Separation anxiety or housetraining issue?

[SusanLloyd]

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Hi all. We got our Goldie pup Harvey two days ago. He's 12 weeks old. We have been feeding him 3 x a day last feed at around 5pm. We take him out 5-6 times a day on his lead and he wees in the right place every time. However he's only had one poop on these trips outside, at 10pm after holding it all day since 6am! The other 3 times he's gone in the house when left alone. Twice overnight and once this afternoon when I had to go out unexpectedly for an hour leaving him by himself. His bladder control inside is good in general because he empties it frequently outside time but pooping outside at the same time just isn't happening.

His den at the moment is a gated off area of the kitchen and his bed is under the table, an area he chose himself. He does get very anxious when left alone (howling/barking) which is why he's having these accidents I think. (He also paddles in the soiled areas and it gets transferred to his bed, though he's never directly soiled on the bed itself. Other pups we've had have always avoided trampling in soiled areas but I don't really know what's normal!) We have changed his food but his bowel movements look OK, i.e. not too soft but not too firm.

Will it help to crate him if it's an anxiety rather than a housetraining issue? If so should the crate be upstairs in our bedroom at night to stop the separation anxiety pooping? Or should we work on the separation anxiety some more before changing his routine again so soon?

I realise it's unrealistic to expect a pup of his age not to have any accidents and obviously it's very early days in his new home but we're keen to make sure we don't inadvertently reinforce any undesirable habits so any advice would be very welcome.

 

[emylou77]

Hi Susan, I know exactly what your going through!! We got our puppy just 12 days ago (she's a 12 week old sproker spaniel pup called Sky) The first few days are always up in the air as you don't have a clue if your doing things right and all the books seem to contradict each other as no two puppies are the same! I actually slept on the floor next to the crate for the first few nights as this seemed to do the trick, as we were not allowing our pup upstairs at all. This was until I had read in book that the crate should be kept with you in the bedroom and then gradually moved further away until eventually in the spot you want it. This seems to have worked a treat and she knows that the crate is her area to sleep, calm down and also eat. We have now moved the crate to the top of the stairs. I also had to leave our pup for an hour while I went out after just a few days of having her, this didn't go well as she also pooped in her crate and waddled through it. This is through separation anxiety. It is hard as everyone who we know with dogs have told us to just leave her and eventually she'll be fine, BUT they dont have to listen to her whelp and cry. (I also need help with this is anyone can please???????)

I suppose what I can tell you is that sticking to the crate idea and letting her know that will be her safe area is a great thing to do now, slowly leaving her for longer periods of time and also moving her eventually down to your kitchen where her area is.

I really hope this helps you Susan and please let me know how you both get on. If you have any tips for me on leaving my pup for periods of time either in her crate or in her run outside, I'd really appreciate it :- )

Good luck!!!

Emylou77