seperation anxiety and crate training..

traci.gundy · 10-21-2009, 01:18 PM

I have gone thru some of the threads on this topic and found it to be a touchy subject...lol..

non the less i need some suggestions.

I have a doberman puppy. We got her from a breeder last Saturday. She is wonderful and we are having a blast with her. Her potty training is going very well! She has only had 1 accident but that was my fault as i allowed her to wander a little to to far for 3 seconds to long..lol
now for the question... when she is left in her crate for even the shortest period of time and she is not able to see us (she does ok if she CAN see us..) she will get so upset that she pees in her crate. I do not want to make her crate a bad place for her to be since she is doing so well in it so far and i want to tread lightly so she doesnt get seperation anxiety. It is impossible to be with her every moment of everyday so... should I put her in a puppy proof room and try the crate again later? if so, when would be the most appropriate time? She is such a sweet girl i hate the thought of leaving her scared and alone but she HAS to learn to be by herself sometimes.

Ayanla · 10-21-2009, 04:15 PM

When I brought Odo home he trembled at the sight of the crate and cried, drooled, and peed on himself when he was in it.

I just started really focusing on the crate as a pleasant place that wasn't always associated with me leaving.

I started by always having the crate out in our computer/family room during the day. It's where we spend most of our time and this way it's always there and doesn't scarily appear when it's time for me to leave. I fed him in his crate (still do), while I was sitting in the room (occasionally right by the crate). I also did some of his beginning training in the crate. We also play a game where I throw a treat/ball into his crate and say "Odo crate!" and cheer when he runs in to get the treat/ball. We would put him in the crate sometimes in the evenings for 20-30 minutes at a time, give him a loaded kong or a treat ball, and just go about our business in that room, not paying attention to him. If he cried, we just ignored him. If he stopped crying I would immediately turn to him and say "good!"

I didn't really work up to leaving him, as I had no choice but to go to work every day, but his anxiety did go down in a pretty short span of time once I started working with him in the evenings. If I recall it was less than two weeks.

poopydogface · 10-21-2009, 04:58 PM

Looking forward to reading the feedback for this post also. I've had my puppy for 1 month now, and he's the EXACT same way. I can almost predict that he'll pee JUST by leaving him alone. It doesn't matter much where he is crate, living room, outdoors, navy boat, or spaceship, if we leave him by himself, he'll get stressed, bark, jump, and pee himself. In fact, given enough time, he also works himself up to poop himself too

traci.gundy · 10-22-2009, 11:01 AM

just an update... i did try the puppy safe room yesterday and although she didnt seem to scream as much, she did still pee. I think i will try the room for a couple week and just leave her alone in it for various amounts of time. Then, Im hoping to deal with the fear of being alone first then resume to the crate training after next week. So she will have one week where she sees her crate but really doesnt have to deal with it. Then the following week, still keep her in her "safe room" when alone but reintroduce the crate with fun and treats while we are home that second week... gradually working towards shutting the door and leaving her to chew n a nice yummy pig ear w/o me in the room. We have already established that she is only allowed to chew her pig ear if she is in the crate. She has already accepted this fact and at first she would go in there and chew away happily until i started trying to shut the door and leave the room...lol... now she just goes to the door and sits and looks at it for a minute then turns away and gets her kong and lays in the living room floor as if to say.... no way man... its not worth it! lol... Im hoping that by getting her to accept being alone first, that getting her to accept her crate as her special place will go more smoothy and quickly. Ill keep u updated on our progress! Wish us luck!

traci.gundy · 10-22-2009, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poopydogface

Looking forward to reading the feedback for this post also. I've had my puppy for 1 month now, and he's the EXACT same way. I can almost predict that he'll pee JUST by leaving him alone. It doesn't matter much where he is crate, living room, outdoors, navy boat, or spaceship, if we leave him by himself, he'll get stressed, bark, jump, and pee himself. In fact, given enough time, he also works himself up to poop himself too

Hi.. i have posted what I am going to try doing with Mina but i wanted to make a special note to you that my "safe room" has concrete floor. I know puppies associate ground texture with where they prefer to potty so u may not want to encourage her to piddle on your lenolium or tile. If you have a small enuff room you can go to lowes and get concrete slabs the are about 2ft x 4ft in size and lay them in your safe room while getting ur pup used to being alone. then just pick them up when the training is over OR i just thought of this.. it might cost a little more but you could get a small hard plastic baby pool, cut one side down a bit so ur pup cnd get in and out of it easily and put some sod in it. it might be in the way for a little bit but ive read some posts from ppl who have been successful with getting their pup to accept being alone and it seems to only take a couple week. Let me know.. what you end up doing! I do know we need to act quickly.. because the older they get the more serious destruction that can do and a safe room may not be an option because of this.. just put lots of chew toys in the room with him. At this young age (before they lose their baby teeth) they should be content to chew those. I wish you luck!

traci.gundy · 10-23-2009, 07:27 PM

just another update..and..wow..i have to tell ya.. im impressed with my pup! I did try the safe room...it was safe, and easy clean up but the problem was still there so i decided to speed up the kennel training a bit. we worked together in the kennel for about thirty minutes then i decided to try putting her in the kennel at the foot of our bed, gave her a pig ear, and shut the door. she did GREAT as long as i was in the room. the next morning... i put her in it and pet her with the door open.. then when she was calm.. i shut the door and walked around the room. she was attentive to me but didnt wimper.. then i began moving about walking in and out of the room quickly and not paying her any attention.. she wimpered a little bit and i started to get a little bit dizzy from walking in circles..lol.. but after about 2 or 3 mintes.. i opened the door and praised and comforted her. the next day...i left her to sleep with my husband (he works 3rds) i checked on her every 30 mins and took her out to potty every 2 hrs. while she slept with him in the bed. (that is where she has been sleeping for the past week.. in the bed). Then... today.. it happened! I sat the crate on the bed and put her in it. I shut the crate... shut the bedroom door on my way out and stood outside the door and listen. i heard nothing... i lingered in the hall.. still nothing... i left the house. when i came back.. i opened the door and there she sat .. stubby lil tail wagging and quiet as could be! I checked her crate blanket... dry as could be. SHE DID IT! So.. for those of you willing to try anything.... try putting the crate where ever she prefers to sleep. it worked for me.

Darkmoon · 10-23-2009, 11:55 PM

Keep working on it, don't just settle for it today. SA has a habit or regressing so always be prepared to work on the desensitizing and don't be hurt if she does relapse a little or a lot. I don't know if you have but make sure to read the sticky at the top about SA. It's very helpful.

Congrats and keep working on desensitizing and also work on obedience to make her feel more confident in herself. A confident dog isn't so scared of being alone.

Good luck and great job!