Puppy Separation Anxiety

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Kennady, Apr 5, 2020.

  1. Kennady

    Kennady Registered Users

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2020
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    1
    Hi, I have a 11 week old yellow girl who whines and barks (throws a little tantrum) when she can't see me. Even sometimes when my back is turned too long. Any advice would be helpful!

    Also, I always try to wait until she stops whining to come back to her (even if its just for a second). Is that a good way to approach it? I don't know if she associates whining with me returning because I do sometimes return when she stops whining for only one second. How long should I wait after a whine to return? I do not want to positively reinforce the whining!
     
  2. Christina2807

    Christina2807 Registered Users

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    389
    Hi Kennady,

    Luna was like this with me if she couldn't see me and would start attacking the door to get to me. What I done was let her follow me around so that she could see I was doing 'boring stuff' like housework and she would go lie down or play until I was done. This did take time to build up the trust between us but now she has learned that once the 'boring stuff' is done she gets some play time and my full attention.

    This will take daily training but will be worth it. At 11 weeks try using a stair gate or pen (of you have one). Sit on the floor next to it armed with quite high reward treats. Sit facing her so she can see you and ask her to sit, when sitting quiet give her a wee treat, do this a couple of times and make her wait for it a bit longer each time. Then turn yourself side on, don't look at her and ignore her until she sits quietly then praise with a treat. Again do this a few times until she is sitting for longer. Next step is sit with your back to her, ignore her until she is quiet (even if just for a second) turn around praise and then straight back to sitting with your back to her.

    Once she is able to sit (or play) quietly for a couple of minutes then try moving slightly further away 1-2 meters (make sure she can still see you) and start process again.
    When she has learned this you will then need to start so that she cant see you, this will take longer and if she is quiet for a second while she sits down then praise.

    Eventually she will learn that good things happens when she sits quietly and when she whines she gets nothing.

    Good luck!!
     

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