[PersistantPuppy]

Hi, this is Molly's mum (again, lol)

Molly is now 11 weeks old, and the best little puppy (Border Terrier) in the world. Naturally....!

So, we have this little situation which I need to understand better. Molly is quiet at night, she sleeps in the living room with the crate door open and is free to play or whatever while we sleep in the bedroom. She is quite happy at being left alone if we are in other rooms (even if we are quiet). She does have an issue when we leave tho...like, we leave the house.

Now I have done all the leadership behaviour techniques (Eating before her, pretending to eat out of her bowl, making her wait for a minute before feeding her, always leaving a room first, training her etc, and her behaviour indicates that she accepts us both as her alpha parents. But she howls when we leave the house. I'm just wondering if this IS separation anxiety, and what I can do to solve it, or is it simply lonely-ness? The bad weather has made me spend an awful lot of time with her indoors, and although once she is outside, she loves it, but getting her out the door is hard.

If anyone could help me understand whats going through her puppy head, I would be grateful. I thought separation anxiety only happened in older dogs?

Thanks muchly

[lange]

I don't think I would classify it as SA unless it's very distressing to her. She will cry when you leave because she wants to go with you & most especially because she is a puppy. They always want to go with us. They just have to manage. Any idea if your dog calms down later? How do you (and Molly) act once you get home?

One of my dogs sometimes whines or cries when I'm leaving. But I'm pretty sure she settles down after a bit. She does sleep & relax, I can tell because when I get back she is very laid back or looking like she just woke up.

I usually put a treat in her crate with her right before I;m out the door in the hopes that she won't ever feel the crate is a bad thing for her. I'm in a pretty similar situation like you. She's used to me being around but that won't always be the case. My other dog doesn't mind when we leave. :P

[PersistantPuppy]

Hello Thanks for the reply.

When we leave (and its never for long, since the weather is so bad - its about an hour max, at a time, maybe a couple of times a day) we tend to ignore her when we are putting on jackets and switching off stuff, or shutting the doors. Neither of us speaks to her or makes a fuss - we just get ready and leave. I guess she can see us doing this, but I don't intend to get in the habit of sneaking about. Like you say, she will have to deal with it. When we return, we ignore her again - but this is hard, because she is usually hugging the front door and under our feet in a glorious bum wiggly peeing bundle of fur that we have to avoid standing on, LOL! However we give her a few minutes to calm down, then we fuss over her a bit. (Usually because she hasn't destroyed the place, and used her puppy pads properly.....I mean, how can THAT go without praise, hehehe)

The reason we know she howls is because we hear her as we approach the house, and come up the stairs to our flat (apartment).

I could use your trick and leave her a treat before we go out, or fill her puppy Kong with stuff.

I hope it passes, and when the weather gets better, then of course she will come with us. Its minus 8 on a good day here, so its far too cold to let her outside for long. Bless her.

Thanks for your response - I feel a bit better now

[lange]

I am impressed that she can be trusted to be left out on her own so young! Lucky you!! She should go through a chewing stage so just be aware, for the future, if she starts getting into something that's off limits.

Since you don't crate, does she have a nice little den-like place to go to? If not, that very well may help her anxiety of being alone by helping her feel safe. Dogs love having somewhere covered to go to. If you haven't bought anything yet, I would suggest a plastic crate. That way you can use it in the future IF you need to without investing in 2 "dens".

Aside from that it sounds like everything you're doing is great! If she is crying for an hour straight she is distressed BUT she is very young & will hopefully get used to it with time & the den you give her.

If she's still having issues after that, I would try really tiring her out so that she might sleep when you leave. And definitely leaving fun toys & yummy treats that she only gets when you are gone. If after that she is still crying for an hour straight...I would crate her. LOL It may help! But hopefully just providing the open den will do.

[OreoCookieMom]

I think it sounds like typical puppy behavior. Even kids do the same thing with babysitters. I remember years ago babysitting a little girl that would cry when her parents were leaving, but as soon as they were gone and out of ear shot, she was fine. Your puppy is probably doing the same thing.

I also have an adult dog that whines and barks to come in, when we are home. But it's because she knows we're there and she wants to be with us. She is home in the backyard all day by herself while we work, and according to my neighbors they never hear a peep out of her.

As for her barking and whining when you are coming home, dogs can sense (or maybe hear) when you're close. My dog can hear my husband's car coming a block away!