Puppy Confinement?

Question

I have a 8-9 week old yorkshire terrier puppy who hates being alone. It has plenty of room to move around. All he does is yelp and whimper for ever and we have very pricky neighbors who complain about my pup. There is a period of 4 to 6 hours where it will be alone 3 days of the week. ]Is this bad? Just to get it to go to sleep in the area i have to be with it for 45 minutes to an Hour then as slick as i can be put him in his area. [a caged area where he has plenty of room to play around with food and water and an area for him to relieve himself.] PLEASE HELP ME! I am very desperate and nervous because tomorrow is going to be his first day alone.


YIKES!

We live in an apartment and we only had room for a small dog.
The yorkie gabbed my attention right away.

There is no way anyone can get time of work/school.

When he has a pillow to sleep on he usually falls fast asleep as if he is comforted
Should I just do this?

It seems like a crate is gonna be a winner.

I work relatively close to home.
So on break i will check up on him.

Thank you all.

Please if you have anymore recommendations, go ahead.

Answer 1

How long have you had your pup? If it is his first couple of nights he will cry a lot, he has left his mom and litter where he was nice and warm, and had friends to play with. Its normal for them to do that. There are several things to do to help to train him not to do that.
1. Do not go to him when he is crying, no matter how annoying it is. by going to him your reinforcing the behavior (telling him it is OK to cry) Lavish lots of praise and loves on him when he is NOT crying.
2. Get a crate (the airline approved type) and put him in it when you are not directly supervising him. It should be big enough for him to stand up, lay down and turn around. This will help to teach him patience and with potty training. Be sure to give him something to chew on.
3. Take him with you when your gone for the 3-6 hours a day. Put him in the crate and let him out on breaks or whenever you can. He is little enough that he wont be able to "hold it" for that long, so this will help with potty training as well. It will also keep the neighbors from getting upset when he cries, remember DON"T go to him when he is crying. The second he stops praise him.

Answer 2

I have taken care of dogs my whole life and I have a really hard time leaving my elderly dog alone for more than an hour .I will tell you one thing everybody has to stepp out of there house some time.4 to 6 hours a 3 days a week is fine .You will have to leave your dog alone some time .Every dog is different and I would never recommend leaving a yorkie alone everyday of the week but what your doing is fine .There are people that leave there dogs alone alot longer than that.Make sure your puppy sleeps with you at night and make sure you give alot of love.If the alone stuff doesnt work see if a family member can stop by and watch your puppy for an hour or so.I sometimes ask my parents to stop in on holidays if I am away for a few hours to check my dog and it helps.The best comfort for a puppy is to sleep next to you too

Answer 3

General rule of thumb: Don't crate a puppy (during the day) for more hours straight then there age in months. A two month old puppy needs to go out really every 2-3 hours at most and so on. Over 6, months they could be in longer but I would never exceed 6 personally under any circumstances.

Definitely read up on crate training. You do not want the puppy getting to much space or used to going where it sleeps. It's leads a number of problems.

Answer 4

You might want to go to the library or research on the net crate training. At first the puppy will cry and will not like it at all but in about 2-4 weeks will be fine. I actually think your caged in area might be too big. The puppy should never relieve himself in the cage. Crate training is a very good thing as it helps keep your pup out of dangerous stuff (i.e chemicals, electric cords) and provides a sense of security.

Answer 5

Your pup is very young. Trust me, he will get used to his area in a little while. Keep a cozy little sleeping bed (or pillow as you state) and some puppy toys in his area. If everytime he crys and barks yougo sleep with him, he will never stop calling you. Also, you may want to try leaving a radio on low or the tv so he hears voices/sounds when you are gone. If you can set up a recorder of some sort to review what he does when you are gone, that can give you some pointers. But at his age, they are like infants and do not like being away from you. He will come to love his area. My little dog has a corner where he does his business on wee-wee pads. Good luck!

Answer 6

Consider a small kennel or crate. It is not cruel, it mimicks the den he would have in the wild, it makes him feel secure. It makes house training easier. The door does not always have to be locked when he is in there. My dog often will just sit in his kennel. There's lots of books availible on crate training.

When he cries, do not pet him, play with him, etc-you will reinforce the negative behavior. Give him praise when he is not crying, ie playing etc..Even small dogs benefit from obedience classes-give it a try.

Is there someone availible for the days you are going to be gone for 4-6 hours just to let him out? Maybe you could talk to your complaining neighbor-maybe the dog could break the ice between you.

By the way I too had a Yorkie. They are great dogs. I always said that Maggie was a small dog who thought she was a BIG dog. LOL.

www.cpah.biz/crate

Answer 7

You need to confine your dog to a smaller space like a crate. He's scared and a crate (especially a crate with a cover) helps the dog feel more secure because he doesn't always have to wonder what might attack him from all sides.

Look up crate training and start immediately. It sounds like your dog has seperation anxiety.

You need to limit your absence tomorrow to only a few hours. Your dog has not learned how to be alone yet and leaving it for hours on end without gradually starting the transition can emotionally scar your pet. You need to start slowly not all at once!

Answer 8

I agree with RaysinGyrl. A smaller crate is much cozier and he won't feel so isolated as he would in a larger area. However, he may not be able to hold his business for that long right now. He'd be able to hold it up for 8 hours around 8 months. Dogs really hate doing their business where they sleep, so he may try to hold it for too long which is unhealthy.

Answer 9

Hello,
Rasyn is Correct, you need a smaller crate that is covered on all sides with a Blanket or a towel so he feels safer, like he was in a cave.

And try to be home with him more. I think you should have read up on this breed more. But... since you didn't, you need to make life as easy as possible on him/her. Even though he/she is a terrier, he/she is a Baby first.

Answer 10

I would recommend getting either another pup or a cat to keep him company during the day. That's a very young age for him to be alone! A playmate may make all the difference in the world.