Hello all! I am the 14 yellow lab owner who did everything wrong in the beginning and am in the process of “fixing” it. I didn’t try crate training right away, let my girl sleep with me, cuddle/nap on the couch and now have the sweetest, but most attached velcro puppy ever. Crate training has been difficult, but I am currently working with a professional on that. I know crate training will help her to become more independent, but I’m wondering if there are other tricks or methods that I can use WHILE crate training that might help her to be more confident and OK with me not being in her line of site at all times? This is what I’ve been doing so far: 1. Moving around constantly hoping she’d get tired of following me around (which she doesn’t seem to...) 2. I’m not allowing her to be on the couch with me anymore and trying to not have too much contact....soooopo hard to do 3. In efforts to fix the sleeping with me habit, I purchased a snuggle puppy (with the heart) and have been sleeping on the couch, and she’s actually been sleeping on HER bed on the floor next to the couch. Not in the crate...but being able to get her off couch has been a big accomplishment. Hoping to eventually get back to my bed with her in the crate or bed next to me on the floor. I think the crate training is going to take a while...just wondering if there is ANYTHING else I can be doing in conjunction with it to speed up the process???
