Separation Anxiety - 11 Week Old Toy Poodle

Question
Hi there!

I just bought a very handsome 10 week old red toy poodle last week. He is now 11 weeks old. My question is fairly simple...

For the first 2 nights of him coming home he had slept in our bed. We then knew it was time to move him into his play pen (which has been made smaller, almost crate-like) and have added his bed, his toys and blanket. We start bedtime out by putting him to sleep in the pen, door closed in our family room. He is pee-pad trained at this point so his continuos barking brings us to take him out and on the pee pad to see if he needs to go. He never has to go, but CLINGS onto my arm for dear life. When he is in the family room, we keep the TV on, a Tshirt in his bed all of his toys etc but cries and cries all night. I decided last night to bring his entire pen in my room (toys blankets and all), keep the door closed, but at least he would know that I am there.

In the morning, we let him out of him out of his pen, give him love, and then let him do his own thing (bathroom) toys, food and try to "ignore" him but it doesn't always work. He just reallllly wants US to have him in our arms all the time, and that can't happen.

During the day, we keep his pen with the door open and his bed toys so he knows that his pen is his home. He goes inside a lot to rest, to chew on his toys etc, but then when he sees us pass him by, he follows.

My question for you is what am I doing right, or what am I doing wrong. At 11 weeks do you feel that I should invest more money into buying a crate, or is the pen good enough for him? Will he grow out of this phase of needing us to be around him all the time? Even when we go to the bathroom he wines!

And BTW. We are home almost all day long! He is so loved and nurtured almost 24/7. But it obviously breaks our hearts and our ears with his screaming at night.

I would GREATLY appreciate any advice you may have...

Thank you!
-Kelly  

Answer
Hello Kelly,
It sounds like you are doing good with him for now, and I don't think that you need a crate for him at this time.  One thing you might do is move him into your bedroom permanently rather than putting him in the other room.  
You should also give him some time to adjust to you and your routine in your house.  Since you have only had him a week, and before that he was with his mother and other sibilings, he will need to adjust to being away from other dogs and familiar people.  You might see if the breeder has something that has his mother, or brother/sisters smell on it that you can put in his crate with him.  
Also, puppies will get their full bladder control at 12 weeks, so he might be just starting to feel pressure on his bladder and this might make him uncomfortable for a bit.  

Try pulling food and water up about an hour before you go to bed so that he doesn't have access to it during the night.  Remove most toys and treats out of his cage at night and only leave him his night shirt with moms smell on it (if you can get one) and maybe a stuffed animal.   

Give these suggestions a try, and let me know in a couple of weeks how he is doing.  If you have other questions or comments for me please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim