# Puppy barks when I leave the room



## totoromama

Hello!

I am wondering how I can help my pup know it is ok when I leave a room. If I go take a shower or even go to the bathroom he sits by the door I left through and whines or barks. I have tried making sure I am spending a bit of time with him before I shower (since it is right after I wake up) but in general I am just not sure what to do. He barks and then when I walk back in he greets me like I have been gone for hours. Although I love the love, I want him to know it is ok and not to cry like that. 

He barks when I leave for work in the morning too but then he is in his crate. He loves his crate at night and even when I leave for work in the morning I know it takes him less and less time to calm down (from others in the house who help take care of him if I have to work too long). So...what do I do? 

He is almost 4 months and I have had him for almost 3 weeks. 

Thanks!
Totoro's Momma


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## LynnI

Don't make it an event when you come and go, even to the shower, ignore him. This can be the beginnings of developing a SA dog. Also I would crate him and if he barks and/or whines, I wouldn't come back to him or speak to him unless he is quiet. Again, just open the door and don't make it an event.

Once I had just gotten a pup, I was working very hard on focus work, recalls etc and it almost worked too well  If I left the room while she was crated or in an x-pen, she would jump and scream even with other family members and our other dogs in the same room. She wanted me, solution was I had to stay away until she stopped. When she stopped, if I started to come back and she started again I would disappear again. My hub and son were begging me to do something about it esp the screaming and I told them they had to be patient. How I handled what happened over the next couple of days would dictate the rest of our lives with this dog. She very quickly learned that she got what she wanted by having me come back into the room and she learned that pitching fits and screaming didn't work and didn't get her what she wanted. I spent a lot of time in another room out of sight of her, killing time until she stopped. It took two days to fix the problem. Good luck.


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## doxiemommy

I think you should crate him when you shower or leave the room. In general, it's a good rule to have; anytime you can't actively supervise your puppy, you should crate him. It helps with potty training, and keeps puppies from getting into things they shouldn't. And, if it helps him calm down and be by himself, it seems it would be the easiest solution!


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## Carlito

LynnI said:


> Don't make it an event when you come and go, even to the shower, ignore him. This can be the beginnings of developing a SA dog. Also I would crate him and if he barks and/or whines, I wouldn't come back to him or speak to him unless he is quiet. Again, just open the door and don't make it an event.
> 
> Once I had just gotten a pup, I was working very hard on focus work, recalls etc and it almost worked too well  If I left the room while she was crated or in an x-pen, she would jump and scream even with other family members and our other dogs in the same room. She wanted me, solution was I had to stay away until she stopped. When she stopped, if I started to come back and she started again I would disappear again. My hub and son were begging me to do something about it esp the screaming and I told them they had to be patient. How I handled what happened over the next couple of days would dictate the rest of our lives with this dog. She very quickly learned that she got what she wanted by having me come back into the room and she learned that pitching fits and screaming didn't work and didn't get her what she wanted. I spent a lot of time in another room out of sight of her, killing time until she stopped. It took two days to fix the problem. Good luck.


Excellent advice! I couldn't agree with you more. Dogs are creatures of habits, so if he's coming to the door to whine and bark for you than he's probably used to doing that and/or feels it's acceptable behavior. It will stop, as soon as you consistently stop giving attention to it. And definitely crate your puppy when she can't be supervised.


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## totoromama

Thanks for the advice! Seems like pretty much what I thought. I have a crate downstairs and upstairs so I guess I'll put him in the downstairs one when I shower because I can't not come back to the room after I shower but if he is still making noise I don't want to. I want to be as consistent with him as possible. 

Maybe you guys can help with the second part of this. When I do come back in the room, no matter if I have been gone two minutes or two hours he goes nuts when he sees me. I let him out of his crate and he tries to jump on me etc. So I have taken to standing up and ignoring him as soon as I open the crate, until he stops jumping and is calm but as soon as I kneel down again he does it again. Do I just keep repeating the standing and ignoring until he can be calm? And how calm is calm?

Thanks for your help! I definitely don't want an SA dog so I am hoping to nip all these behaviors in the bud ASAP.


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## LynnI

Personally I wouldn't let him out give him any attention (no eye contact, verbals etc) until he was quiet and calm IN the crate. You also may want to consider getting Garrett's Crate Games, excellent cheap dvd that solves a lot of problems and also teaches dogs/pups impulse control.

Good luck


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## totoromama

Hello again (I just typed this and it disappeared so hopefully this doesn't end up posting twice.) 

I appreciate all your help and I hope I don't drive you nuts by continually asking questions. 

Here is what we did this morning. He whined to go out at 5:15 so we went out. When we came back in we got into my bed (he sleeps in the crate at night and then we snuggle in the morning for some "Momma time") until my alarm went off at 6. At this point I took him downstairs and put him in the crate in the kitchen. (I watched the first of Garrett's videos and am excited to work with him this weekend because at this point I often have to put him in the crate.) He did not like this at all and yelped and whined for my entire shower and about 10 minutes after (~30 minutes). 

When he had been quiet for at least 5 minutes I went downstairs. When he saw me he started whining and jumping at his crate door. I stood in front of his crate but said nothing and didn't even look at him until he was laying calmly and quietly and had been for a little bit. *Should I have left the room when he started whining? *When I did open the door he didn't immediately run out. He continue to lay there and as I got up to fill his dishes for breakfast he got out and walked around. 

When his breakfast was ready I sat down on the floor and he crawled into my lap. He had no interest in eating as long as I was sitting there. *Should I be worried about this? *When I stand and get my own breakfast and coffee ready he typically eats his and has no problem. I just ask because I have never dealt with SA before so I am trying to make sure I am not missing something. (Hopefully he won't turn into an SA dog.)

Thank you for all who read this and give advice. I am sorry to be so needy.


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## LynnI

totoromama said:


> Hello again (I just typed this and it disappeared so hopefully this doesn't end up posting twice.)
> 
> I appreciate all your help and I hope I don't drive you nuts by continually asking questions.
> 
> Here is what we did this morning. He whined to go out at 5:15 so we went out. When we came back in we got into my bed (he sleeps in the crate at night and then we snuggle in the morning for some "Momma time") until my alarm went off at 6. At this point I took him downstairs and put him in the crate in the kitchen. (I watched the first of Garrett's videos and am excited to work with him this weekend because at this point I often have to put him in the crate.) He did not like this at all and yelped and whined for my entire shower and about 10 minutes after (~30 minutes).
> 
> When he had been quiet for at least 5 minutes I went downstairs. When he saw me he started whining and jumping at his crate door. I stood in front of his crate but said nothing and didn't even look at him until he was laying calmly and quietly and had been for a little bit. *Should I have left the room when he started whining? *When I did open the door he didn't immediately run out. He continue to lay there and as I got up to fill his dishes for breakfast he got out and walked around.
> 
> When his breakfast was ready I sat down on the floor and he crawled into my lap. He had no interest in eating as long as I was sitting there. *Should I be worried about this? *When I stand and get my own breakfast and coffee ready he typically eats his and has no problem. I just ask because I have never dealt with SA before so I am trying to make sure I am not missing something. (Hopefully he won't turn into an SA dog.)
> 
> Thank you for all who read this and give advice. I am sorry to be so needy.


Hopefully what happened was a one off from the stress of the rule changes, but if he continues I wouldn't encourage it. Best thing you can do for any dog/pup that is showing any signs of SA is to not cuddle them up when they are needy. Take a 'oh your ok, lets go', attitude instead of 'oh, you poor dear' one. It is an easy trap to fall into to act upon feeling bad for them, that doesn't mean we don't feel bad for them, we just don't show it if that makes sense.
I would be playing a lot of training games during his meals i.e lightly restrain him-roll a piece of kibble and tell him to 'get it!', when he turns back to you for more, add the verbal, 'Yes, come/here'. Then start adding distance to how far you roll the kibble. but be careful of slick floors and running/turning puppies, they could hurt themselves or strain something, so I try to roll the kibble onto carpet, even a throw run. Great game for starting those amazing recalls.
Play It's Yer Choice, hand targets, sits, downs, tricks etc. the list is endless.

Good luck


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## mrskleinxoxo

I completely agree with this. He thinks that everytime he barks or whines you'll come to him. If you ignore him (and it's really really hard) he'll get used to the fact that you're not going to come, and that is doesn't work. Another thing is when he is in his kennel or crate, and say you leave for an hour or so to go run an errand do not go straight to his kennel. Walk around, and dont acknowledge that he's there. It might sound mean, but it works. Dont let him out until he's quiet. By letting him out while he's quiet shows him that is the good behavior you want.


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## doglover88

Hello,
It seems that your dog is rather aggressive. I stumbled upon this article and found this effective to reduce aggressiveness with your dog. I tried this way and it worked well because those ways used natural methods. Read this link: http://www.brighthub.com/pets/dogs/articles/73927.aspx


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## LynnI

doglover88 said:


> Hello,
> It seems that your dog is rather aggressive. I stumbled upon this article and found this effective to reduce aggressiveness with your dog. I tried this way and it worked well because those ways used natural methods. Read this link: http://www.brighthub.com/pets/dogs/articles/73927.aspx


Aggressive??? Not on any level. Nor is the pup being dominant. Interesting the author of that article isn't listed as a dog trainer, behaviourist or a Vet, from their Bio but is giving advice on what aggression is and how to treat it, SCARY!!


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## doxiemommy

doglover88 said:


> Hello,
> It seems that your dog is rather aggressive. I stumbled upon this article and found this effective to reduce aggressiveness with your dog. I tried this way and it worked well because those ways used natural methods. Read this link: http://www.brighthub.com/pets/dogs/articles/73927.aspx


Yeah, I agree, nothing in the OP's info even suggests aggression! Whining and barking when left alone, and excited jumping when let out of the crate, that's not aggression in my book...


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## totoromama

Agreed. He doesn't seem to show any signs of aggression. The only thing I could possibly see is that he can be rather timid and I suppose maybe if it were to progress it could turn into fear aggression but other than that I don't see it.


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