14 Week Poochon Puppy

[Alan Marples]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hi

First I must point out that we have never owned a dog before and are complete novices at this, however did plenty of research before opting to bring a puppy into our home.

We are a few nights into having our male Poochon at home, we purchased him from a licensed breeder, he was the last remaining puppy from a litter of 8 and had just turned 14 weeks old. We expect the usual crying at night and the pooping training (which is a nightmare) but I am really concerned about separation anxiety and am wondering if anyone has any experience of this.

The puppy pretty much follows me around constantly, and will go off with my wife or kids but is always looking for me. If he is left alone at all he wines constantly and at bedtime (even though he is happy in his crate if you are with him) as soon as you close the crate door and move away he goes flipper, cries and howls and try’s to tear the door off, until you come back.

Obviously he’s still a puppy and the breed do have separation issues but if anyone has any experience they can lend us I’d be very very grateful.

Thanks

 

[arealhuman]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your first puppy! Plenty of advice will appear shortly, as separation anxiety is discussed quite often here. My dog is also my first dog, so there's not a lot of advice I can offer, other than to say that your new arrival is probably going to take time to adjust to his new surroundings having spent the first 14 weeks of his life elsewhere. I'm sure it will get better, but more relevant advice will follow....

 

[JoanneF]

If you have only just got him it is fairly normal for him to want to stay close - he will be quite unsettled at having been taken away from his familiar surroundings. It sounds, however, that he is unhappy in the crate alone rather than separation anxiety. Do you have the crate in your room at night? It really is a good idea to do this so that you can speak to him or put a hand down to settle him. Please don't ignore him, you wouldn't ignore a crying child and leave him in an empty room. Comforting him when he is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of allowing a puppy to cry in the hope that they grow out of it, when actually all they have done is cement in the puppies mind that being left in the crate (or alone, or whatever is causing the crying) is indeed a terrible thing, and for many dogs this fear becomes a learned habit.

Gradually you can start moving the crate away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want him to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer.

Also in your room you are more likely to hear him if he moves and needs out to toilet. With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.

During the day though you should start to get him used to being alone for short periods so when he isn't interacting with you (to make your leaving less of a contrast) just walk out the room then back in - build up the time gradually.


This is a very good guide to crate training -
Crate Training - Step By Step Guide to A Distress Free, Force Free Crate Trained Dog or Pup by Emma Judson

For toilet training, which you also mentioned, the key is to take him outside a lot.

Toilet training happens when two things come together - the ABILITY to hold the toilet, along with the DESIRE to hold it in order to earn the reward for doing so.

Ideally you want him to not be in a position where he needs to toilet before you have him outdoors, so that every toilet is outside - as far as possible, there will be accidents! So set him up to succeed by taking him out even more than he needs; for example every 45 minutes to an hour and always after sleeping, eating, playing. The time between a puppy realising they need to toilet, and being unable to hold that toilet, is zero. So your aim is to have him outside before he can't help himself. When he toilets outdoors make a huge fuss (never mind the neighbours, act like outdoor toileting is the best thing you have ever seen) and reward him with a high value treat. Do that that immediately, don't make him come to you for the treat so he is clear that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. The idea is that he eventually wants to earn the treat enough to hold the toilet until he is outside - once he is physically able to control his toileting obviously. If he has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed he may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if he needs to toilet - the opposite of what you want. Just clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner to remove any trace of smell that might attract him back to the spot. As he is actually performing the toilet you can introduce words he can associate with it (like 'do weewee' and 'busy busy') that later when he is reliably trained you can use these to tell him when you want him to toilet.

Indoors if you see him circling or scratching the floor, that can sometimes precede toileting so get him out fast.

I don't know if you are using them but I hate puppy pads - they give mixed messages about whether it's ok to toilet indoors and confuse the puppy.

 

[JudyN]

A great booklet for preventing and treating SA is I'll Be Home Soon by Patricia McConnell - it would be well worth getting a copy. For now, let pup follow you around, which will help him feel secure, but work on stepping briefly out of the room and coming back again when he's engrossed in a chew, or doing in a sunny spot.

 

[Josie]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new arrival

I can see you’ve already had some great replies. You’ll get lots of help and advice on here

 

[Marie1958]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new arrival

I can see you’ve already had some great replies. You’ll get lots of help and advice on here

Congrats on your new addition.
Rosie is just over 18wks old now and she has only this last wk stopped following me around as much.she may come to sitting room door to check what i.m doing in kitchen but will then go back and sleep or play. This past wk i have been extending my time away from her i give her filled kong and few toys to play with and normally say ,be good, and walk out door. As i am back to work nxt wk for 3hrs a day and live alone. I have had the past 10wks to do things gradually with her. She does not go into crate so has the run of kitchen/hallway and it all seems to be working.
So please be patient they get there inthe end