any advice on de-clingying a puppie? If she could have it her way, Ruby (terrier 7 months old) will be always on my lap... she won't go out in the garden on her own or stay in the kitchen if I have to do something upstairs. and you can imagine: night time is of course for singing performances...to the joy of my neighbours...she does stop ater about 1 hrs, which is a little bit of a consolation.

yesterday her crying broke my heart and got her upstairs. while I was studying she just curled up on a pillow and waited. after she moved it underneath my chair...

re: the garden, I play with her there, trying to make her see it as a good place, but when I close the door, she just sits by the door crying and trying to break in.

thanks for any advice you can give me!

You need to be consistent, and start with tiny weeny sessions of being on her own, (literally a second or two) and slowly build on this, never returning to her unless she is quiet, and making sure what you ask her to do is NEVER too much that she's had to start crying to bring you back.  Unfortunatly, each time you 'give in' and let her out when she's crying, she's learning that crying brings the result she wants, and makes it all the more difficult to unlearn :(  If she can be occupied with a chew toy, or similar while you're gone all the better, but for some dogs this is just impossible as they are so distressed :(

Another thing that can help is a DAP defusser, a plug in device available from your vets - it releases a pheramone, the same as the one released by a nursing bitch which keeps the puppys calm.

If being on her own for just a few seconds is too much, try starting off by teaching her to lie on her own while you are in the room - reward her with a lap session when she's stayed in her bed for a few seconds etc.

Good luck, as 'seperation anxiety' as it is called, is one of the worst things to deal with and the reason so many dogs end up in rescue because they can't settle when their owners are away :(

Hi there,

Digger's advice is spot on - separation anxiety is more common than some recognise :(

Just to add to the other suggestions (not in place of them), have you someone else in the household with you?  If so, try and have them take a more pro-active role in looking after her - feeding and playing with her and exercising her too.  If you and Ruby are the sole occupants then do you have a neighbour or friend who could do something fun and interesting with her on the occasional walk?  If you are quite literally her entire world it will be more difficult to increase her confidence when you're not around.

HTH.  Good luck, Teri :)

thank you for all your comments.
the main issue is at night. during the day she seems ok. I was pottering around the kitchen today and she just stayed in her basket. looking at my every movement, but not stepping out very often. I tried yesterday to leave her in the car whilst I went to the shop and she was ok (was a quick, pop in get a collar - and rewards(!) event).

but when I go to bed, she just starts aouling (correct spelling?) she just went 'AUUUUU' for few minutes constantly then intermittingly, then she either stopped or I fell asleep! thank god for old thick walled cottages!  my neighbour hasn't heard a thing, which I guess is ok...

I have a friend sharing the house so he will be about after the w/e. and other friends who will look after her on a wednesday to thursday eve, when I am actually away at college. so that will be good too.

i am naturally still getting to know her, and today she seems calmer, maybe she is getting to know me too! it's just she has a big garden to play in, but she does not seem interested, apart from the chickens...she came back with a mouthfull of feathers few hrs ago! a can see a dive in the eggs count!

the good thing considered she's a terrier is that i had no problems on a walk this morning, everytime I whistled she came back.

off to patch the whole in the chicken gate!
Resi

So have you only just got her then?  I assumed that you'd had her from an 8 week old pup.......  Where has she been between then and now if not?

I am her third set of owners (plus the breeder). the last family she was with had her for 2 months. it was meant to be just a 'look after her while I move' arrangement from owner number 1. But (owner no.2) had to rehome her since the landlord would not let them keep a dog. so here I come.
been with her outside all day doing some volunteering work at a community Forest garden project and she was rooting around etc. even catched a mouse I think... just towards the end she was clingy trying to jump up on me etc but it was starting to get dark. feeling quite positive really!

let's just hope the howling will settle soon...

thanks for all your help

In that case I'd work on rewarding her for settling on her bed to start with (make sure it's comfortable, warm and not in a vulnerable position - under a table in a corner would be ideal).  She's had a lot of disruption in her short life, and expecting her to NOT be insecure would be foolish.  However, be aware that we can unthinkingly reward a dog for being clingy by allowing it to follow us and lie on us wether we want it or not.

thanks digger! she currently sleeps by the rayburn, she really chose the spot, with her old blanket and her bone. sometimes stares at the rayburn, usually when it boils, but otherwise she's happy. I had friends over the other night and after trying for a while to get our attention, she just went back there, to look at us from a distance. I thought that was good, previous terrier just begged for food all the time, so much so we used to get her outside so we could eat in peace...
Ruby is never allowed on my lap of her own accord. she tries, I push her down, she settles on the carpet, then I invite her over...or so the book said to do! I also leave her in the kitchen (crying and howling) if I need to go upstairs for a few minutes, thought that this would get her used to know I am coming back and she will get used to be alone... I think the crying and howling is decreasing....slightly.
quick question (maybe should be in the food section...) her frantic behaviour when I prepare her dinner...could it be caused by having worms and therefore being hungry all the time? she will take no for an answer when humans are eating and eventually settle, but when her food is getting ready it's like the tansmanian devil in the kitchen and it is a very small kitchen!

ResiRuby - by pushing her down you are inadvertantly rewarding her for trying to get up - if she trys it, instead of pushing her away, get up and walk off.....  For most dogs, even attention such as being looked at, is reward enough to make them repeat the behaviour.

Re food treat balls - these are fine if the dog is sufficiently interested in food - but for many, the distress at being left alone is too much to over ride their desire for food.......

I saw one of those toys that get filled with treats so the dog has to play with it to get the food...do they work?
what if I gave her one of them and then leave...would she be to engrosed in the potential treats to notice my 'dissapearing' act? thought to use her food fondness to my advantage....

Is it really such a big deal to make her stay downstairs while you study?  Dogs just want to be near us all the time, and if she happily settles down on a bed and goes to sleep, then surely that's a good thing - she's happy, you're happy...if this is her fifth home already, I would be leaning towards including her in the things you do as much as possible rather than excluding her - I KNOW you're supposed to 'teach' them to be alone, but I wouldn't be able to resist.  My sister's dog came to her house at 5 months, it being hisr 4th home so she made an extra fuss of him to demonstrate she wasn't ever going to leave him and although he is clingy and loves to be near people/included in everything, he is MUCH better at being left alone that my dog, doesn't bat an eyelid when they go out, settles down to sleep, doesn't need a kong or anything, he knows they'll come back and they won't leave him.

Re: the toys you fill with treats, i.e. kongs, they do work, I have just had to go back out to work from this week, my dog is on her own about 2 hours a day until OH gets home, and I leave a Kong with her when I go - each time I give it to her she doesn't even acknowledge me walk out of the door, and when I peak through the letterbox she is so engrossed in the activity - yet if I pop to the shops and leave her with a schmacko and I peek through she has gobbled it in about 2 seconds flat and is sitting looking at the door already, so its definately worth getting one.

Those toys really do work! I got one of the balls (at my sisters recommendation) & just put some of his usual food, taken out of his daily amount & he doesn't even notice me go - I was quite put out, lol!
If he gets bored with that when he's older I plan to move onto the cube type ones which will make him work even harder for his yummy food!
I think they're a great idea as the dog has fun & is rewarding himself for working too!
Dee.xxx

I have had exactly the same thing with 6 month old puppy, for the first few nights he barked and cryed when we went upstairs or when we put him in the kitchen at bedtime, we have ignored the barking which was very hard and now a week later he barks for about a minute when left alone and then stops.