Hi all , I have practising leaving my pup from the day I had him but we just aren’t making that much progress . He barks when I go upstairs (behind stair gate ) and when I leave he’s fine (crated) but when he wakes up maybe an hour later he starts barking . How do I teach him to be ok with being alone , when I go upstairs and do I can go out for a few hours ? Do I take him out of the crate and try the training with gradual exposure … anyone who has had this issue would be glad to hear your solutions please
Try staying home while you confine him but where he can't see you. And then randomly walk in and reward for quiet/calm behavior. I did that for Sophie in her playpen and after a week or so, she stopped barking, jumping, etc. She was horrible. After 5 minutes of being in her playpen she would bark and whine for 30 minutes at a time. But I rewarded her CONSTANTLY for being quiet and the bad behavior stopped. Also, are you associated the crate with something really good? For example, I always give Sophie either a stuffed Kong or a treat jackpot upon entry and I never have had a problem with her. She loves being in her crate. You also might need to build him up to being in there (which I know is hard - who has the time for that and sometimes you just have to leave - for me it was rough, I'm a single dog parent. I HAD to leave to get groceries etc. so I didn't have a week to build up her time in the crate. Also try not to use the crate for time outs, I always used a different place tp put her in for time outs because I didn't want the association of punishment with her crate. Also, just an idea, I work from home so when Sophie was small, I had to confine her during the day because I teach classes on line. Purchase a playpen for her was the best thing I did. I even used it at night for sanity breaks when I just needed to confine her. I made it a fun hang out place, and I used it for things like keeping her confined while I was working, when I had to go outside to pick up poop or take out the trash, pull weeds, etc. I never left home while she was in it, but she did great and it was the thing that kept me sane. I felt guilty putting her in a crate for all that, but the playpen allowed her to walk around, play with toys, sleep, etc. She ended up loving it. I just got rid of it this month (she's 5.5 months) because she's so well trained now I don't need it! I use baby gates sometimes to confine her in a single room like the kitchen if I think she might get into trouble while I'm showering, eating dinner, etc. Hang in there, sometimes it's trial and error on different things!
