Puppy Separation Anxiety – Our Weimaraner Puppy 9 weeks Howls when Alone
Puppy Separation Anxiety – Our Weimaraner Puppy 9 weeks Howls when Alone
by Lisa owen
(Wales)
We got our puppy last week and first 3 nights we had no sleep as she howled and whined all night, she has a crate in the kitchen with toys and blankets, I put a blanket over the top and sides to make it darker like a den, I have built up to leaving her alone from 30 secs to an hour, she would whine for ten mins then stop, which was great, she howls now about twice in a night for ten min, which is great, but I left her for a few hours to go to work and the neighbor said she was howling a lot and sounded like she was scratching the door. Will she get better and learn to be alone? Or is she too young, I don’t want separation anxiety to set in! Thanks for any advice.
Our Response
Hi and thanks for your question – you have done everything right – building up to leaving her on her own for periods of time. It might be that you that you have jumped from the one hour to the few hours too quickly. Unfortunately when a dog or puppy howls and whines it starts to soothe them and they continue doing it. Below are some tips on what you can do to alleviate the problem. I am not definitely saying that your puppy has separation anxiety but it could be going that way – some dogs are more prone to separation anxiety particularly Cocker Spaniels and Weimaraners. Below are some tips…
1. Continue building up the time you leave her alone – do this over the weekend – so she is fine for an hour so you can start leaving her for an hour and a quarter and then an hour and a half (build the time she is left alone until it equals the time you are are at work).
2. Leave something to comfort her – something with your smell on it.
3. Leave the radio on – or put a CD on – some studies have revealed that very stressed dogs reacted really well to Baroque music.
4. Try leaving a Kong bone filled with lots of her favorite food – this will keep her busy and divert her attention away from barking and whining (this is one of the best techniques).
5. Before you go out give your pooch lots and lots of exercise as this will help burn any excess energy.
6. Get a Crate – dogs love to be nice and cosy and cuddle up to something warm.
7. And don’t forget she is still very young and it is very early days.
Hope this helps
