Separation Anxiety

Mackie8494 · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:45 pm Post subject: Separation Anxiety

We have a little 10 week malti-poo. We are crate training and it is going well. On Mondays, however, we are gone from 7:45 until 3:00 so I leave him in the kitchen with food, water, toys, etc. What is so strange is he never cries in his crate but if I give him the whole kitchen, he cries and tries to get out of the gate. This is not just on the day we are not home but even if I leave him in the kitchen while we are busy elsewhere in the house. If we are in the kitchen with him he is fine. I have not let him go to see how long he will cry. If I am busy in the house and he starts, I get him after about 5 minutes.

Any thoughts?

ilovemaltipoos · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 6:23 pm Post subject:

He just wants to be with you .

JMTooTall · New member Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 7

I have a similar experience with our Malt/tzu Maddie. She just REALLY wants to be with us. We can't leave her along for more than 5-10 seconds before the whining begins. We've tried little exercises where we step around the corner and then come back within seconds to show her that we will always return, but nothing seems to work. Because of this, she is on our heals ever step of the way around the house. Sometimes its cute, but other times I just wish she would feel ok to be on her own.

Any thoughts?

MyBabyShihPoo · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:13 pm Post subject:

I must say I agree with ilovemaltipoos!

I know it is hard to hear him crying, but do be sure that you are not reinforcing the crying in any way, as it will become worse if you do so!

The only suggestion I can give you is to put his crate (with the crate door open) in the kitchen. You may already be doing this, but if you aren't, I would definitely give it a try!

Hope things get better! Very Happy

ilovemaltipoos · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:34 pm Post subject:

Good idea shihpoo !
Also to tall ....As they grow older and more in tuned with their surroundings and more at home ,she will let go the string alittle ,
so just take it in stride now and soon she will have moments that she will want to be more alone ...Takes alot of time and patience and you are all she has now .Have to understand she is a child and a toddler follows mom everywhere !

nessa1880 · New member Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 15 Location: Arizona

I started crate training my toy poodle when I got her at 10weeks. It was really hard, and I gave in way too easy. When she was around the 7-8 month mark I was able to leave her out of the crate and she was pretty well. I think the crate training was hard for me because this was my first dog and I couldnt stand hearing her cry. I hated leaving her for long periods of time in her crate. I tried to keep it to a 2-3 hours minimum, but some days it was alittle longer. When she got to be around 11-12 months she was so spoiled and realized I was too easy on her training, so I was a more sturn with my training. Now she is 14 months and is doing almost 100% better. But I really feel the crate training was the best thing I could have done to begin the house breaking and training.

Steffi · New member Joined: 26 Mar 2004 Posts: 6

I know how you feel! I used to have a dog that suffered from separation anxiety, and it's so heartbreaking when you have to hear them cry like that. As much as you probably want to be with him when he cries, he has to learn that crying isn't the solution! :9