CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Behaviour & Training => Topic started by: CockersIndie on April 03, 2012, 04:52:28 PM
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hi everyone
i'm in the process of trying to get Indie (7 month show cocker) to settle on her own without us in the room. Unfortunately, our kitchen is also one of our lounges, and dining room, so we've always been with her as this is where her bed is (behind a glass door in the utility room). She does retreat to her bed on her own when she is very tired but much prefers to be with us. She now has separation anxiety. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she barks (not necessarily desperately, but she is keen to get us down, and settles as soon as we do). It's got to the point where she's waking between 6 and 6-45 every morning, barking, and so to stop her getting completely stressed out, i come down (entering when quiet) and sitting in the kitchen- when she immediately calms down and sleeps again.
so i've started leaving her in her bed for an exact minute every now and then throughout the day and i leave the room (aiming for at least six times a day- however the rest of the family isn't exactly helping despite me kicking off about it!!). She barks and scratches the door after a few seconds sometimes and im becoming exasperated. Am i right to praise her even if she does bark throughout the minute (i only return in between barks/when she's quiet) or should i only praise if she's quiet throughout? If i leave a kong in there sometimes she won't even finish it until i return, she's so fixated on the door. We feed her in the room where she sleeps at night and it's where all her toys are kept with her so it's not a 'horrible' place to be, like i said she goes in there on her own if she's very tired.
We tried the crate, but as we want to move on from the crate anyway; and if anything seemed to make her more stressed (despite my efforts to make it a lovely place for her- no punishment and rewards for going in etc) in the mornings.
sorry for the long post but more info is helpful i guess
is there any encouragement or words of advice out there?
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Pippa has had a touch of separation anxiety. When she used to wake in the morning and bark for us (and when I knew it wasn't because she needed to toilet) I would come down and tell her firmly to be quiet and settle down, then go back up to bed. At first I would return after 5 mins and let her get up, if she had been quiet. I gradually extended this, so that now she won't bark at all, but just settles back down of her own accord. She had to learn that barking brought no reward. I don't know if this is a "proper" training method, but it worked for us.
When I leave Pippa during the day, she is crated with a kong or frozen carrot. I found if I left her with something requiring effort to eat like a chew or pizzle, she wouldn't touch it, but an egg-filled kong or frozen carrot are easily eaten and tempting enough for her. She does still sometimes bark when I first leave the house, but having left a tape recorder running a couple of times, I know this only lasts a few minutes until she realises her barking won't bring me back so she might as well settle and wait.
I think you need to leave Indie to bark and ONLY return once she is quiet. However, I am no expert, so perhaps someone else will have better advice for you.
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thanks for getting back to me- it's quiet on here today! it's so hard to know what's best to do :(