Leaving Home - Crate Training

Question
QUESTION: My wife and I have read a lot of answers regarding crate training, and within a week our puppy does very well in his crate through the night and during the day, even when he is left alone in another room he rarely makes a sound, and keeps productively busy or sleeps.  The problem arrives when we leave the house, he whines and howls within 10 minutes of our exit, and will continue on and off throughout the time we are gone. (We set up a recorder).  We're not sure what to do about this, because the only way to get him to stop is to come back home, but we feel that is reinforcing the behavior. We'd love any advice you can give.

Thank you,

Richard

ANSWER: Richard,

Thanks for the question. Have you tried leaving the TV or a radio on ? Sometimes that is enough. You could also get a cheap wind up clock that makes a ticking sound.lay it next to him as he sleeps. I remember we did this with my first puppy and he slept well and did not cry,the ticking sounded a little like his mothers heart. It worked for us. If you have tried the tv,radio thing get back to  me and i will look for another solution...take care

Gary
thepuppyguy@yahoo.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Gary,

Thanks for your advice. Our puppy is doing much better when we away, but he goes ballistic as soon as we open the front door when we get home whining and urinating because of it. Do you have any ideas for this?

Thank you,

Richard

Answer
Richard,

If he is going in the crate that is fine. The crate is used just for this. Dogs are very clean and will not live where they go to the bathroom. You wanna make sure there is no blanket or towel in the crate,just a chew toy and water and he should only have enough room to stand up and turn around. If he has more room he can live on one side and do his business on the other side. They have to lay in it....This is not cruel,after they lay in it they remember they do not like it and they start the actual "training"

When i first got into the puppy biz i did not agree with this type of training but i know now it is the best way for the puppy. Thats why crates come with a extra "door" so you can open up more cage as the pup grows. The urinating is nerves and not being trained all the way yet. It's pretty normal for a pup.

As for the noise, you could just tape yourselves talking while watching tv and run that tape when you're not home and see if that works for the howling.

Enjoy your pup :-)
please feel free to ask any questions....always here for our friends.

Gary