Go Dog Training

kdlanning 
Murrieta, CA

FEBRUARY 26, 2009, 4:52 PM

How do you resolve separation anxiety with a 6 month old puppy? We've left her alone at the house a couple of times and she's torn up the area that we left her at. Thanks.

Dear Six-Months & SepAnxie,

It is unclear from the information that you have given me whether your pup has the disorder called Separation Anxiety or whether you have a very normal, rascally pup who just got bored or frustrated when left alone.  Is that her picture?  She looks very cute.  For both your sakes, I  hope your pup is just a rascal; Separation Anxiety is not easy to fix and rarely gets better without professional help.  

I am a little concerned that she is already 6-months old and has not been left alone more than a few times.  Did you just adopted her?  Are you taking her to work or doggie daycare?  Is someone almost always at home?  Or, have you avoided leaving her alone because of the mess she makes?  

Always staying with or taking along your pup may seem "better."  However, puppies who are not crate/confinement-trained and/or left alone before 3-4 months of age are more likely to vocalize excessively and behave destructively when left alone later in life.  It is not too late to teach her to be alone, but it might take some patience & dedicated training.  Again that she is 6-month and making a mess does not mean she has Separation Anxiety Disorder, she may just be a normal, messy pup.  Even if she does not like being left alone, there is hope.  I hope the post below can guide you.  

Thanks for inquiring,

Kelley

IS YOUR PUPPY PITCHING-A-FIT WHEN LEFT ALONE?

For many owners/guardians it is hard to gauge a "normal" amount of puppy barking, whining, flailing.  This is increasingly hard when one is trying to accomplish crate/confinement-training.  Depending on the dog, it can seem like your puppy is suffering horrifically when you leave her alone.  While it often sounds awful, there is a good degree of hyped up hysterics that can just be ignored.  This is easy for trainers and other dog professionals, but hard for new puppy parents who are justifiably protective of their new pup.

Puppies come pre-programmed with a highly-successful attention-seeking behavior: bark, howl, cry, whine.  When this doesn't work, (because you ignore their barking (look away, stay away, or stop talking, looking or petting) they throw a puppy-temper-tantrum.  This can look and sound downright scary, so it is understandable why owners panic and grope for information about what is happening.  However jumping to a diagnosis of Separation Anxiety for a pup that barks is like determining that someone who ate dinner and then threw up is bulimic.  Let's rule out normal puppy tantrum and learned barking (flu or food poisoning) first. 

Pups can learn that barking gets stuff -AND they learn it quickly at a very young age.  The truth is that most pups who bark, whine, howl, and yip when left alone are just being normal pups.  When they are born pups learn that whining, whimpering and yowling gets them food, relief and warmth.  Later when the pup moves in with people, it must learn that barking does not work.  Ignoring the noise is the only way to teach your pup that barking does NOT work.  

Punishing a pup for barking is a mistake, it will ruin your relationship, and possibly make the dog aggressive.  Or, the dog will learn to bark when no one can get there to deliver a punishment, but will bark freely when you are not around.  It is hard to ignore a barking dog.  Here are some tips.  IGNORE means:  Do not look at, talk to, touch or go towards your pup.  

Do not return to or let your pup out until the pup has completely given up making noise & settles into doing something else, like laying down, chewing, or eating.  When it is time to let your pup out again, praise your pup clearly from outside the room.  Then, go get your puppy.  In this version, once you praise the pup, they get out -even if they make noise once you enter the room.  Use the same phrase each time you praise your dog.  Here is a harder, tough-love version.  Enter the room, leave immediately if your pup starts to make noise again (don't choose this version if your pup has been in there a long time and is ready for a potty-break).

Puppies are messy!  Pups that chew, shred, smear, and gnaw on this are also normal.   There is no fancy label for their behavior, they are just young.  They can, and will make a mess especially if left alone for long periods of time (more than 2-3 hours).  It is not unusual for pups to chew on paper, shred wee-pads, or smear their pee & poop around.  They don't do it on purpose -it just happens to be there when they are romping around and making up their own games.  

There are things you can do to minimize messes.  Unless your pup has caused serious damage to a door, window, gate, crate or worse themselves, they are a normal pup.  Most messes are NOT done in a panic, but that instead the results of a darn good solo-puppy-party!  However, if your dog has done serious damage to a door, window, gate, crate or bloodied their paws or face, then you may have a dog with Separation Anxiety Disorder.

Understanding & DEALING WITH NORMAL PUPPY BARKING

Barking can be done anywhere and so it is the most difficult to manage.  There are many things you can do to channel your pups play-energy into appropriate places.  Exercise, play fetch and tug, Kong-feeding, chew-toys, puppy-proofing, gating, and crating all help minimize and contain a mess.  More importantly a tired pup is a quiet pup.

Confining and/or crating a pup is important and should be done despite the fact that your pup might rather not be away from you.  Toddlers that fuss when put in a car seat do not get to ride on your lap simply because they want to be there.  Eventually kids stop fussing about car seats and seat belts because it fails to work.  However temper tantrums are aweful -they are more than complaints; they are last ditch efforts to get something, or get out of something.  Puppy barking can be very loud if the pup is frustrated.  This can happen when they are learning that what used to work, crying for food, milk, warmth, companionship, is no longer an acceptable way to ask for things (that worked with dog-mom, but not people-parents).  

IF THEY DON'T LIKE IT, DO YOU STILL HAVE TO CRATE/CONFINEMENT-TRAIN YOUR PUPPY?

Yes.  Imagine if you boarded a plane and the person next to you just started sobbing, them screaming and rolling on the ground.  When a baby cries it is annoying, but acceptable age-appropriate behavior.  For an adult to do this instead of asking for a blanket or beverage is abnormal.  The times in your life at which you learned that screaming and crying would not get you things was probably stressful and frustrating for you and your parents.  Crate/confinement-training is not easy, but it is necessary for a well-adjusted dog.