[Mortcheval]

I have a 12 week old puppy that we just got about a week or so ago and she seems to be having issues adjusting. I am not sure if it is normal or not...
She goes absolutely CRAZY when left alone in a room or in her crate. I work at home and am by myself most days so I usually keep her in my office with me. But any time I leave the room she goes nuts. If I shut the door she scratches/bites the door and anything around, she barks/whines/howls/screams until I come back in. I got a baby gate for the door so she could maybe see that I am still around but she does not like being separated from me and she will literally smash herself against the gate until it comes loose and she can get through.
I have tried doing small separation training sessions where I wait for her to stop being crazy and reward her but she literally does not stop long enough for me to reward the good behavior and I am worried that I might be reinforcing/rewarding the whining.
We have to crate her at night because she cannot be left unsupervised around our cats and she would tear any door to shreds if locked in a room. She goes absolutely insane in the crate and I am scared she will hurt herself. I did a slow initial training with the crate but she does not seem to be taking to it. She refuses and is not interested in treats while in the kennel she only wants out.
I am kind of at my wits end on what to do... any suggestions?

 

[Dutchy]

Here's a few suggestions just based on what I do that works.

First of all, have a crate schedule and stick to it. Dogs have internal clocks like we do. Puppies thrive on schedules. They know what to expect and they get less anxious when they understand what's expected.

For example, my pup is in the crate obviously overnight, but she spends another 4 hours from about 830-1230 before my girlfriend gets home to let her out. Even on the weekends, she spends that time in the crate and I usually chose that time to get errands done.

Also, a few things that helped my pup adjust when she left her litter was to put her in the crate, and then lay down next to the crate but ignore her. I would usually read a book or jump on my Ipad. When she fell asleep or at least got uninterested enough, I would walk away. I also played some music and HD Youtube videos of dogs playing on a beach for the first 3 days. My pup was littered outside in a city so I wanted her to have some sort of noise overnight. Seemed to have worked.

If my dog gets extra whiney or barks in her crate, I put a sheet over it. I actually always have a sheet over it, but I'll pull it down completely when she cries or barks. I dunno what it is, but they hate barking in close quarters like that. This has worked on every single one of my dogs.

As far as separating her. don't respond to her cries and bad behavior. They seek any attention, even if its negative attention. And then be heavy on rewards when you come to her and she's calm. Demand she sit before you engage her.

Work on your crate training. Everything should fall in place.

And pups are pups. My dog is very obedient and very calm, but still has her moments where she seemingly flips out when she's not near me. Like taking out the garbage, everynow and then I hear her crying her eyes out from outside.

Good luck!