Help with puppy being left

[JessPandaBear]

Hi everyone

I'm wondering if you can please help me with some advice on our new puppy!!

We brought him home at the weekend and his training has been going well with the exception of one thing .... Any time at all on his own including if we just leave the room for a few moments!

As soon as we leave he cries, howls and barks - I know he's going to be upset initially but we can't step out the room without him getting upset. We always come back and wouldn't dream of leaving the house but perhaps I naively thought a moment or two would be possible at this point so we could start building on it with him. Previous puppies we've had haven't been getting upset this quickly so we've been able to close the door or step out of the room and then praise but even a few seconds is getting him upset and I don't know what to do to help him!

I wondered if anyone has any tips on how we can help him - he's 11 weeks old.

Thank you very much

 

[JudyN]

For now, let him follow you wherever you go... even to the loo. This way, he will build confidence, not worry about your absences, and then you can build on this. As with buildings, you can only build on solid foundations.

There's more info here: Your new puppy: the first few nights Note particularly Emma Judson's Flitting Game, mentioned at the end of the post.

 

[excuseme]

Are you using a cage a lot of the time or does your puppy have freedom to move around within a room?

 

[JessPandaBear]

Are you using a cage a lot of the time or does your puppy have freedom to move around within a room?

We aren't using a crate and would prefer not to if we can help it

 

[excuseme]

Ok that is my pet hate, "a cage for convenience".
I don't know how we used to manage without them and still rear a happy house trained puppy without the cage.