how she was but all that whining and barking is quite upsetting. I need to knock this on the head before I go back to work in 3 weeks as then she'll be left for 3-4 hrs before lunch then puppy sitter will visit for an hour and then again in The afternoon until I return, I don't want to be worried the whole time!!! :'(
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! I think you need to remember that she's only been away from her mum, brothers and sisters for a very short while and will be lonely and scared to be left alone. Try leaving her for just a couple of minutes at a time and slowly increasing it so she learns that you're coming back to her. Don't make too much of a fuss when you come in; give it a couple of minutes for her to settle down before you let her out of the crate. Mine learnt very early (after only a day or so) to be quiet before I'd let them out of the crate, by waiting for them to offer a sit before putting my hand out to open the door and removing my hand every time they stood, pawed at the door or made some noise.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! [quote author=CDM link=topic=9210.msg132128#msg132128 date=1419345465] Does she sleep with you Wendy? It's hard isn't it , I wanted to film her just to see how she was but all that whining and barking is quite upsetting. I need to knock this on the head before I go back to work in 3 weeks as then she'll be left for 3-4 hrs before lunch then puppy sitter will visit for an hour and then again in The afternoon until I return, I don't want to be worried the whole time!!! :'( [/quote] To be honest, that seems like far too long to be leaving a young puppy over the course of the day. I try not to leave mine (nearly 5 months) alone for more than four hours in total during the day, and that's a rarity. Luckily, I work from home, so it's easier for me, but is there any way you can put them into doggy day care rather than just having a sitter for an hour? They need lots of interaction and stimulation at this age.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! It is upsetting and i think ive gone cold turkey with Izzy too quickly, ill try what you are suggesting Fiona. Her cage is in the bedroom with us on a night, we are only in a little bungalow so im hoping to move her at some point into the "dogs" room. Shes very much a mummys girl as shes with me all day, and my other half moans she wont come to him, but if he doesnt put the time in she wont! I need to buy a clicker and start doing some serious training, especially recall, as we live among a lot of fields and i cant have her disappearing! Everyday is a learning curve, but the cuddles make it all worthwhile!
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! When Charlie was 10 weeks, I felt comfortable leaving him for up to 1.5 hours - but before then I'd left the house lots of times. At first for a minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes..... It's best to build it up really gradually. Leave radios on, and enough kongs to more than fill the whole time you are away at first. By the time Charlie was 5 months, he moved to his adult routine. I work full time, although not all year, and both OH and I have lots of flexibility so one of us can leave very late, and the other can get back very early and so on. My target is that he is never alone more than 5 hours in any 24 hour period and that 5 hours is broken up somehow. If he spends time alone during the day, he sleeps with a human. Typically, he'll be left with most of his daily food allowance in kongs and be alone for 2 hours. Then the dog walker will take him for a walk for 30 mins to an hour and leave him with more kongs and he'll be alone for another 2 hours. In an emergency, that routine will stretch to 7 hours, but absolutely not every day - max 2 days a week.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! Mine follow me around more than hubs, since I'm with them all day, but I make sure I get them excited when he's on his way in ("Where's Daddy??") so he gets a nice welcome. Unless they're asleep with fully bellies and then there's no moving them We're only in an apartment, so not massive, and the pups "live" in the living room, which is where their crate is. They're not allowed in the bedrooms. Willow (who was an only pup at the time) used to whine when I went into the bedroom and shut the door behind me, but she got over it quickly enough when she knew nothing would come of it. I'm normally only in there to change clothes or put away washing etc, so only a few minutes at a time. I love clicker training - this is my first go at it and I'm a convert, so I'd definitely recommend getting one ASAP. In the meantime, you can just use a keyword (such as "good" or "yes") in place of the click, but otherwise doing everything the same. I'd also recommend getting a whistle for recall - you can use it at mealtimes to get her to associate it with something amazing, which is what the breeder of our pups did and their whistle recall is fabulous.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! Yes I keep building it up, I'm sure it will improve. Like you say she is only 9.5 weeks. Ill be going back to work in 3 weeks and will have people in during the day and Fridays I work at home in the afternoon so she will only be left a couple of hours in the morning. The sitters take her to puppy parties at lunch time so am hoping that will tire her out during the afternoons. It's reality and people have to go out for a few hours a day / work but I think I'll try lots more Kongs frozen to try and keep her occupied longer.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! [quote author=CDM link=topic=9210.msg132161#msg132161 date=1419350173] It's reality and people have to go out for a few hours a day / work [/quote] Yes, it is, for sure. I work, and think that working people can have a happy, healthy dog. Some dogs are just fine to be left for really quite long periods of time. Others are not, and develop all sorts of behaviour problems if left for hours during the day - it is great you have someone taking her out at lunch though, that will definitely help. Keep an eye on it, if your girl is already having problems being on her own, she might be best off in a puppy creche or similar until she is older, before you expect her to be on her own all mornings and afternoons 4 days a week - that is a lot, particularly for a young puppy.
Re: Leaving puppy = hard work! Inca is now nearly 5 months old and very comfortable with being crated. We are staying with family over Christmas and we have been able to put her to bed every night without a whine and she will also stay quiet in the crate during the day if we need to leave her on her own. Our family are very impressed Inca used to complain when we first started crating her but for the first week we built her up over very short periods of time before being let out again. I think they quickly learn that you will come back and it also makes a difference if you try and tire them out before crating.
