Our 15 week old pup cries and barks if he gets put behind the gate in the kitchen and left on his own. We may be in the house trying to get on with other things so he can hear us and see us when we pass the kitchen but he will not let up unless he is tired or if I leave him a filled Kong (until he finishes that). He alternates between quite frustrated and cross then wimpy. I usually ignore him even when I need to go back into the kitchen. The other dog is not shut in the kitchen with him at this time.
I dont think he cries for long when I go out to walk the other dog.
He is quiet at night....as long as I give him a Kong in his crate and the older dog stays in his basket in the kitchen.

Any tips to settle him down as I would like to be able to have a relaxing bath without his noise in the background??

he probably cant understand why your other dog is allowed to roam and in his eyes sees it as being seperated from the family . If you put him in the kitchen to give older dog a break or not get upt mischief when you are busy  then  I would crate him in the same room ie: living area  then he wont feel so isolated .

He's 15 weeks so finds it quite normal to shout!!

When mine was young I'd just organise my activities around his timetable.  Like yours he was quiet when tired so I'd have a shower etc after his walk, or after feeds.  It's a bit of a nuisance for a while but this stage really doesn't last long.

I would also put my older dog in the same room whilst the pup had a bit of quiet time in his crate.  My older dog didn't really mind and it certainly helped keep the peace!

He'll soon get used to the way things work and as long as you don't allow him to get too distressed then it's OK for him to bark for short bursts.  :)

I don't understand why you would want to leave him on his own in the kitchen :-(

My dogs including our pup never leave my side when I'm home. He has even jumped in the bath on top of me, lol but then I consider my dogs to be part of my family and not just animals.

> then I consider my dogs to be part of my family and not just animals.

Well yes; but as members of my family I wouldn't want my husband and kids 2 ft away from me all day, every day, either!!

I think it's an important part of a dogs development to learn to be happy with their own company.  They need to realise that the sky won't fall in if there is a shut door between you and them and they need to be able to cope home alone when their owner needs to go out.  Let's face it - the pup can't go with the adult dog on long walks yet and I don't think it unreasonable for the OP to want a bit of peace and quiet from time to time.   However, at 15 weeks it's a bit soon to expect the calm to last for very long - it may need to be a short bath!

Quite agree, a dog no matter how much a member of the family is not supposed to be your shadow.  Not good for the dog though maybe good for the owners ego.

>My dogs including our pup never leave my side when I'm home.

Same here... They literally are my shadows. I Never get to have a shower on my own,or have the bed to myself,and i have learnt to always look behind me when i slide back and get off a chair as there is always a dog behind me! Yet they are fine when i go out,it's just when I'm home they want to be near me at all times.
Yes it can be irritating at times,but over the years I've just got used to it,as all my dogs of varying breeds have been the same!
To the OP I think it's natural that your pup wants to be near it's family constantly,especially being a youngster.I honestly don't know what you can do as i don't think any dogs enjoy "alone" time.Pack animals want to be with their pack..

Not good for the dog though maybe good for the owners ego.

Thats not the case with me. I just put my dogs needs before my own.

Thats not the case with me. I just put my dogs needs before my own.

I think it is necessary to strike a healthy balance. My dogs are hugely important in my life but they are not the be all and end all. I personally believe that the dogs have to feel confident and comfortable with me not being with them 24 hours a day and being able to cope at those times when I am out of the house. Their needs do come before mine most of the time but certainly not all the time - but then being able to cope with me not around is also a part of ensuring their needs are met IMHO.

>being able to cope with me not around is also a part of ensuring their needs are met IMHO.

Absolutely. To have a dog totally dependent on an individual person does it no favours if that person is ill or has to go away for some reason. To be relaxed on its own is a sign of security.

It is very important for a dog to be happy on its own, you will one day more than likely need to separate them in the house, eg: some visitors dont like dogs! I have situations at home when children come round to play with my children, they run around and get excited so for the dogs sake I put them behind a stair gate in the kitchen.  They settle straight away because as pups I put them behind a gate for no obvious reason.  If I want to hoover, take a bath or whatever.  Getting them used to this is something you are practicing and its a good idea.  I would be inclined to carry on and ignore the shouting, if he doesnt need the toilet and has been fed he should get the hang of it soon enough. Try sitting down closeby so he realises that you are not 'leaving' him but dont react to his calls.

> Any tips to settle him down as I would like to be able to have a relaxing bath without his noise in the background??

My dog was shut in the kitchen as a pup, whenever I couldn't supervise him and my eldery dog would have the run of the rest of the house. Fortunately he never made a fuss as it had been, from day 1, his place to sleep & play. I had a baby-gate at the door, so he could easily see/hear/smell through it (still have the baby gate & it comes in very handy, but it's generaly now used to keep him out of the livingroom when we are eating, LOL).

When my eldest son was a baby, I was having a very rough time of getting him to sleep, he refused to sleep unless I was with him, doesn't sound that tough untill you realise the amount of times he would wake during the night :( When he was 18 months old and I had another baby on the way I had to admit it was running me into the ground, so the Dr. sent out a nurse to help me get him settled as according to the Dr. even human babies need to learn to settle on thier own :)

I think it's worth trying getting him used to you being further away form him in stages. Ie. get him settled in the kithcen and sit/stand the other side of the baby gate (but ignore him, he needs to learn he can't be interacting with you all the time), when he's settled move away but return before he gets worked up, you should then be able to gradually increase the time you are away from the gate. Don't make a fuss of him on your return (ignore him) as you going away/coming back should be no big deal to him in the end (he will still be happy to greet you when you have been out shopping, it's just he wont have a nervous-breakdown about it :) ).

Best of luck.

> being able to cope with me not around is also a part of ensuring their needs are met IMHO.

I agree.

It's fine for a dog to want to be with you, but unhealthy for a dog to feel it can't be without you.

> being able to cope with me not around is also a part of ensuring their needs are met IMHO.

I agree.

It's fine for a dog to want to be with you, but unhealthy for a dog to feel it can't be without you.

I think that what others have said is absolutely true and it is important for dogs to learn to cope with being on their own.  That said, this little pup doesn't sound like it's coping and leaving a dog to get in a pickle and scream the palce down is actually just reinforcing to the dog that being on his won is horrilbe.  If a pup feels confident and secure as a youngster then it's got a much better chance of growing into an adult dog that can cope with time on his own and deal with stresses in a much more positive way than a pup that has felt insecure and worried by things.

I would set up a plan like that that Mastifflover has suggested and work on things slowly.  If he can be occupied by things like Kongs then be creative and use things that will last longer, leave him with a well stuffed kong and a treat ball at bath times.  If he's leaving things like that in favour of whining to be with you then you need to take things slowly and work on a plan and for the time being you may have to have him nearer you while doing things like having a bath. 

What is his routine at night time and where does he sleep?  It could just be that he's a bit bored and lonely and is seeking some attention rather than being scared about being left on his own, either way I would deal with it the same way to be honest - make time away frm you more enjoyable and build up the duration slowly, it can just be a longer process if you are dealing with seperation issues.

What is his routine at night time and where does he sleep?  It could just be that he's a bit bored and lonely and is seeking some attention rather than being scared about being left on his own, either way I would deal with it the same way to be honest - make time away frm you more enjoyable and build up the duration slowly, it can just be a longer process if you are dealing with seperation issues.

At night he is in his crate with a stuffed Kong. The other dog is in his basket next to him. Both in the kitchen. He has now settled at night although if the OH gets up to the bathroom any time from 6 a.m. the pup starts to make a noise to be let out. Expected. I think it is more frustration than fear that he cries.........like "OY! I want to be where the action is." SHOUTING like they do it seems.
I mean at the moment he is in the other room fast asleep where he would be lying next to me if he really wanted to be with me. The other lad is on the other side of the room behind the sofa so he is not lying near him either.

I have to say that I am not looking for major time on my own but to avoid becoming smelly one needs to be able to shower sometimes and I too think a dog should be able to cope on their own and not be taking a shower with me!! If I go upstairs and downstairs or move between rooms I want to do so without falling over dogs and end up in casualty or at the vets!

I too love my dogs and they are definately part of my family. I do not isolate them in a moment of cruelty........we have a baby gate and the house is pretty open plan downstairs so he can see, smell, hear what is going on.
I too think they need to cope with me not around.

I think I am more or less doing what some have advised leaving him in short bursts.....trying to go back when he is on a quiet moment.......giving him something to alleviate any boredom etc.
Thanks for the feedback and pleased to see it raised some issues for discussion!

> at the moment he is in the other room fast asleep

Is the baby-gate shut? It may be that he has learnt the gate gets shut and he misses out on something? If so it's worth making it habbit to shut him behind the gate for a few minutes evey now & then, when you aren't doing anything of any interest to him (and keep him occupied with the kong), and shutting the gate while you are in there with him, so the gate being shut becomes insignificant. (if you can understand any of my waffle, LOL). As it seems like he can settle on his own.

All makes sense to me. The gate is only on the kitchen door and Burt was in the front room area with me in the dining room area just now when he was asleep.
He does get shut in kitchen when we are in there..........actually to keep the OTHER lad out as he gets more under the OH s feet when he is cooking (yes, HE does the cooking!!).

I mean at the moment he is in the other room fast asleep where he would be lying next to me if he really wanted to be with me. The other lad is on the other side of the room behind the sofa so he is not lying near him either.

It may well be the case that it's more attention seeking but the above doesn't mean there's no anxiety in it because he knows he can get to you if he wants and is settled and relaxed. Whereas when he's behind the baby gate he knows he can't get to you should he want to.

What I would try and aim for is that he doesn't get worked up in the first place so maybe taking things in smaller steps than you are at the moment.  If you are going to be slightly longer then leave more for him to keep him occupied. I have recently taken on a girl that has been left to shout it out and it hasn't worked, infact she would toilet when I left the room to start with she got into such a pickle, it's improved loads but she still has worries in this area but she will also settle away from me if she knows she can get to me.

I'm sure you're going in the right direction but maybe make it a bit easier for him to cope with you out of sight until he's a bit more grown up and settled by taking things in smaller steps and making it fun for him to spend time on his own :-)  Plastic milk bottle with treats in are great for keeping pups occupied, just supervise him forst to make sur he won't eat them.  Card board coxes with paper scrunched up with treats inside it to make a little activity box are also great as are treat balls.  Kongs with frozen fillings always take a good bit longer too.

Thanks for the ideas Karen.