Help!! I need to nip the barking in the bud!

[jemfor]

Hi there. Was hoping someone can help me. We lost our gorgeous girl Florence 18 months ago and have waited all this time to get a new puppy. We picked Bess up four weeks ago now, she’s just turned 12 weeks.
I know it’s been a while since we had a puppy but I really don’t remember it being this bad. At first she cried and howled at night, that’s stopped now. However .... she does not like being left alone during the day. For the first two weeks my husband took annual leave so we could start all the training early. I am a teacher so it’s my turn, last week I stayed with her every day, all day. This week I was hoping to build up some time for her to be alone. If I leave her downstairs and go upstairs she’s fine, but her crate/ playpen is in the garage ( which is integral to the house) and if I put her in there she barks and barks and barks! Constantly!!
I’ve tried leaving the kitchen door open with her in the pen but that doesn’t work either, I’ve given her toys and treats and a hot water bottle.
I really need to nip this in the bud so it doesn’t become a habit. Any tips? Thank you 😔

[Darwin]

Is there any way you can fit a crate into one of the rooms in the house, not the garage,  then maybe it can be her safe place and she won’t feel completely excluded when she’s in her crate.  This might give you a better opportunity to build up the time you can leave her.

We’ve always had Darwin’s crate in the kitchen, by the kitchen back door and we use the patio door as our back door instead  He’s always happy to pop into this crate, especially if I’m in the kitchen and luckily we’ve never had an issue leaving him. 

[Patp]

Does she bark when you have left the house or only when she knows you are there somewhere but she cant see you?

Jinley will bark and whine if we shut her in a room but carried on moving around the house, but she settles down to sleep if we go out.

[bizzylizzy]

Hi! I think this is a problem most of us have faced at  some point and different things work for different dogs but here are some of things I found helped in the beginning:
1. Stay calm, practice leaving her just for a few minutes at a time, then lengthen the periods. Don‘t make any comment, (no departure speeches ), make it all seem perfectly natural.
2. Try where possible to return as soon as she‘s quiet, if you go back while she‘s actually barking she‘s learned its the way to get your attention,
3. Keep some sort of high value toy that she only gets when you leave her, so that she associates being left with something good. I used to use a kong with liver sausage or similar which I gave Humphrey just as I went out.
4. Keep your return fairly low key, praise her quietly but don‘t go  overboard, the object is to keep the fact that you leave and come back a normal routine and nothing for her to get worked up about.
5. Other things you can try is a radio playing low, Adaptil spray in the crate might help to calm her, let her have some exercise before you leave her but nothing to get her over excited.
Hope there‘s something there that might help, it can be a bit nerve wracking but stay firm, consistant and above all calm and you‘ll get there!! Best of luck!! 

[PaulJ]

When Zed came to us we put him in crate in kitchen as that was an active place and he could see to to-ings and go-ings. Sometimes he goes in and out of there at random times when we are at home so he does not associate the crate as a pre-cursor to us leaving. When we leave we put him in a little earlier and then get about some other things before leaving. When we leave, no fuss, no comment, no interaction, we just leave. Upon return, again, no fuss, no comment whilst we sort out what we need to for return. Then when ready, we open door. He has been conditioned to stay in crate until we issue release phrase, then it’s out for eliminations (after another release at the door)....then it’s time for praise and fuss.

Seems to have worked for us...but every dog is different.

Breeder recommended that we leave regularly even if we do not need to to get pup used to us leaving and then returning.

If not already using one perhaps introducing a release phrase from crate and pen.

[jemfor]

Thank you everyone. It’s so hard, she just loves to be near me, as soon as she falls asleep I put her in her bed and this morning she slept there for an hour. This afternoon she just won’t stay in there. I’m at a loss of what to do, if I close the door she howls immediately so I don’t want to go back as that means she gets what she wants. If I leave her she doesn’t stop!
I’ve tried sitting with her next to her bed and giving a treat when she lies down, but as soon as I get up she jumps out.
My patience may not last much longer 😢

[IonaD]

Bella was the same when we first started leaving her. I got the app ‘Dog monitor’ so I could see and hear what she was up to when we left her.

Started off slowly, then gradually built up the time we left her. It was difficult listening to her crying and barking and she used to do it all the time at first. Then something just clicked in her brain. I guess she figured out we were always going to come back.

Even now I leave her with the radio or music on in the house and I give her a kong filled with goodies and/or some sort of chew.

Something I read when we started this training was to make sure they had had exercise  so they were tired, but also to make sure that they weren’t super hyper when you left and had had some ‘downtime’ so were relaxed prior to you leaving.

Good luck with everything!!

[jemfor]

Thank you for that, reading your post made me see a light at the end of the tunnel. I will just have to sit out the storm!

[helenq1806]

I have a 16 week old Cocker Spaniel called Luna. She is gorgeous but very vocal and wakes at the slightest thing. She's getting better and showing more self control but it's difficult - especially as I live in a semi with neighbours who are less than understanding. I also got a CCTV camera with app on my phone so I can see her which is very helpful. However, the thing that I found works like magic most of the time is a CD (you can download from iTunes etc) called 'Canine Lullabies Vol 1' by the Terry Woodford Singers. It was made for premature babies but has been used extensively in dog rescue centres. It was miraculous the first time I played it as Luna started yawning and just lay down and went to sleep. I have it on my phone and laptop. It may not work for all dogs but worth a try maybe.