Hi again. I have posted before about my lurcher pup having separation anxiety. This has improved i believe, as have had no complaints from neighbours again yet, and before i heard her howling and barking as soon as i shut the front door sometimes but have not herd for weeks now. I think this is due to her crate ('box') !! She is very happy with her 'box' now and is quite happy to lie in there when im doing the housework (instead of her following me around crying), and quite happily goes in there now when i am aboutto leave the house for any reason. It has been such a relief that i ow have somewhere i can put her when out the house as now no more destruction or poo everywhere :) Although when i do the school run (only 2 mornings, a monday and tuesday, as my son is at his dads the rest of the school week) she gets really really stressed. She usually gets stressed and/or excited when i start brushing my hair or putting shoes and coat on, as if she noes im about to leave her, or maybe hopefull she will be going for a walk or ride in the car, but usually i take her out for a toilet and she comes back in and settles in her box and im able to leave nice and stress free. School runs in a morning is a diff matter tho. From the moment we get up she is stressed and anxious and crying non stop, woundering around after me, tried to put her in er box as this usually stops that behavour, but not orning school runs, she is just the same in there. I let her out soon as i get up for a wee and then take her out again befor leaving and make sure she has a poo and a wee (as this was the main time she would poo in he house, on the morning school run), and she does 90 percent of th time have a poo outside ina morning. But she is just soooo stressed. I have tried to change the routing so she does ot no what is coming, like put my coat on and sit down for half hour to try and say my coa on does not always mean im leaving, or by not putting coat on at all so she does not think i am leaving and so not get stressed, also tried changing routing with hair brushing etc, nothing has worked, she just noes from the moment we get up. And it is just a nightmare, kids play up ina mornings as it is and trying to talk to my child or listen to him is hard as i cant think or hear as have the dog constantly in my ear crying, drives me mad haha. I have started leaving tv on for her now aswell. But this morning was twice as bad. And when i come back (only out the house for half hour) she had poo'd in her crate. Baring in mind she had a poo tn mins before i left. Now could just be a one off and becasue she needed one ad couldnt hold it but i hope she is not going back to how it was before and pooing every time i leave her. Things have improved in the house, she has her own space now rather than my sofa and i can tell her obsession with my sofa has gone, and she does not sleep in my bed she sleeps on the floor of the bedroom in her own bed. But please advice !!

Could you or your partner get up 20 minutes earlier and take her for a bit of a walk?  It sounds to me it might be the prospect of that that is making her excited.  Perhaps she is getting a walk before you leave her on the other occasions when she is settling well?

Can you not walk to school and take her with you ?

If it is too far can't she go in the car with you ?

Thanks for both replys. I live on my own, but ys i could get up earlyer and walk her, my son would have to come, but i guess if he wants a dog he has to also put the work in haha I dont walk her when ever i go out in day before hand, she gets her walk at 4 o clock, and i dont go out anywhere after that time, i also have a problem with her that up to an hour before her walk no matter what i am doing she gets anxious and stressed or excited, she noes what is coming up, but i still dont take her till 4.  I could walk her before going to school ina morning but would that not make her anxous every morning then as she thinks she is having a walk, or maybe i should just change routing to a walk every morning and at 4 o clock every evening??
I cant walk her to the school, my dad takes us as it is to far to walk (takes about 35 mins ina morning to drive there and back) and cant have her in car with me as my dad does not like dogs and will refuse. But anyways i would not want to do this as in my opinion that is just reinforcing her behavour, and giving in to her, is it not ?? And so will have this problem when ever i want to go anywhere, and do not want to be someone wo has to take her dog with her where ever she goes haha :)

No I was thinking a car journey to school then a walk to another place than her normal walk would be good for her.

I am a great believer in non routines for my dogs as it avoids the anticipation of things happening at the same time of day and do this for both walks and feeding times.

Have you tried her with a kong just before you go out as that will keep her occupied :-)

Hi there, sorry missunderstood what you meant :) Sounds a good idea, although cant take her in the car with me :( so maye a short 5 min walk before i leave and maybe a walk when i come back ??? what do you think about that??
Also i think you hav it spot on about non routines. I think that is where i have gone wrong, as i have always been told or believed myself that a dog is happyer when in a routine :/ This is soooo not the case with my girl, and although have tried to do small changes to the routine, had no luck yet, so maybe a complete change every day (like you said) and so no anticipation or stress :) thanks great advice :) She is not a big 'doggie treat' lover, and if i was to put something like that down before i went out, she would just ignore it and carry on with her stressing, she also is not bothered by bones from pet shops or butchers, no matter how meats or tasty lookin (sometimes look that tasty i feel like having a bite haha) th only treat she gets excited by is the poundshop ham bones haha and i mean really excited by them. But even these she ignores when put down before i leave and just carries on whinning and stressing (and hardly touches them while im out, but when i come back she starts ripping into them loving it)

I appreciate what you are saying about routines and it is obvioulsy going to be a bit of trial managing preparation for school too but I think a little walk before you go may help.  All mine have generally settled better after one. If it saves time cleaning poo out of the box it's got to be a plus! :)
I think waiting until 4 pm is maybe a bit long too so a varied walk time through the day may be of help in preventing anticipation.
No harm in trying these things anyway.

I believe you are right, and yes will prob save time in the long run if iwas to walk her, and will prob have a more stress free morning :) although tantrums of my little boy will not be a bonus haha something i will just have to be firm about and axplain to him further what having a dog means :)

Just remind him we all walked to school back in the day :)  Seriously, though it will have health benefits too.

Remember that at 7 months she is still a puppy. You are growing her brain and her body so she needs lots of learning experiences.  Why do you make her wait until 4pm before walking her - are you working?

Puppies, like children need little and often.  Short play times in the garden, a short walk down the road and back, a 10 minute training session and ideally she'll need an activity of this sort every 2 hours or so.  It does sound as though she's bored and making her wait til 4pm is just making the problem worse - she's trying to tell you something and you really need to understand what she needs.  She's not being demanding as such, she's just a youngster who needs to develop into into a well adjusted adult - give her time and the experiences to help her. 

>but i still dont take her till 4.  I could walk her before going to school ina morning but would that not make her anxous every morning then as she thinks she is having a walk, or maybe i should just change routing to a walk every morning and at 4 o clock every evening??

Is she only having one outing a day? You might find that short morning, lunchtime and afternoon walks help relax her; it sounds as though boredom could be adding to her stress.

i dont make her wait till 4 for any reason really, just due to inxperience on my part i thought this was right to do, i do have play time and training time with her a well. but i will start walking her more often :) Bet you all think i should not have a dog all the mistakes i make :( But i asure you i am always learning (and actually u read something think it is right, do it only to find its not right :( ) and always trying to imprve to make herhappyer :) I do love her and would do anything for her :)

>Bet you all think i should not have a dog all the mistakes i make

Not at all! :-) We all make mistakes, and you want to learn and help her. You'll be a great owner!

>Bet you all think i should not have a dog all the mistakes i make 

Mmmmmmmmmm Well if we all lived by that example, NONE of us would own a dog!!!!
Even the most experienced owners make mistakes, as anyone on here will tell you :) :) :)
Did you know how to be a mother before you became one, or are you learning as you go along????
You are asking because you WANT to learn :) :) :) So you are a great dog owner as you want to improve on what you do all the time :) :) :) :)
Sorry dont have anything to add about your dog, just making sure you know you are not a bad dog owner FAR from it :) :) :)
Lea :) :)

Thank you :) means alot :) we have just played a game. I put different treats under plastic cups and put them all around the house :) she had fun finding them all and trying to tip over the cups :) and got all excited and please with herself when she got the treats :) only took her 5 mins so will have to make it a little harder haha :) any oter fun games any one can think of to keep her occupied and wanted to do ???

I've recommended an author on your other thread.  Patricia McConnell is well worth a read with her common sense approach and easy to follow exercises, with examples.  Training classes can be a great help too - good trainers can help dog and owner to understand each other better.  Have a look at the APDT website for someone near you

thank you lea :) and no i did not no how to be a mother at first :) still dont sometimes haha but i have my love and devotion :)

>Even the most experienced owners make mistakes, as anyone on here will tell you

And still do, even after 30+ years of multiple dogs, because every dog is different!

Could she not come on the school run, it was always part of my dogs walks when I took the kids to school.

Her dad takes them as its too far to walk and her dad does not like dogs x
Lea x

Yes i would have her on school run with me if i could as i see others with there dogs there and i get a little jelous as i would love my dog o be involved also as she would also love it (she loves children, even just seeing them and she is sooo happy) but like Lea pointed out also i cant do this :( And anyway even if I could I would not want to at the moment untill things are sorted with her as never taken her before so if i was to suddenly start taking her with me it would be reinforcing the behavour and may cause the same problems any other time i want to leave the house. But i do wish i could have taken her right from the beginning so it was also part of her normal routine :( HOW CAN A MEMBER OF MY FAMILY NOT LIKE DOGS ???? i deffinatly did not get their genes haha :)

How far is it to the school?

well if i was to walk there it would take prob an hour (if not longer), then I would have to walk back, then walk up there again for 3 and then back again, my whole day would be taken up by walking haha :) When they move on up to the next year I really wnt to move him to a school just down the road from me (he is only at that school becasue tha is where his dad lives and i felt bullied from him those 2 years previous and agreed to that school) But the thing is his dad drives and I dont, I no his dad will never agree to it and so i cant do anything without his say so, but could take it back to court (really dont want to go through courts again over everything but his dad is just so hard to deal with), where do you think I would stand with it ?? (we have joint custody)

> where do you think I would stand with it ?? (we have joint custody)

I would think  you have a very good case for moving him to a school nearer to the non driving parent at the appropriate time.  Being able to walk to school is in the childs interest as well as yours.

I can't remember, but am sure you said that your son spends most of his time at his dads, if I'm wrong I'm sorry. If am not sure about different laws in England and Scotland (I'm in Scotland so will talk from my own experience) but your son would be given the closest school to where he spends most of his time. Unless you have a very good reason for asking for him to be placed elsewhere, and I am not sure that just the fact that you don't drive would be an adequate excuse. :-(  We hear about the problems of children not getting the school of their choice so I would make initial contact with the education department as soon as possible. That way you can make plans as soon as possible. I would also try to get the school to help and advise you. They will have had to go through this kind of problem in the past.