crying when someone leaves the room.

Question
Hi carol,
I have a JRT puppy thats a little over 9 weeks old now. Im tryin to potty train her so I was told its better not to let her out into the rest of the house so I keep her in my room. However, whenever someone steps out of my room she moves to the door and starts crying and digging really, really loud even though I am still in the room. No matter how much I call her or tell her to stop she wont. I dont understand why? She always crys when we leave her alone but Im still there. Is it because she wants to be let out??
Please help!!

Answer
Hi Diane,
Sorry, but don't leave her alone in your room. Whoever gave you that advise was wrong. Dogs are PACK animals and NEED to be with their families. She just left her littermates and mother, so you are her family now. Yelling out to her to "stop" doesn't make any sense to her at all, she doesn't understand words... she only hears your voice calling and wonders why you aren't coming to get her.
Training a puppy to go outside to relieve herself takes three things:  Time, patience and consistency.
Positive reinforcement works best - yelling, hitting, etc does absolutely no good and only confuses them.
You have to give the puppy free reign over the house, and you are going to be spending most of the next few weeks chasing after her and teaching her what she CAN and can not "do or chew".  
Buy a crate, put soft bedding in it.. this is HER space.
Leave it open and let her come and go in and out of it as she pleases while you are home.
Take her outside to pee/poop every two to three hours, and go absolutely crazy with excitement and praise when she does GO outside. Positive reinforcement. Give her a bite of cheese or a treat to let her know that when she does this wonderful thing (pee/poop outside)she gets a treat. She will learn fast! If she DOES make a mistake in the house, just clean it up - she's too little to understand that she did something wrong.
Her bladder is tiny and gets full fast - so every two to three hours is not too much. I even get up around the clock when I'm training my puppies but I know that's not for everyone.
When you do have to leave the house, this is now the time to use the crate. Have her pee first, put her in there, lock the crate and give her a rawhide or something for her to chew on while you're away. When you get home, take her immediately out again. Don't worry you won't have to spend the rest of your life doing this, but it's SO WORTH IT for a short time to have a completely house-trained puppy.
It's the same with chewing things. Puppies are losing their baby teeth and absolutely have a dire NEED to chew. If your puppy is chewing something she shouldn't be, take it away, say "no" and immediately give her something that she CAN chew. She will learn the difference... but it is going to take time, so patience is the key.
She needs to be with you, her family, please don't keep her alone in your room - for any reason - isolating her can only cause problems down the road. You are a good owner to want to do the right thing and help her. Good luck with everything!!!
Write anytime,
Carol