Getting him used to being alone

[catseyes]

This is the first dog i have had who cant be on his own, when he sleeps he takes himself off to the kitchen out of sight and is fine.

I have another dog who i still have to walk and im doing short 20 mins with her to minimise the time he is alone for, i leave him with stuffed food toys like kongs, treats burried in cardboard boxes etc but he ignores them in favour of stress barking.. today i came home to a crate full of pee and poo and a messy pup.

I have tried leaving him in the kitchen with a stair gate and the reaction is the same. I keep doing the getting ready, going out the door and coming back in over and over, using treats in his crate, food in there he will go in it no problem but once he notices im gone and hes shut in he barks until i get home.

Any advice would be helpful and appreciated, thank you.

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

He's still a baby, so as you know patience is required here. He'll get better.

When you leave, make it a non-issue. Don't make a big deal of leaving, etc. You need to get him comfortable with the crate, and with you being gone, so 2 sets of training. I think you've already gotten a lot of advice on crate training, so work on that when you aren't leaving. It sounds like you have a combo problem here as he's not completely comfortable being in the crate yet.

For leaving, you need to just keep slightly increasing the time you are gone. So, like you are doing, go out, and come right back. Slowly increase to a couple of minutes away, and just keep increasing. When you come back, ignore him for a bit. Don't make it a big deal.

Also, you might try making sure he's tired before you leave. Take him out for potty break and a good play time right before you go so he's more likely to rest while you are gone.

It will take time, but he'll get better!

 

[Jeannie]

Could he be getting hot? Try putting a fan blowing on him. The air movement and humming noise of the fan may comfort him. He is still a puppy so you have to be patient. Are you leaving him too long and he cannot hold it yet?

Get him tired, then put him in his crate.

 

[fall3n-ang3l]

Agree for tiring him out,there is no way I can leave bernie in the morning but after his walk and he's settled then I can leave (sometimes lol ) also what I did, when it was nap time,it was like a routine and always at the same time,so becouse his place was the kitchen I would lock him in the kitchen to sleep,I would sit on the sofa and watch telly or move about the house, once he was asleep I would sneak out the front door and leave the telly on,so he would think I was still sat on the sofa watching telly

 

[Jeannie]

Another thing. Never use the crate for punishment. Keep it a safe happy place for him to go to.

 

[catseyes]

Thank you everyone i have been doing the crate training he will go in there to sleep, he eats in there and runs in for treats, i can shut the door when he is eating but if he hears the lock he flips out.

I have been putting him in and going outside and coming back in but he barks the instant the lock goes on the crate. He is the same if shut in the kitchen.

Today i went out for 20 mins and left him and my other dog with the run of downstairs and he saw me leave but then went to sleep and didnt even get up to greet me when i got home so i dont think its separation just being enclosed, I am going to still work on the crate training as want him to be able to accept it as he will have to be crated at some point in his life.. vets etc.

Thank you so much to everyone, i feel so much better today knowing he was fine, no messes, no barking he was perfect.

Tomo i will leave him loose on his own whilst i walk my other dog but just do a 10 min walk and see if he settles on his own or if he goes back to barking without her around.

 

[Jeannie]

Is your crate enclosed or a wire crate. I would think a wire crate would not give me that enclosed feeling

 

[dgsumner]

MY dog did use to bark a bit when he was a pup when we were leaving, but your pup is very young and I think you have to give it a bit of time. Though mine was crate trained, be basically disliked being in the wire crate, no matter how many treats, he much rather lie spread out on the floor, after a year ( yes a year of crate training) I left the crate door open in the kitchen area where he slept at night . he would always sleep outside of the crate, and never had an accident or caused damage to anything, that's the way it has been for over a year. Now he has a bed - and has a bed time of 10:30 and sleeps on it until about 8:30am.

There are also a couple things you might consider - mine has an unrational fear of the dishwasher when it is on. He has no fear of the washing machine, the vacuume etc. Or the dishwasher when open - he gladly give the plates a prewash given the chance. Much as I try to treat him not to.

But he doesn't like it when the machine is on - it spooks him. The freezer also appears to produce a noise I cant hear be he seems very interested in, he goes and checks it every few hours.
Do you have anything that might make a noise, or comes on?

 

[dgsumner]

Oh I do leave the TV on - Wellington is big on CNN or the radio. I leave a few lights and I know after a few minutes he goes to sleep - I know this because I call myself on Skype before I leave and watched him when he was younger.

 

[catseyes]

Its a wire crate that we have, and he is the same if shut in the kitchen, our house is only small so the downstairs is the lounge diner and kitchen.

We always leave the tv on for him, theres nothing i can think of that makes a noise, we dont have a dishwasher unless you count me lol, all of our other appliances are in an outside utility.

He really just hates being shut in and i wanted to get him used to it for his safety and i will continue to try him but can go at a slower pace and leave him out when i have to pop out for 20 mins knowing he wont get so stressed he messes everywhere. He is still very much a baby and im sure we will get there with him.

We just love him to bits, he is such a funny little (not so) pup and learning things quickly can do sit, down, come is getting there and stay as well.

 

[mrsnamsherf]

I read an article about zookeepers crate training a raccoon. All went well until they would shut the door. Then the coon would freak out. Finally someone suggested they let the coon know when they were going to shut the door by saying "Door" right before they closed it. Problem solved. Apparently the raccoon was anxious about the closing door and letting him know when it was going to happen relieved his anxiety. Perhaps you could warn him right before you lock the door?

I do this for Sam each time before I touch his nails with the Dremel, I say "Nail". Now he no longer jerks when the grinder actually touches his nail. And saying "big noise" before I turn on the dreaded steam cleaner has calmed him enough he will even stay in the room when it's on, even though he used to run away on sight of it.

Good luck!

 

[dgsumner]

agree - saying a word before the noise happens does seem to work, but it takes a while to learn.
Some things are also still character. Every night he still steals slippers - still just because he can!!