Korissa: Is it best to crate a puppy when they have anxiety when we leave?
Our puppy whines every time we leave. My mom wants to crate her but I think we should leave her out with the other dogs. What should we do. Crate her or let her sit in the house along with the other dogs?
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Answers and Views:
Answer by DDK
Probably best for her to be with other dogs to take her mind off you being gone.
Answer by Amelia
I think it would be best to have her with the other dogs. My dog used to whine a lot when we went out, but we found that for some reason if we played the radio while we were out he didn't and it soothed him.
Answer by melissa
It depends. If your dog is in his chewing stage or isn’t potty trained- you either need to crate him or leave him somewhere with nothing to chew except toys (such as a bathroom). I have an older dog but my puppy now HATES going in his crate, so I left him in the bathroom until I could trust him to roam the house without going to the bathroom everywhere.
I have a friend whose dog has literally injured himself trying to get out of the crate (cuts that were bleeding), so some dogs are better left un-crated.
Answer by EPETSROYAL
Whether you crate the dog or not depends on the puppy’s current level of training (chewing stage, potty training, etc,) and how the interaction is with the other dogs. You want to make sure your puppy will not get hurt.
Answer by alienmurphy
Put her in the crate and leave her. Trying to sooth or calm her only make the crying and whining worse. She should not be out of the crate except for scheduled feedings, outside bathroom breaks, supervised playtime and short training session.
I would never leave a puppy alone to pee and poop all over the house; and I certainly would not leave a puppy alone with the other dogs.
You mom is right; crate the dog.
Answer by Catfish
No no no!! Never!!
This is even worse. Your puppy is sad that you are leaving and to make things worse you’re going to put him in a crate? That’s traumatising.
Just give it time! After a while your puppy will learn that after every time you leave the house, you always come back.
This will take a long time…or so it feels. But please please don’t put the puppy in a crate. It will traumatise him.
Know better? Give your own answer to this question!
Solanum says
http://www.ddfl.org/education/dog-behavior-tips/fearful-behavior
This helped me with separation anxiety.
After decreasing my dogs aversion to me leaving, I taught her a ‘goodbye’ command. It works really well, especially if she thinks that she should be going out with you, and you want her to stay. She will stop whining as soon as I say the command because she knows she is going to stay at home.
Katie says
It might be good to crate it as if the dog sleeps in the cage as dogs don’t like to wee in places they sleep and it might wee around the house when you are gone and this may prevent it, but the company of the other dogs may make it more comfortable.