13 Wk Puppy Distressed When Alone

[mmphelps]

We have a 13 wk male sable named Tino (he's sooooo cute). We have had him for almost 4 weeks. He is our second Hav, and is gr gr gr gr nephew to our first Hav Buster who passed on 1/4/12. I work part time from home and have twin boys (almost 6 yrs) so I am home pretty much all the time. I am definitely Tino's person. Tino does amazing in his crate at night--never whimpers and sleeps through the night. However, he doesn't like being alone in his crate during the day. I put him in with a treat when he is ready for a nap and he's ok for about 20-30 mins or until he realizes I'm not in the room. The crying and screaming are off the chart! He also pants and gets quite worked up. I took a shower yesterday and he screamed the whole time (he was actually in his expen in the kitchen). Naturally I don't want him to suffer if he's truly distressed, so i have tried different things to get him to calm down: standing quietly and calmly near the crate with my back turned, casually coming in and out of the room, and finally sitting with him until he quiets and calms down. I have never taken him out when he was crying or barking. I have begun working more diligently at crate training using the program from this website on how to crate train a Hav: http://www.havanesepuppies.com/crate.htm.
So far it's going pretty well. He will stay quiet in the crate for 30 mins as long as I'm in the room. I will keep up with this for a few more days then try leaving the room for a few mins. I would like to be able to return to some of my normal out-of-the-house activities without stressing that I'm stressing him. Someone please tell me if I'm doing the right thing, and that he will outgrow this behavior!

[davetgabby]

Welcome to the forum. You have the right idea. Here is a more indepth article you might find helpful. Dont' forget to introduce yourself on our "introduce yourself part 3 " thread. http://pawsitivedawgs.wordpress.com/...alonetraining/

[Suzi]

All I can say is keep up the good work I couldn't do it . Mine only had to cry for about a min before I took them out. They only lasted about two nights before just sleeping right next to me. Yep and they are two and still not totally house broken. Spoiled little brats

[lise]

Keep up the good work. I work from home and Ted stays in his pen every morning from 8:30 til 10:30 or 11:00 am depending on the day. He does love to come in and lay on the floor when I have my shower which is no big deal. Maybe get Tino a treat ball and put some larger treats in it that will take a longer time to get out. Mental stimulation is what they crave and it does help tire them out too!

[mmphelps]

Reporting back: I've been throwing all kinds of yummy treat tidbits in his crate for him to discover during the day, and he has started going in the crate voluntarily. He also likes to pull his blanket out because 1) he loves his blanket, and 2) he hopes to find treats in and under it. Earlier this morning, I caught him hanging out in the crate--albeit briefly, but hey, it's progress. Every morning, I put him in with a kong when I take my boys to school and, for the last two days, all was quiet on the western front when I returned. Today I crated him for 15-20 mins when I took the boys out to pick up milkshakes after school and he was quiet when we got home. I also crate him between 7-8pm every night while we get the boys ready for bed. He's not quiet the whole hour but it's getting better, and by the time he gets out he's ready for a spirited session of Run Like Hell in the backyard. We have made such good progress in such a short amount of time, I feel very encouraged. He's a smart little guy--already asks to go out for potty, pees on command, walks nicely on leash, and sits like a champ. Plus he's just the sweetest little sweetheart. My immediate goal--in the next two weeks--is to be able to go to late morning yoga for an hour and feel good about him being alone.

[TilliesMom]

wahooooooo!! SO happy to hear he's making such great progress! fantastic job!!

[mmphelps]

Just wanted to report back on this thread and let you all know that Tino is completely crate trained and doing very well with house training. It seems we are through the stressful early days of puppy ownership, and I want to encourage everyone with a new puppy that it gets easier. I've done this before, but I guess it's like childbirth: you forget the pain and do it again lol! We are settled into a comfortable routine and are all enjoying each other. He is such a good little dog.


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[lfung5]

Great news about Tino!

[lise]

Be prepared teenage hood is on the way and adult teeth teething Tino will be back after that too then it's really bliss

[davetgabby]

great stuff.