Separation Anxiety?

[TheGreatDane]

Yes it is akin to the same thing. Puppies are baby dogs .. they chew on things they shouldn't, people can and do drive by and see them and steal them, they can and will dig out from under the fence (and those huge paws move a lot of dirt REALLY quickly .. one of my 3 dug a 2' deep x 2' wide hole in about 5 minutes the other day trying to catch a mole), other aggressive dogs can and will jump INTO your fence (unless it's over 6' high) and do damage to your puppy .. because a puppy doesn't know not to charge at them through the fence, and God forbid someone have left a gate either open or not latched properly and your puppy investigate, leave the yard and get run over or lost.

Don't say it can't happen because it can .. that's how people know to warn you about it .. because it's happened to people before.

Saying it can't or won't happen is just as ignorant as you thought it was for someone saying it could. You need to open your mind to some constructive critisism and not be so pig headed about things you obviously havent' given much consideration.

Pot, meet kettle, except in this case the Kettle is correct and you are sorely mistaken.

I have a 6 foot privacy fence so unless someone decides to come look over my fence they are not going to see him. I have given it plenty of consideration. I am completely capable of taking care of my dog and untill I ask for anyones opinion Im not going to give a shit just as much as the last time. Every dog is different and just because I don't have the same views as you doesn't mean I have to listen to you. I will do what works for me, my family, and my dog. You worry about you and your dogs.

[BigLittleSmall]

This in no way is anything like leaving a baby in a crib and you saying that is just ignorent. I love my dogs and everything but they will never be on the same level as my children. Have a nice day and get a life.

Yes it is akin to the same thing. Puppies are baby dogs .. they chew on things they shouldn't, people can and do drive by and see them and steal them, they can and will dig out from under the fence (and those huge paws move a lot of dirt REALLY quickly .. one of my 3 dug a 2' deep x 2' wide hole in about 5 minutes the other day trying to catch a mole), other aggressive dogs can and will jump INTO your fence (unless it's over 6' high) and do damage to your puppy .. because a puppy doesn't know not to charge at them through the fence, and God forbid someone have left a gate either open or not latched properly and your puppy investigate, leave the yard and get run over or lost.

Don't say it can't happen because it can .. that's how people know to warn you about it .. because it's happened to people before.

Saying it can't or won't happen is just as ignorant as you thought it was for someone saying it could. You need to open your mind to some constructive critisism and not be so pig headed about things you obviously havent' given much consideration.

Pot, meet kettle, except in this case the Kettle is correct and you are sorely mistaken.

[TheGreatDane]

You cannot leave an 11 week old puppy outside while you are gone. There are far too many things that can hurt or kill your puppy. Essentially you are leaving your baby in a crib because it pooped or peed! You cannot expect an 11 week old puppy to be 100% potty trained. Leaving a puppy outside by itself is plain irresponsible!!! If you want yard art, get a bird bath!

I'm sorry I don't recall asking for your opinion. I'm not gonna leave my dog in the crate for him to sh*t all over himself and everything else everytime I leave. He loves being out in the back yard and it is working out for us. Last time I checked there were not any bears or other creatures in my back yard to kill him and there is certainly not any hazards for him to kill himself with. He's not back there for long periods because someone is usually home with him. I don't put him back there because of him not being potty trained it's because he gets so stressed out he has diarea everywhere. This in no way is anything like leaving a baby in a crib and you saying that is just ignorent. I love my dogs and everything but they will never be on the same level as my children. Have a nice day and get a life.

[Quincy's Slave]

We've only crated him for 30 minutes maximum so it's not like he's had a bad experience with being in a crate for hours. Ideally I would like to get him used to 2-3 hours in his crate while were are working as right now, it's impossible to work with him. I'd like to know he's safe and not dismantling the furniture so I can concentrate on my job. He spends most of his day in our family room which is where my hubby works.

[wouldluv2haveadane]

How long is he being crated throughout the day? You mention you and your hubby both work. A pup that goes from a comfortable environment constantly surrounded by mom, littermates and people is going to be understandably stressed going into a crate alone for several hours a day. The need for social interraction and potty time is especially essential at this age. So much so I know breeders who will not sell a pup to someone who will keep it crated all day, for this very reason.

I'm not really sure how you are going to correct this, hopefully the people knowledgeable in training will know. To me it seems the pup is going to have to unlearn the fear of lengthy confinement by having it regularly taken out of the crate and played with during the day, to reverse the negative experience it has associated with crate confinement. JMO.

[jrturk]

Sorry, I didn't know the was a recurring thing when he's in the crate. Lola had explosive diarrhea once while we were gone, and she was understandably stressed and trying to escape her crate. It was from something she ate though, not stress-related.

[Quincy's Slave]

Normally I'm all about tough love, with dogs and skin kids.. But with te issue, I don't think that's the route to go..that sounds like sever anxiety. IMO.

Yeah, if it wasn't for that, we'd just let him work it out. We've given him lots of opportunity to get used to it. We're going to talk to our trainer on Saturday and hopefully she has some tips.

[Mohitto]

Normally I'm all about tough love, with dogs and skin kids.. But with te issue, I don't think that's the route to go..that sounds like sever anxiety. IMO.

[Quincy's Slave]

If we sit in the room with him, there's lots of howling and whining but no He has had diarrhea in as short as 10 minutes, the longest we've had him in was 30 minutes and we had no choice but to leave him as we both had appointments that he couldn't come to.

[Greenmagick]

How long is he in there before he gets diarrhea? Is it from the stress? If so, I dont think "tough love" is going to cut it in this case...it may be much more severe.

[Anna N' Hamish]

I think it may be dog dependant. I'm not sure if the breed has the issue more that others. Just lake every other thing with our danes...big dog = bigger issues.

In my case, our pup handles us being gone pretty well. At night she's crated and during the day she gets gated into our kitchen breakfast area if we're at work/school. She's of course happy to see us when we return, but she doesn't go nuts while we gone.

One thing we have seen is when she can't be with us when we are home. If I am in the front yard and she's in back and can see me, or when some family members are upstairs in the "dog free zone" she'll whine, groan, or bark a couple times to express her displeasure at being seperated. After saying her peace, she'll lay at the nearest entry point (stairs/fence gate) and wait to ambush us with loving when we return.

Hamish does this. He is absolutely fine when I leave for work during the day, he is also fine if he can't see me but if he can see me but doesn't have access to me, he will make his displeasure known before settling down to stare intently at me with disapproving eyes.

[LoveMyJax]

what happens if you close the door and sit right next to him? I'm sure he cries, but does he get the stomach issues?

[Quincy's Slave]

The crying we can handle, the diarrhea we can't and it happens every time If he was only crying, he'd still be sitting in there now but when he and then gets it all over himself, the crate, walls and floor we have to intervene.

[jrturk]

I think it sounds like you need to implement a little tough love. He's learning that if he has a "meltdown", he doesn't need to stay in his crate with the door closed. And if you're stressed out about the process, he's going to pick up on that and think it's the end of the world when you leave.

When Lola was younger, we put her in the crate a few minutes before leaving and ignored her completely. Then we ignored her again for a few minutes when we came home. We acted like our coming and going was nothing to worry about, and after a week or so she believed that too.

Of course it sucks to listen to a puppy meltdown and you feel bad for them, but it really will be better in the long run. They're like toddlers, you can't give in to every little temper tantrum.

[thisiscyndi]

Thanks everyone. We are still trying. We've done the slow boat method and can build him up to playing and eating etc in his crate. If we close the door and sit in the room, he loses it. Leaving the room is something else again! The biggest problem is after he has his little meltdown, we have to start all over again with the crate and getting him comfortable in it. He's not destructive at all so there's no problem with him ripping up things. Kongs are of no interest to him. I've tried applesauce, peanut butter, hot dogs, little cheese bits, squished liver and he just doesn't care. He's a bit lazy and doesn't like to work for things

We start puppy kindergarten on Saturday and we're going to talk to the trainer about putting him into 1/2 day daycare immediately and build him up from there. We need a break and he needs to learn we will come back!

We are having good success with his basic commands and that's exciting for us!

We did not go the slow route with Emma. She was 4 months old.

The first time we left her in the crate with a raw knuckle bone and went upstairs out of sight - she had a complete meltdown like she was being murdered for 40 minutes straight. When she was quiet for 1 minute I appeared and released her without any fuss.

The second time she threw a fit for 30 minutes.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th time were about 20 minutes.
Then it dropped to 10 minutes. Then nothing.

This was accomplished in 4 days total.
She now runs happily to her crate and doesnt make a sound whether we are there or not. She is almost 10 months old.