My partner and I picked up our puppy Lola on Sunday (5 days ago), she was treated very well by her previous owners, is generally well behaved (she does try to push her luck and get on the sofa etc) but still needs a bit of work, is great out in the park with other dogs and people, currently trying to get her to stop pulling on the lead and getting her to heel, I have bought one of those Ancol anti-pull dog harnesses that was recommended to me.

I can live with all of the above naughtiness as we can train her out of it, but what I'm quite worried about is whenever my partner and I leave the room/ house she really whines and howls.
We put her to sleep in the utility room which is closed off to the kitchen and rest of house etc and whenever my partner and I go up to bed she scratches the door, then whines, then proper howls! I really dont want this to become habit, apart from the door scratching  she isn't destructive when left alone and doesnt wee or poo inside.
She does eventually stop the howling etc but it varies between 15-45 mins I would say.

Just wondering if anyone had any tips or whether she will grow out of it? Whenever we come home or downstairs we don't fuss over her/ ignore her for at least 10-15 mins.

Thank you :)

Would it be possible to allow her in the bedroom in a crate ?.
Being in a new home is incredibly stressful for dogs, and they naturally want the comfort of another living being near them.
You can after some time, gradually move the crate nearer the bedroom door and eventually out in the hall, if you don't want her in your bedroom.

You are expecting an awful lot from a 7 month old puppy that you have only had for 5 days. Did the previous owners treat her the same way you are doing ? if not you need to treat her as a very young puppy & go back to basics.

Why are you ignoring her for 10-15 minutes when you reappear-please tell me it's not the Jan Fennell"Amichen"method ?

Using a harness will NOT stop her pulling, it will stop her choking when she does pull as well as teaching her that pulling isn't painful & indirectly teaching her to pull harder.

You need to start training her at home to walk with you off lead & to show her that doing so is rewarding, then when you are out & have to use a lead, she will want to walk by you rather than pull to get to where she wants to be.

Sounds to me like you need to go to a rewards based trainer/training club to learn how to teach your puppy her manners & other social behaviours

Ignore her age, she is a dog new to your house and unfamiliar surroundings. As others have said you need to go back to basics and start from scratch as you would a puppy. The poor thing is probably wondering what on earth happened and why she isnt with her normal family.
Trying to get on the sofa and pulling when on the lead is not "naughty". Its something she has inherited from her previous owners who allowed her to do it. You may find this behaviour undesirble but for her it is the norm.
For the time being I would be focusing on settling her in and getting her used to the house and local environment if youve only had her for 5 days. Once she is more settled you can then deal with the other stuff. It is still very early days

> Just wondering if anyone had any tips or whether she will grow out of it? Whenever we come home or downstairs we don't fuss over her/ ignore her for at least 10-15 mins

As others have said - go back to treating her as if she is a very young puppy.  She'll need time to settle in and learn your routines but you can't expect too much too soon.

With new puppies you'll find that many of us will advocate taking your pup upstairs to sleep in a crate beside you for a few weeks.  You can provide comfort by dropping a hand into the crate or quietly shushing your pup when needs be, you'll teach it that lights out means bed time AND just as importantly your pup can teach you the difference between the "I'm a bit bored" type of whinging and the "Uh oh! Quick I need a pee now" sort of noises :)

Normally, by 7 months, a puppy that has lived with you from the beginning will be downstairs and sleeping right through the night BUT your puppy will probably regress a bit due to the change in home.  Remember that everything will feel, sound and smell very different to her and she'll need you to be patient whilst you teach her what behaviours you want from her.  If you don't want her to sleep upstairs with you then I'd suggest you find a way to stay with her til she is asleep OR sleep next to her for a while.

Also regarding the ignoring, I understand what you mean.  You don't want a big greeting and hello every single time you come back into the room (you might have just been to the fridge) however ignoring for 10 or minutes isn't right either.  I'd suggest that you spend a lot of time just walking through your own house opening and closing doors behind you - sometimes she'll follow, other times just shut the door on her and open it again almost immediately, before she gets a chance to draw breath.  After a while she'll get bored following you and she'll realise that a closed door doesn't actually mean very much either.  In addition to that go and hang about in her room with her til she nods off.  Puppies of 7 months sleep much less than younger puppies but she will still follow a pattern of eat, play, train, and snooze that you'll soon start to plan and predict.  My dogs sleep in the utility room so I'd often shuffle laundry, clean cupboards or just take a chair and a book whilst I waited for my pups to fall asleep.  Once they're snoozing they rarely notice you've left :)

When you do return after a longer absence you should greet your dog but it needn't be a full on looney dance.  I tend to just say a quiet good morning, hello handsome etc (most of it too soppy to repeat!!) but then we go straight outside (rain or shine) and they say a bigger hello once they've had a pee, or a stretch, or a run about the garden.  As they get older they are less likely to be busting for a pee but we've all got into the habit of going straight outside and there's comfort in routine...

Hope this helps

>I can live with all of the above naughtiness

     It sounds as if you have little canine knowledge.  I honestly feel sorry for your dog, she must be so lost and confused bless her.  I agree that you need to treat her like an 8 week old pup and go back to basics.  If you can find a training class (reward based only) they can help train you to understand canine behaviour.  It will also give a really great bond between you and your pet.

Apart from the previous good advice the one thing with Rotts is that they want to be with you all the time, they are not called velcro dogs for nothing.  Mine follow me every where, even to the loo. When they were puppies my OH didn't want them in the bedroom, so we put a board across the bedroom door so they could still see in. They would not settle tore up their beds then progressed to gouging out the plaster from the wall. After about a week we took the board down, they came in layed beside the bed went to sleep and that's where they have slept ever since.  We have no problems leaving them when we go out and can take one out and leave the other at home on his own. Once she is settled with you, I'm sure she will stop the howling and barking. You just have to give her time.

I wish that people posting on here would give us feedback on their progress.

Me too Jean.

And me Jean ... not that I've read this thread. It's almost a case of ... let's get the help then clear off, though sure it's not that calculating.

Please posters - if you've asked and taken advice, at least give the folk who offered the advice some comment of the outcome, even if it's some weeks or even months later :D

>I wish that people posting on here would give us feedback on their progress.

I agree. I would particularly love to hear if people eventually overcame separation anxiety issues with their dogs. My pupper is now 5mths old, and he still howls/barks nearly constantly whenever we go out. 90 minutes is the longest we have ever left him alone!

I always read about owners having this problem followed by all of the advice, but i have yet to see if they have ever found a resolution and managed to cure this debilitating problem...

I did manage to sort it out, but am dealing with a slight relapse at the moment.  Nothing like it was though - I can leave them this time whereas before, not at all without barking and howling for the full duration of my absence.  It's just a minute or two now and mostly for fun, but it's a hell of a racket.  I'm just struggling because there's only me here, and I work full time - I need 3-4 days off with a working webcam to work through this little wrinkle.  Haven't managed to get both things at once yet!

Best thing I can suggest for you is to get Marlena DeMartini-Price's book, Treating Separation Anxiety.  It's the only thing she does, and the book is brilliant - it's how I sorted mine out.  Well written, easy to follow, and it works.  The most important thing is that pupper isn't left alone until you've built up to the minimum time you need to leave him - so if you need to leave him for, say, an hour to go shopping, then someone needs to be with him until you have worked through the program and built up to just over an hour (to play it safe).  Otherwise, every time he's left alone, the anxiety is compounded because he can't yet cope with it.  That's the bit that makes it such a difficult thing to deal with.

Thank you Nikita, I will definitely check out the book.

Nikita, I read a couple of reviews and they said if you arent into crating your dogs (which I'm not), then this book is a waste of time. Is this true? Is it worth me buying the book if i don't use crates?

I can only wonder if they've actually read it as there isn't much mention of crates in there.  Stair gates yes, but not crates.  It's more about creating an area where the dog feels safe and relaxed before moving on to the leaving stuff and yes, that may be a crate - but in the book the emphasis is on establishing a safe room or area (e.g. utility room).  The gates are used to start building absences indoors (as if the dog can't cope with that, then they won't cope with you leaving the house altogether).

Perhaps it's been edited since I got it (only 3 years ago) but it's still worth reading even if it has - just substitute crate for safe area, if it is more heavy on that now.

Great, thanks for replying :-)