Hi all,
I have now got my new puppy and she is gorgeous!
I know it’s very early days (day 2) but she cries whenever I leave her in her pen or crate, even if I’m in the same room sometimes, eg last night. This is normal I know but she also poops very quickly when left alone, even, like just now, when she had very recently done one in the garden. Is this a form of protest or just stress and  has anyone experienced this before?
I’m renting and although i have permission to have her, I’m very anxious not to upset the neighbours so I can’t leave her to cry much anyway. Please could someone help?
Also, I am meant to be somewhere for 40 mins tomorrow and was hoping she’d be ok in her crate in the car but is this unrealistic?
Thank you

How old is she. & have you had a puppy before ?

Yes, I have but not on my own before so I wasn’t making all the decisions singlehanded. I just want to be sure I’m doing the best I can for her. She is almost 10 weeks.

The first stage, is to get the puppy happy being in the crate or pen with you right next to it.  Do not leave the puppy in it, alone, until the pup is happy with you sitting right next to it.  The puppy can't associate the place they are left alone as the place they are put to be separated from you, or they will often hate it.  If instead you associate it with your presence, they will feel reassured when left there...

> hoping she’d be ok in her crate in the car but is this unrealistic?<br />

No, don't leave her in the car alone.  Lots of people nowadays will smash your car windows when seeing a puppy in distress.

I certainly would.

Thank you. I was asking because the breeder told me it should be ok as she’s been left before with her litter mates. Since having her home I saw that maybe this wasn’t going to work for her. I’m finding my way so may ask questions that seem a bit obvious but doing it with the best of intentions.

Being left with litter mates, and being left alone are two very different things.
And regarding the pooping I would say yes, anxiety.
You need to make the cage a nice place to be, not somewhere she’s put when you leave.
Some people cover it with a towel to make a cosy den. Try enticing her in with tiny bits of treat, then giving her a stroke while she’s in there.
But, to be honest, my dog never took to the cage so I just restricted where she could go when I left her and made sure it was safe. She started off in the utility, then graduated to the kitchen. Now she has the run of the house and can choose which bed to sleep on !

Oh dear not good advice, being left with company & being left alone two totally different experiences.

I would feed your puppy in the crate, so that going into it is rewarding, plus leaving with a stuffed baby kong reinforces the reward.

10 week old pups don't have much control over their bladders & pooping, if they need to go they will go, hence the taking outside at every opportunity, when they wake up, after eating, if they start getting ready to go & at least every 2 hours depending on their size(smaller pups need to more frequently)
Saying nothing if there is an indoor accident, just clear up & deodorise throughly.

Thank you so much for this- I didn’t leave her. Already she’s making progress- I slept near her crate in my room and she settled well and just cried a tiny bit when she needed to go out at 2 and then settled back to sleep and kept her crate clean. Yesterday she wouldn’t poop outside for some reason but she did her first one when we went out in the night and a couple more today. What a clever girl!

> I’m finding my way so may ask questions that seem a bit obvious but doing it with the best of intentions.

Wish every new owner was as good.  Ask away, doesn't even matter if you feel daft, because we all had to learn when we had our first dog. 

Lots of people nowadays will smash your car windows when seeing a puppy in distress.

Or indeed to steal them.

If yesterday around u was like it was for many of us even getting our dogs out the door was hard work . :)

As said, there's a world of difference between a puppy being left with his siblings in familiar surroundings etc. and being left alone without his siblings and in totally unfamiliar surroundings. 

Yes use a crate BUT you can't really expect a puppy to accept finding herself in there, again on her own in a strange place.   With our buy-ins (when we had our home-bred puppies we almost always kept back 2 and they were in our puppy pen), we set up their crate in the living area, with top and sides covered and the door open so they could use the crate like any other dog bed, going in there to nap.    We didn't go out together, leaving the puppy alone (even if he/she had our other hound for company) for some weeks at first, so when we did finally go out together, after playing with our baby Whippet (9+ weeks) and letting her out to empty, she went into her crate with a few treats and the door was shut.  She didn't much like that, but we went out and were gone for about 1 hour.   We came back expecting to hear a riot going on - not so .... she was fast asleep and didn't even hear us come in.   We left the radio on, and she had old then old Basset in the same room with her.

What's going on with this poohing would most probably be her form of separation anxiety.   I've known an upset youngster 'wring out' the last drop in protest!!  And that should be avoided at all costs because of all places, her crate should be the one secure safe place for a puppy to be.

I'd certainly not leave her alone in the car, crated or not.   We had to do this one time when, with only 2, one took off so we put the other in the car so we could go back to find him.  When we got back he'd chewed the brake handle, the steering wheel, etc.etc.   And he wasn't 10 weeks - he was a boy we'd had to leave back with his breeder after he was too sick to travel to our new home abroad with us.  It was his form of protest.

Fact is you may have to clear your appointments for now and concentrate on getting her settled with you and into a good routine.   If you can't, can you have her breeder take her for the time you'll be out? Just this one time?

ps   I appreciate your concern re renting!!

Thank you all, I know I’ll have more questions as we go and it’s lovely to have a place where I can get so much advice from experienced owners. Yes, thinking about it, yesterday wasn’t ideal for toilet training what with storm C and all