leaving him in crate We don`t leave him for long but we can hear him barking and whinging .My hubby is retired so pup has all his attention during the day but when we both go out he hates being left.  He is 13weeks now and we have been taking him out and about to socialise him but we hate to see him distressed when we go out :(  He loves his crate when we are there goes in and out whenever he pleases but just hates it when we close it and go out . What can we do to make it less stressful for him. We only go out for half and hour to an hour as we don`t want to leave him.

if you havent already try covering it with a blanket and putting a nice comfy bed inside with a old jumper or something similar that you have been wearing this may give him a bit of comfort for the time you are away.

Roni

are you making a fuss when you go out that is winding him up from the beginning, try closing the cage door for 10 mins then 15 etc but not going out, put him in go to another room wait a few mins come back , say nothing and ignore him then do it again, he should soon realise you will be coming back, this isn't that he doesn't like the cage, I think it is probably the start of seperation anxiety.  You need to show him that you are the mom and he is the baby, sounds like he thinks he has to worry about where you are. 

He will sleep in it and cage is closed when we are there. its when he hears the front door close and we all leave.  we can listen from outside and can hear him getting upset and we still can hear him when we return so think he is crying and barking all the time when we are away. Going to try and close his crate through out the day and leave the room and return doing that but not leaving the house and see how he settles. We don`t want to upset him as he is doing so well with toilet training and socialising. when we return his ears are pinned right back and he looks so worried. He has a big fluffy blanket in his crate.

Sorry to say but it sounds like he thinks he is responsible for you and he is struggling to cope.  take the stress out of him. give him time out, ignore him abit, dont make a fuss of him the minute you see him, leave it until you have been in a miniute or two then make a fuss of him, there are lots of books and articles on seperation anxiety these should help. Its the old adage being cruel to be kind, but he will be much happier.

He's 13 weeks old for heaven's sake - he's not responsible for his owners (And I think I know where that theory came from :( )  He's a baby who's worried about what might happen when he's alone.

Along with socialisation comes training a puppy to accept the different situations they may need to be in, which includes being alone, for very very short periods to start with - seconds rather than minutes.

He is very young indeed and of course he'd much rather have your undivided attention? Who wouldn't? But for sure, he isn't struggling with some complex transference of responsibilities! Instead, he is just a little pup who needs to learn how to cope with being left alone in his comfy house and cosy crate. So start by leaving him for short periods of time (without any emotional farewells!) and don't worry about flattened ears when you come home or whimpering when you leave. The chances are that he simply goes to sleep within moments of you leaving him and wakes up only on your return. 

thanks everyone, I  think Iam worry unnecessary he is left alone through out the day just to relax , we don`t make a fuss of him all the time . I think its what you said roz that he likes the attention and needs to get used to the situation when we go out . So will not make a fuss of him when we return and let him out once we have been home for several minutes.thanks again