I have a 12 week old pup. He whines and barks when he is left alone, even for a few seconds... and he's getting worse. I used to be able to leave him in his crate to go and do things around the house and he would go quiet after a few minutes. Now he just barks and cries constantly... he does go quiet eventually but it take a long time, and since we have neighbours very close on both sides and his bark is very loud and shrill, it's not ideal!
I have never reinforced his crying and barking by going to him/giving him attention when he is like this. I have always made sure that he is quiet first, and as far as I know the rest of the family has been doing this too.

This morning I let him outside and stood with him for a while until he did a wee. I praised him and gave him a treat, then went inside to get myself something to eat. As soon as I closed the door, the barking started :rolleyes:

Am I expecting too much from a pup of his age? Am I doing something wrong? What can I do to correct it? I really want this stopped before it gets out of hand - it would be awful if he develped seperation anxiety in adulthood.

Well, I think it IS a bit much to expect a 12 wk old puppy to be ok being shut outside of the house, yes - but he should be getting used to being crated while you're in different rooms without so much fuss.

Sometimes you get some pups like this, and you feel like you're making no progress and they are not learning to be "ok" when crated, and you're doing all the right things... But if you persevere suddenly, almost overnight, it gets better.  The problem is that many people feel they're not making progress with pups like this and so they give up.  So - keep going, persevere, be determined and it WILL get better with time.

Dont worry he is still a little baby and he wants to be with you .
How often do you put him in his crate ?
Do you put him in the crate while you are in the room? or only when you are leaving him they are quick to learn that the crate door shut "mums leaving me" I would have him in the crate for some of the time when I am in the room pottering about.
Also leave him for 30 seconds then walk back in dont say anything then back out and build it up so that he knows that you are still around not always out etc:
does he go in the crate to sleep when you are in with the door open if not encourage him to the crate with treats I feed my young pups in the crate with the door shut (mainly because I have more than 1 dog )but it does encourage them to use it as they see it as a good thing.
Also if you are leaving him out of the crate most of the time  (which I do) can you put up a baby gate if he is in the kitchen so he can see you .

Roni

Thanks both of you :)

Looks like I'll just have to persevere then!

I do put him in his crate while I'm in the room, he just cries then too. I leave the door open and 2 or 3 times he has gone in there on his own to sleep. It's a bit difficult for him though because it's quite a big step through the door (although he has no trouble getting out...)
He sleeps in his crate at night (he never cries then, just settles down to sleep) and goes in there when I have to go out of the house. I do put him in there at other times too but probably not as often as I should - I will work on that.
Yesterday I tried leaving him for a few seconds then coming back. Didn't seem to get anywhere but it will probably take time so I will persevere.
I don't feed him in the crate but I will start to do that!

When Floyd was that age he would make a dreadful racket when we left him, even more so if we were in the house! But ... he did grow out of it, and get used to the routine, and now he's ok with being left alone (tho would much rather have company if possible
Good luck with your baby, it will all be well worth it

As well as feeding him in there, you should hide treats in there during the day, at random times and without him seeing you.  Let him discover these treats in his own time.  Then he will think the crate is magic and it produces these amazing treats and must be a good place. 

PS here is a good link:  http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/crate-train.pdf

I don't know why I haven't done all this with Felix... I suppose I've just taken it for granted because he's a puppy! I introduced my older dog to her crate slowly and successfully so I have done all these things before.
I just put a bit of ham in his crate and he's found it - he's sat in there eating happily :)
When I leave him in his crate to go out I do usually leave him with a stuffed kong.

I can't really add anything, but a few months ago I posted something very similar and 123 gave me the same advice as already posted, but I just wanted to assure you that my 7 month old GR is now fine with being left. When we first got her she'd cry (really distressing) and bark the second I left her view - even to pop into another room/go upstairs. I got over this by giving her something to chew/do and leave the room and then and quickly come back in before she'd had a chance to notice I was gone. 1st she'd realise is that I was coming back in. After a short period I was able to leave for a few seconds withouth her being bothered and now she only occassionally has a whine - more  habit that being distressed I think.

Also I found that if she did cry, after a few months, I didn't find it so distressing. I think it bothered me more that it bothered her in the beginning, and I do think my matter of fact attitude to her, and praising her when she's been good has done her no end of good.

After following 123 advice about the crate we can now pop her in it with no fuss at all - in fact we can pop her in it when we have other dogs in the house (when she's getting a bit boisterous) and she'll happily settle and be peaceful. No mean feat for a 7 month old pup I understand.

I do think they grow out of being so distressed/annoyed/frustrated when you leave/aren't with them as long as you train them that being without you isn't the end of thier world.

Welcome to the world of demanding Tollers!!!

I remember my dog Paddy at 12 weeks too - whenever he was left in his crate he would start screaming to be let out again, I'm sure he thought the world revolved around him, he got very upset when he was ignored. I don't remember doing anything special to stop him from doing this, he just grew out of it eventually, and he doesn't suffer from separation anxiety. (Although if he's tied up somewhere and I'm still in sight then he'll still scream his head off!) Hopefully your pup will grow out of this too, since Paddy is his uncle!

Janice

Oh boy, you are taking me back to the terrible time I had with one of my mum's Cocker's who I had at 10 weeks, (due to her going on hols and me always looking after her dogs.) this pup was a nightmare, I have never had one like it and never wish to again!

She was free all day to socialise with the other dogs and get fussed and trained, when she napped she went in her crate, but on a night I locked the crate to keep her safe, well screaming is not the word, I have pups all the time and yes, they can cry and howl for 10 mins to an hour when first left, I am used to it, but this pup it screamed the house down for three nights, I of course ignored her, would not go down, and we walked around like zombies for the next 3 days, in the end I opened the crate to see if it was just the 'being behind bars' that distressed her, but no she cried for a 4th night.

My dog and mum's dogs all sleep in my day room on a sofa with throw, so in the end I popped the pup on the sofa with the other dogs..............NOT A PEEP!  She just wanted company, slept like a baby for the next 10 days staying with me, and was an angel. I would wake up at 5am to let the dogs out, she was clean and happy as larry.

So, if you have another dog this may help as the pup may just want to be with your other dog, if not, sooorrry!!  Just persevere, I too became distressed at also keeping the neigbours awake, they were all really good, but it must have been driving them mad! Neighbours will only take so much, just knock on their doors and explain you are breaking in a pup and hope they will be understanding, and I hope and pray that it will all be over soon for you, just do not go down to the pup.

Good luck, my thoughts are with you.

Just to add I know what you are experiencing and it does get better! It definately worked for me feeding him in the crate - in fact when I am preparing his food he still opens the crate door and sits inside to wait, even though I dont put the food in there now. Kongs stuffed with treats etc also help to distract them, my dog used to almost push me out the door so he could have his kong. However I never got over the stage of him whining in his crate when he knew I was in the house. In the end I had to skip that stage when he was about 18 weeks and just leave the house. He was fine when he knew I wasnt there. Also he still doesnt like being shut in the room, he is fine if the door to the room is open - perhaps your pup doesnt like that either?

I agree with the fact that it helps when you have another dog in the room I have never been without a dog so maybe thats why I can get a puppy to settle prettty quickly.

Thanks again everyone :)
I do have an older dog and he is generally ok when left with her (unless he's in crate). I can leave them both out in the garden and they will entertain themselves with toys.
I have actually noticed a slight improvement over the past few days, so we are getting somewhere!
Oh and Felix says hi to Uncle Paddy :)