Puppy with seperation anxiety, possibly?? Options

[Tarrah]

Hello,

I am so glad there are forums like this for people like me! I have never had a dog, so this experience is a new one for me, even though I've had just about every other pet you can name - hamsters, turtles, cats, ducks, etc. But 2 weeks ago I got this puppy, now 8 weeks old, from my grandmother's dog who recently had a second litter. My mother calls the litter "Pachinies" - a mix of chihuahua, pit bull and weinie dog. He is absolutely adorable, and loves the bejesus out of me and my daughter.

But my issue is that I THINK he has seperation anxiety. We brought him home and gated him in the kitchen, and that's been his main place since. I let him out to the living room a few times unattended after he demonstrated good pad training, but that was a mistake. I now only let him out of the gated area on a leash, and try to time it immediately after a potty break. He has a bed that he uses and several toys to play with. The first night he was with us he woke up and whined and barked until I would go in the kitchen, sit with him, and wait for him to fall asleep again. This happened about every 1 1/2 hrs. I realize also that was a mistake, to give him the attention he was looking for, but we live in an apartment right now, and hubby is afraid of any disturbances. The puppy also does this whining and barking if I go in to play with him during the day, or in the kitchen at all really, and then leave the room or house. Whenever he gets around me, he is at my heels or in my lap, the closer the better for him. After reading several articles about puppies, I'm not quite sure if my theory is correct or not. Is it seperation anxiety, or just normal attention seeking barking? I see that the treatment is different for the two, so I'm conflicted as to how I should be handling this.

This is what I've been doing this week, for the last 4 days: During the day, I ignore as much as I can of the barking, and if it gets too loud or after 10 minutes or so, I'll make a loud noise or spray him with water, while saying "hush." He whines after this, retreats to his bed, and wimpers. Sometimes he'll start back up after I walk away, sometimes he just continues wimpering and then stops. When he's stopped, I'll give him a small treat when he's quiet, but most of the time he just rolls over for me to pet him, ignoring the treat. At night, he's almost down to just waking up once during the night, usually in the early morning (4-6 am). He still barks and whines though. I go into the hall but not past the gate. I reach over, pick him up, put him in his bed and say "hush." if he gets out and comes back to the gate, I repeat. If he gets loud or angry barking, I spray him with water and get the same result as above. Eventually with either method he stops. He does not get a treat during the nighttime, because I figure that would just give him energy to stay up and I'm trying to promote sleep. So after he stops barking, every night I've started to get further from the gate. If I'm not visible he'll start barking again, after which I'll take a step back so he can see me for a bit, repeat putting him in the bed, and then staying in sight, gradually walking away. Funny side note, I used this method to train my daughter to sleep in her own bed at night when she was a baby.

So I guess my question or dilemma is this - I'm not sure if what I'm doing is working, or will work, or how long it'll take?? I've kinda incorporated both treatments for anxiety barking AND attention barking. Should I just use one? Am I on a right track? Hubby has never had even so much as a goldfish, so his patience with animals is not so good. I'd like to rid him of this anxiety or attention need as quick as possible. I've read that it takes years in some cases, and I have to admit, I don't think even MY patience is THAT great. Any help is appreciated!!!

[JMM]

You took a pup use to littermates around all of the time and have put him in complete isolation. How would you expect him to react?
I would get a small dog crate and set it right next to your bed (on the nightstand even). This way he can see you and know you are there. You can even put a few fingers in the crate while he's falling asleep. Expect to get him up once or twice a night to potty at this age. You need to take him to the pee pad and give him a food reward and praise when he goes. Urinating and defecating is inherently rewarding to a dog. You have to make your preference MORE rewarding.

[Tarrah]

Yes, it was understood that he'd have some problems being seperated from his litter, but I never imagined it would be this severe. I've had friends that took puppies home this early and never had such a problem, that I know of. I don't expect him to frolic around happily on his own yet, but I wish he wouldn't act how he does when I'm not in his reach. He won't eat, play, or do much of anything when I'm in another room, he just barks and whines, and when he stops he goes to his bed and lies down, looking very pitiful until I come back in and play with him, and when I leave it starts all over again.

Hmm. The crating idea sounds good, I see the reasoning behind it, but at what point would I be able to wean him of me completely, when would he know I'm not leaving, just going to bed? And how is that done? It just seems regressive to me, because after crating him, he'll have to be gated again, and then we'll be back to where we are now, no? Sorry if this sounds ricidulous to you, but again, I've never had a dog so these things are new to me.

[JMM]

Dogs are social animals. Isolating a puppy is not productive. I'm not sure why your ultimate goal is to keep him isolated in the kitchen? Perhaps if you could explain this further that would help.

I always crate my pups in the bedroom at night. Logically, how else would I know when they need to go out to potty? I'd never hear them. This is essential to housetraining and learning how to hold their urine (vs. going anytime they feel like and never learning to hold it). After the first week I usually have the crate somewhere in the bedroom, but not necessarily right next to me. I just move it a little each day.

To teach a pup its good to be alone when you leave I start by prepping a space to be a calm, happy spot. I like the crate for this. I feed the pup in the crate, toss toys in it, toss treats in it, leave the dog in it with me hanging out, leave the dog in it with a tasty food treat while I walk in and out, etc. The smaller space feels den-like to the dog and can be reassuring. Once my pup is comfy in the crate, they tend to be more oblivious to me being there or not - they're busy with their stuffed kong of whatnot.

[Tarrah]

My ultimate goal is NOT to keep him isolated in ANY part of my home. My ultimate goal is to have my puppy feel conmfortable in HIS home, as he should, with or WITHOUT ME present. I do however, recognize that this in itself will take some time and training to do. I make sure to play with him multiple times throughout the day, and in the night he still persists. I see that your crate method is similar to what I've been doing, but probably more effective, since dogs apparently prefer a social environment, which I did not consider. This is very different from the independent world of cats and others I've dealt with. I will try going from backwards (the bedroom) to forwards (the front part of the house) with a kennel, and making a potty schedule for puppy to follow, since I do understand he needs to be on OUR schedule, and not his own when it comes to pottying. I certainly don't want him getting used to peeing when he wants, where he wants, because that just won't do.

Again though, what happens when I'm ready to release him from the crate? Should he, at that point, be able to potty on the pad and be free in the living/kitchen area on his own at night; or should I slowly introduce him back to the gated kitchen area??? Or am I just getting too far ahead of myself? LOL. don't be afraid to tell me so; I'm a very curious person, & like I've explained already, this is too new to me to get offeneded.

-Tarrah

[JMM]

You can certainly move the crate out of the room once he's on a more consistent potty schedule (ie he's old enough to hold it all night). Just move the crate a foot a day and eventually it'll be out of the room. While he's a babe, having him right there makes life much easier.

Freedom is something that must be given slowly. I recommend 3 weeks of perfect potty behavior before adding space. So lets say with 100% supervision he is perfect for 3 weeks. Now you can gate him in 1 room with you. 3 weeks perfect, add another space. And so on and so forth.

One other thing to consider is that puppies like to get into things. Yes the crate is ideal for potty training, but it is also for your pup's safety. You really don't want to be offering any area that is not 100% puppy proofed until you pup is old enough to be over the chewing and destruction. Some pups never do this...others will destroy something to chew well after a year of age. If your dog chews up something it shouldn't have, it can result in expensive surgery or even death. So this safety part is something to consider when thinking about giving unsupervised freedom.

I'll give you 2 examples.
Dog 1 potty trained quickly and never got into things. He had run of the house by about 7 months. This includes at night.
Dog 2 is 2 years old and is always crated when we're gone. He'd get into something without hesitation. Dog is gated in our room at night (just recently graduated from crating at night).

Dogs are very social animals. Wild dogs live in packs and typically live around human settlements. Our domesticated dogs are even more social beings. They thrive with human contact. You do have to teach them to be alone while recognizing they get plenty of interaction. Being isolated is very much against a dog's instinct. If you look on dogwise.com for a book called I'll Be Home Soon that book will help you out on teaching alone time is good.