My husband and I have recently invited a two year old female Tibetan Terrier to live with us.  We collected her last Tuesday and we have experienced a number of problems.

Firstly she was not properly housetrained.  Currently we are working on that with going out into the garden regularly and it seems to be working.  Lead training is going well as she pulled excessively and she now sits at curb sides and heals most of the time.  She is also responding well to areas such as not investigating the coffee table and not jumping on the sofa as and when.  Most areas are doing well.

I have one major issue which is proving to be an problem.  When she is left. In her previous home she lived in a conservatory with access at all times to the garden.  Even her water etc was out there.  I do not have a conservatory (and don't really like the idea of my dog living that way anyway) but I do have a reasonable sized kitchen.  I have been leaving her in this area with fur bed, water, toys and even a radio on when I leave her.  On all occasions when she is left and upon return she howls, crys, scratches the door post to the extent the wood is scratched off and messes on the floor.  She doesn't urinate, possibly because before I leave her we take a trip to the park and she does her business there.  I must also add that she has experienced an upset stomach which may not help regarding the mess when left to which a diet of chicken and rice, with no treats has been in place for the past three days.  When she is out in the garden with the door shut (which is only when I am clearing the mess up) she is fine, just jumping up at the door to be let in but no howling etc.

I really feel that this is the last hurdle and I do understand that it is early days.  I work from home but do have the need two or three days per week to leave her for a few hours. I really need to get through this as this is stressful for me and of course her.

I would be grateful for advice.  Yesterday I was cleaning my hamster in the lounge and shut her in the hallway, which resulted in her having access to the whole of my home.  She whimpered a little but non of the howls and scratching ect.  I wouldn't mind her having access to other areas of home if it wasn't for the messing.  I have carpets and no carpet cleaner yet!

Wendy

Welcome to Champ Dogs & well done on the work you have already done with your girl.

I would advise you to get her a crate & train her to accept it as a safe place to be left in when you are not there. My Cavaliers have crates & two of them will go into them to sleep during the day with the door open. Not only will it be safer for her but will stop her getting upset when she is left, she has obviously fallen on her paws with you. & doesn't want to be parted from you

Crates are not expensive & not cruel if used correctly I get my crates at dog shows but I'm sure there will be other members along shortly to give you places were crates can be obtained

PS one of my friends has TTs & they are lovely if a bit naughty dogs-much like my cavaliers ;)

Edited to add please join & tell us more about your pet

As suggested a cage might help (or at least protect her from doing any damage to herself!)  They are not cruel, I have 4 dogs and a cage big enough just about for 2 to curl up in and its a rush to who gets the cage!  Another cage is where two girls sleep, as soon as we have to go out for more then 2 hours they go in the cage and they rush in (they have to go in due to chewing up stairs when left whihc is a pain for us a possibly dangerous to them)

She obvously isn't botherd about being shut away when she knows your away, maybe she's worried once you've left you won't come back?  Try taking it bit at a time, walking out the door, shutting it and walking down the road for a minuet, then come back so she knows your back.

If you do decide on a cage then get her used to this, while your at home let her go in at will leaving the door open, when she goes in, shut the door for awhile.

At the end of the day a cage is just another form of dog bed, when left open they are not shut in.  Infact I have found dogs will prefere this as many when asleep would rather a confined area where theres less area to watch incase they get attacked.

A good place to pick them up is ebay but also from pet shops, dog shows, and I'm sure you could find plently on "online stores" you could order off of.

Good luck

I have an 18month old male TT and he has recently started showing signs of separation anxiety. We have had him from 11 weeks old and nothing has changed so I cant understand why he to has started howling and barking when left alone.  We are going down the route at the moment where we leave him out the kitchen while we are in the house juust for short periods of time to see if we can get him over this episoed.  Good luck with your new girl