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30 Posts
Sorry if I'm spamming the board... I'm day 3 into GSD puppy ownership and am trying to make sure I'm getting everything right. My last puppy was a Great Dane, over 12 years ago. Needless to say, from what I remember, the puppies are quite different!
We've been slowly acclimating our 8.5 week-old pup to his crate. The first night was horrible... he cried constantly about being locked in there at night, even though his crate is right next to our bed. I took him outside regularly throughout the night for potty. The next two nights, he has been better. Whines softly for a couple of minutes then drifts off to sleep, only whining in the middle of the night if he needs to go potty.
During the day is when the real problem starts. He seems to hate being alone, even for just a few minutes. I left him in our room briefly (it's puppy-proofed) to get something from downstairs. I was gone for maybe five minutes, and the entire time, I could hear him screaming bloody murder. Same thing for when I had to leave him briefly to shower for ten minutes.
I've been trying to keep him in his crate for short increments throughout the day, and he cries nonstop while he's in there. He generally has no problem going into his crate and doesn't seem to fear it. He gets all of his meals in it and often gets treats when he's in there. I even hide some throughout the crate so he randomly finds goodies when he's in there. He just hates being left alone after I close the door to it. I've tried leaving chews, stuffed Kongs, etc. in there with him, but he's in so much distress that he ignores them. I left him in his crate for about half an hour this morning after a romp outside, and he cried for about twenty of those minutes. Ten minutes after he stopped crying, I came back and he was asleep.
I work full-time, and while I am off for the next two days, I worry that he won't be adjusted to my absence when I return to work. I still have a dog walker coming in every other hour to take him outside for half an hour at a time. My partner also works 5 minutes away from home, so he is able to stop in on his lunch break and spend an hour or so with the pup.
I'm not sure how to get him to stop crying when alone... does his behavior sound like separation anxiety, or is it just normal puppy behavior? I've tried researching online, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information on what's "normal" for a puppy and what's not.
We've been slowly acclimating our 8.5 week-old pup to his crate. The first night was horrible... he cried constantly about being locked in there at night, even though his crate is right next to our bed. I took him outside regularly throughout the night for potty. The next two nights, he has been better. Whines softly for a couple of minutes then drifts off to sleep, only whining in the middle of the night if he needs to go potty.
During the day is when the real problem starts. He seems to hate being alone, even for just a few minutes. I left him in our room briefly (it's puppy-proofed) to get something from downstairs. I was gone for maybe five minutes, and the entire time, I could hear him screaming bloody murder. Same thing for when I had to leave him briefly to shower for ten minutes.
I've been trying to keep him in his crate for short increments throughout the day, and he cries nonstop while he's in there. He generally has no problem going into his crate and doesn't seem to fear it. He gets all of his meals in it and often gets treats when he's in there. I even hide some throughout the crate so he randomly finds goodies when he's in there. He just hates being left alone after I close the door to it. I've tried leaving chews, stuffed Kongs, etc. in there with him, but he's in so much distress that he ignores them. I left him in his crate for about half an hour this morning after a romp outside, and he cried for about twenty of those minutes. Ten minutes after he stopped crying, I came back and he was asleep.
I work full-time, and while I am off for the next two days, I worry that he won't be adjusted to my absence when I return to work. I still have a dog walker coming in every other hour to take him outside for half an hour at a time. My partner also works 5 minutes away from home, so he is able to stop in on his lunch break and spend an hour or so with the pup.
I'm not sure how to get him to stop crying when alone... does his behavior sound like separation anxiety, or is it just normal puppy behavior? I've tried researching online, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information on what's "normal" for a puppy and what's not.