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9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:41 am
by alicehuang830
Hi all,
I picked up my puppy on labor day, I was able to take 9 days off from work to bond with him. I know that's not nearly enough time but gotta go back to work! My boyfriend and I try to not leave him for a very long time, half of the time he can work from home so Romeo will stay with him. When we are not available for the most part we wake up early to walk Romeo and play with him then I come back during lunch to play & walk him. My boyfriend's son will come over to walk him 2 hrs after I leave...then I will be home 3 hrs after that.
I found an app that enables me to see Romeo from my phone and we leave him in the bathroom because he like the tile floor. He will only sleep a little and he roams around crying and barking...... he only cries and whines when he is confined ( crate, playpen...) is this something he will just have to get used to? Are there any other ways to make him feel more comfortable? We also leave out a few pieces of clothing when we leave....

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 12:01 pm
by pookeye
chow chows are not meant to be confined... and they are the type that needs to be around humans often. of course you have to work, so generally they are fine staying at home alone, but you cant confine him to a kennel or in a room, they need to be allowed to roam around the house, its the chow's job to patrol the house and make sure everything is in order.. chow chow are not gonna take it lightly to be confined or put in the backyard alone for hours on end... they are almost like children than dogs, in some sense.. when he was a pup, i left the radio on to have human voices... overall im sure he cries, but at some point they get used to it.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:01 pm
by alicehuang830
if I let him roam around the house with no supervision wouldn't they pee anywhere they like? Even though Romeo has been doing really good not peeing indoors, not sure if I can just leave him walking around the house just yet. Maybe I can try putting a gate in the kitchen area instead of keeping him in a room....
As far as human interaction goes, he does get less during workday but we make sure to take him out after work and plenty on the weekends. He gets a lot of socialization since I live in a high rise and 80% of the residents owns a dog we always try to introduce him to new people and take him with us to places as much as possible.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 10:25 pm
by Laura
I too confined mine during the early potty training time while I was at work. I used our master bathroom because it was tile and any accidents would be easy to clean. I did not close the door but instead put up a baby gate. This went on until they were 3-3.5 months and I was confident they wouldn't pee all over the house. After that I allowed them to be free in the house only closing a few bedroom/office doors and the stairs. During their confined time I would be gone 5-6 hours and they seemed to have no issues. I didn't have a camera view tho. I assume they slept. I always told them bye and that i was going to work/be back later and went to them immediately upon returning home. For clarification each was confined alone because I didn't get them at the same time. Maybe the frequent coming and going is making the pup think he is confined while others are in the house? I'm not sure. Have you tried busy toys such a kongs? Safe things to occupy him? Leave a quiet radio playing?

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:39 pm
by alicehuang830
Laura,
I think my puppy just hate confinement, period. I will buy a kong interactive toy and leave the radio on and see if that helps.
I started to put water bowl and feed him in his playpen, to make the playpen and crate a "happy/rewarding" place, rather just to leave him there when I have to leave. When I place him in my bathroom I would leave treats behind but he wouldn't even touch them! He never had an accident in the bathroom, i am not sure its because I have people take him out every 2-3 hours or he just refuse to go in the bathroom. I am going to take him to puppy training classless soon, hopefully it will get better.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:39 pm
by Laura
Neither of mine had an accident in our bathroom either. I was amazed! I am curious why you have a playpen for him and put him in it? I can see why he would cry when confined that way and in a crate. I realize a lot of people crate their dogs, I'm just against it personally. Anyway...if he is confined when you or others are home I can understand the crying. While you are away I guess it's just plain ole loneliness and/or separation anxiety. Maybe try and get a routine that he becomes used to. Something like breakfast, walk and play to tire him out then take him to the bathroom and tell him bye/be back later. A gate rather than a shut door may help. He may get used to the routine and settle in.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:56 am
by alicehuang830
Laura,
well we bought a gate that can turn into a playpen, also a crate. We were not sure which he would prefer...so we had both prepared.
I also thought playpen/Gate would be a bit better since its not closed off, but he hates both...
I started to feed him when he is in the gated area and play with him there, also putting him in the gated area an hour or so each day so he doesn't associate the gated area with us leaving. He is doing less whining as of now, so hopefully i can make it better for him each day..
I am also changing up putting him in the bathroom when he is alone, I am going to put a gate up just to prevent him from chewing on wires..etc. Hopefully that will help too! We will see..... :)

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:59 pm
by Cindy J
How are the gates working out for you? We had to have permanent gates made out of 1/4 inch iron. Chance rammed the wooden gates with his until he broke out all the wooden rails. He was not much of a crier, but he is not very big on being kept from where he wants to be. We ended up getting him used to a crate for short periods as it was the only way to confine him before the iron gates were installed.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:36 am
by alicehuang830
Cindy,
Well as of now, we do not crate him or confine him at all. I did a test not to confine him when I was at work he didn't make one sound ( I have a camera set up from my ipad so I can monitor him from my iphone). I went home for lunch and he didn't have any accidents, my bf checked on him 3 hrs later then I went home around 6, no crying and no accidents. He doesn't hate the crate as much since I started to put the food and water in the crate and reward him if he goes in and sit quietly. He doesn't chew on any shoes or furniture either and I am gonna keep it that way! :)

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:01 am
by Cindy J
That sounds great. We only use puppy gates to keep Chance from running up and down the stairs at all hours. He thinks the stairs are his own personal playground.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:25 am
by alicehuang830
That's good to know. I thought it might be a bad idea not to crate train Romeo, since I've read crate training is a good idea to keep your puppy out of trouble when he isn't under any supervision...etc..and they will get used to it eventually. So jealous you can bring Chance to work!! lol I would just love that...

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:01 pm
by Cindy J
Crate training is also good for those times when you might travel or if you have to leave him at the vet (I hope that never happens). Are you going to be showing Romeo?

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:51 am
by alicehuang830
Cindy,
No, I am not going to show Romeo, how many shows has Chance been in?
I was wondering if Chance bark at all? I never owned a Chow before and was curious because Romeo hardly ever ever bark. No complaints here, but just curious :D Also, he only sleeps on the floor, not interested in his doggy bed....
How often do you bath Chance? Right now, we are on a once a month schedule, I do wipe him down with wipes whenever he comes in from a walk. He absolutly hates bath time and blow dryer freaks him out. Hopefully he will have better reaction as time goes on...

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:02 pm
by Cindy J
We try to go to a couple shows a month. Most of his shows during his first year are for practice as I am still learning how to be a handler in the ring. (and not fall on my face)

Chane is just now starting to bark, but he is not really much of a barker. As their testosterone comes in, they tend to bark more. For the most part I discourage barking. I love being alerted when someone is outside, but I want him to understand that he needs to stop when I ask him to. Right now I am working on redirecting his attention to end the barking after I make certain that there is no threat.

Chance has a bed, but prefers to sleep on the col tile. Maybe Romeo will sleep in his bed when it becomes cooler. Chance is a very messy drinker and they seems to enjoy laying in the corner of the yard that has no grass. I put him in the tub weekly to rinse the mud off his neck. He only gets a full bath once a month unless he has a dog show. He gets a bath before each show. The dryer took some time to get used to... We laugh at Chance. He is like the dogs you see on tv when it is bath time. He will run and hide. But, as soon as I put his leash on and start towards the bathroom, he trots in and jumps in the tub himself.

I think he knows that I am not going to change my mind, so he might as well get it over with. The blow dryer took longer... but he now sits and lets me groom him without fussing very much.

Just set a routine and keep it positive. I would often give yummy treats as soon as we were done so that he knew bath time was rewarding.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:37 am
by alicehuang830
Thanks for sharing! Its so interesting to me to read about how other chow chows are...:)
Romeo is about 3.5 months now, do you increase the food intake at all? He seems to be hungry even after we feed him ( 1 cup AM & 1 cup PM) he is growing fast, i can still pick him up and hold him as of right now but probably won't be able to do it after another month...bummer.

Re: 9 weeks old pup cries when I leave

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 12:24 pm
by Laura
I am no dietary expert but I don't think that is enough for a growing puppy. I'm also not sure if twice a day is enough for a pup.It also depends on the quality of the food and the calorie content and the pups weight. I remember a big growth spurt in my two between 4-8 months. I would think they need more calories during the growth spurts and remember my two eating and drinking alot more the first year than they do as adults.