[Paintsmeblue]

I was hoping that this too would be out grown by this point. But should either Anthony or I leave the room and Napa can't come follow us, he will sit at the doorway and whine or bark. For example, Anthony just left (about 5 mins ago). Napa is walking around whining and crying, and sounding pretty pathetic. And when we leave him in his crate, he barks and cries for a while. Also, if we walk away from him when we leave him in the x-pen we got him, he cries as well. I was trying to give him treats when he was silent in the x-pen, and it was slightly working. But I'm not sure what exactly to do when we're not home. He's fine in the crate at night, and usually if we don't put him in it he'll eventually make his way over to the crate on his own.

Should I just keep giving him treats when he's silent in the x-pen? Should Anthony and I leave towels with our scent on it with him so he's not so lonely? Or should I get him a snuggle puppy? He seems to just want to know someone's there with him- for what I can see. Except when someone leaves. I know some sadness is usual, but Striker doesn't do this, and I think Napa's reaction is a tad extreme.

Thanks!
Kristen

 

[lmtoth2]

Well let me just tell you that Dexter STILL cries when one of us leaves (he even cries if Kirby goes out w/o him...haha)! He'll get over it after a few minutes. I would make leaving no big deal and not comfort him when he cries/barks - otherwise I've heard you're just reinforcing his crying. I know it's hard esp when they're so little and cute

Is Napa doing things destructive when you leave, or just crying? If it's just crying/barking I think you have to just let him learn that it won't get him any attention by doing so...trust me...easier said than done

 

[annieG]

I don't think it is unusual for Napa to want to be near you. As some of the others have suggested, you can tether him to you.

When we first got Tanner and before he had run of the house, either my husband or I was always with him when we were home. Tim would stay with him when I would take a bath or cook dinner and then we were trade off. We only left him alone when we went to work and it was always after a good hard play time, walk or what ever was age appropriate. We then left either the TV or radio on low for him, gave him a kong with treats in it and one of his toys.

Even now, Tannner will follow us and hang with us where ever we are in the house. When we are in two different rooms, he tries to share himself with both of us.

:wink: :wink:

 

[Paintsmeblue]

Napa isn't destructive. But I don't think he plays with or chews anything we leave with him when we're gone. We bought a classical piano cd and play that when we're gone. So, I should just ignore him when he cries? I usually do, or when Anthony leaves, I try to distract him with playing with him, or showering him with attention- when he's not crying.

I just fear that we're annoying the neighbors with his barking. But I guess there really isn't much we can do until he learns that it won't get what he wants. But we're going to a family party tomorrow, and we're bringing Napa. We're bringing the x-pen so we don't have to watch him/ walk him the whole time we're there and so that he's got a safe spot to go. But I know he's going to cry if we walk away from him. Oh well, he's a growing puppy.

 

[MaxandMe]

Kristen both little kids and puppies cry at first when left alone or confined.
It is so normal, if you've walked, fed, held, played with them etc then a little down time is okay. Also you need a break sometimes to rest a bit.

Max howled like he was being killed if we put him in his crate so one day i stayed outside by my truck to see how long it lasted. he stopped within 15inutes. If we were in the house OMG blood curling hahaha but he learned after a while if he quieted down he came out soon thereafter.

Also Peanut climbed out her xpen the 3rd day we had her and was 9 weeks old. I crate trained her and it took only a day of a little crying/whining for a short while. when she quieted down we took her out.

Puppies also need to sleep/nap alot at first but some won't till they drop hahhaaa and when we left the house we didn't make a fuss and same when we came home.
We'd wait a few minutes then take Max and Peanut out.

I think bringing an xpen is a good idea or keep Napa tethered to you which is what we did so Max didnt' get worn out by everyone wanting to pick him up,
rather they had to pet him which also made max/peanut sit calmly.

what works for me may not work for you

 

[emilee]

kumo had similar behavior when he was a little puppy, and even now at around 20 months when one of us goes out alone he gets a bit agitated and runs to the window to watch until they're out of sight.

we live in a 2nd floor condo and share a wall with one of our neighbors, so when we first got kumo we were definitely worried about whether he would bark when left alone. we did two things to try to keep him from learning this bad habit.

the first was to put him in the crate and then pretend to go out, including opening and closing the front door (or, my fiance would go out and i would stay home). we'd be really quiet and pretend not to be home. the instant kumo started whining or barking, i'd burst into the room making our "correction" sound, which is essentially a gutteral "no!".

the other thing we did was to never ever ever let him out of the crate when he was whining or barking. so, we'd put him in the crate in the bedroom and then go watch tv or something in the living room. we then ignored him until he was quiet, at which point he got "rewarded" by rejoining us.

to figure out whether he was actually barking when we weren't home, we bought a small tape recorder, and turned it on before leaving. when we first started doing this, kumo would sometimes bark for up to 10-15 minutes right after we left. but this quickly dropped to just a couple of minutes, and by the time he was about 6 months old the only noises being recorded were him shifting around in his crate.

kumo also doesn't really play with his toys or chew on anything when we're out and he's in his crate. he really doesn't like to be away from us. but we were successfully able to teach him that barking was not going to get him the result he wanted.

-em

 

[River Rat]

That's odd; I've noticed that Chouette doesn't seem to eat whatever treats I put in the crate for her, either. We just left her for a few hours while we went to an annual shore and wildlife festival, and after we released her upon our return, she went into the crate, got the bone filled with biscuit and peanut butter, and is now gnawing on it. But she hadn't seemed to have touched it earlier. Wonder why that is!

The last few times we've put her in the crate I haven't heard the usual indignant bark as we got in the car. Maybe she's getting more used to it?

Leslie

 

[Shelbys]

Coco does similar things when no one's home; usually we leave her in her crate, but sometimes I let her stay in the closet (she likes it in there for some reason, my guess is since its a family closet, its got the scent of everyone in the house in there). She barks and whines for maybe 5 minutes, but after that, it starts to die down.

When I am home though, she follows me around everywhere I go. It's fun, but it can be a little hazardous to have a clumsy doodle at your feet, as my back has discovered a few too many times :roll: :roll: . I'm not an expert, but my guess is she'll eventually grow out of it, so will yours

 

[millcaro]

I'm having trouble with this, too. Milo is almost 10 months old now and cry-barks when left alone in his crate, but only sometimes. The funny thing is that he settles down fine when I leave at a time when I'm gone daily (from 3'-6'), but when left alone when he doesn't expect it (e.g. when I go to the gym to lift weights after our morning runs), I come home to his howls.

I'm going to try sitting in the hallway after I "leave" in the mornings as practice. Good tip!

These dogs are such companions that it almost seems to their detriment sometimes. Last night, e.g., I couldn't sleep and went to the living room to read at 1am. The sleepy pup dragged himself from his bed at the foot of mine and trudged into the living room and flopped down next to me to sleep there. Poor guy

 

[blueteal]

ignore, ignore, ignore.
Distract, distract, distract.

Absolutely agree with Vanessa, this is the way to handle it :wink: :wink:

 

[Paintsmeblue]

Napa has gotten better, I think. Although, he is quite attached to Anthony- mostly because he's home more- and so he sounds like a dying dog sometimes when Anthony leaves. But, I definitely think its getting better.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Paintsmeblue]

That's a really good idea. However, there's only one door to our apartment.... but I wish there were more!!! That really sounds like a good idea!

 

[annabelles mom]

wonderful advise ! It is so hard to walk away when they are whining, barking, crying etc, but unless you plan on being velcroed to your pup 24/7, it is a must.

Still breaks my heart when I go out and Annabelle gives me that "you are leaving without me look" but, I know she's ok and that she knows I'm coming back - most of the time when we get home she comes sauntering down the stairs stretching and yawning

 

[Paintsmeblue]

That's a really good idea. However, there's only one door to our apartment.... but I wish there were more!!! That really sounds like a good idea!

you have other doors within your home too....you can start by separating yourselves from Napa through room closures---a door is still a door. :wink:

Great idea. Thanks! We'll start working on that right away.