Help Clingy Pup

[Ophelia Immorta]

i just brought my new puppy home the other day, were still working on potty training but doing so so well, the only real problem im having is that if i leave the room she is in she has to follow me, the moment i stop moving she lays down on my feet, if she is asleep and i sneak out of the room she will howl and whimper till i either A. come back into the room with her B. makes herself sick and when i do come get her she is so hysterical she cries for a good 3 more mins, licking me till my face feels like its going to fall off and i talk her calm again what can i do i can be under her 24/7 and shes breaking my heart

[booklady]

sounds like she is having seperation issues.. very common problem.. hopefully it will settle in a few days as she gets more settled into her new home and realizes that you aren't going to abandon her.
what circumstances did you bring her home from??
we have a dog who had similar issues when we brought her home (she was 3.5 years old at the time, and had been mis treated, and was very aious abotu being abandoned.. took us about 3 months to really get her over it.. she'd bark non-stop if we left her alone.. so we started by putting up a gate in the laundry room.. she could see and hear us, but was in a different room - with all her stuff.. then we moved her to an area where she could hear, but not see us.. then we would shut the door, or i'd "leave the house" and stay outside for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, etc.. until she learned that it didn't matter where we went.. we'd be back.. and would lavish attention when we returned... )

[Ophelia Immorta]

my boyfriends husky had a litter of 7 and for my birthday my bf gave me first pick of the litter, the mother dog had just finished weening then 3 weeks ago, so this is why i dont know whats wrong, she wasnt abused and when she was at my bfs house we didnt have this problem

[gypsyblanca]

i have a golden retriever and she is 1 year old now, but when she was little she was just like your pup and she still is. Some dogs are like that, it just means that your the one it trusts and loves most.

[CTChin]

If you've only had her a couple of days so it sounds like she is being a normal puppy scared to death and missing her family. I agree it should settle down too. For her sanity and yours, you will have to get her used to being alone.

Practice putting her into her crate several times a day. Give her a safe new chew toy and rotate them. Make sure she has gone potty, isn't hungry and then put her in there and try to ignore her. Can you put the crate in the living room or somewhere where you are or at least hear you? It is o.k. for you to work around where she is so she can see you and be comforted but ignore her if she howls. The more you go to her and reward her when she is howling, the harder it will be to break her of this habit.

Booklady has good advice except for the part of lavishing attention when you come back? I thought with dogs with seperation aiety it is best to stay low key when you leave and when you come back so that they learn that being alone is o.k. and nothing to get worked up about?

[Ophelia Immorta]

ok last night i ended up sleeping in the living room, i put her in the crate on the couch with a couple pieces of my clothes, and her favorite toy (she wont touch any of the dog toys i bought her but loves this little mouse my cats had) and i slept on the couch across from it, i read outloud till she fell asleep turned off the lights and layed down, 30 mins later we had to start over, after a couple attempts i found that if i leave the light on so she can see me then she doesnt freak out

[CTChin]

ok last night i ended up sleeping in the living room, i put her in the crate on the couch with a couple pieces of my clothes, and her favorite toy (she wont touch any of the dog toys i bought her but loves this little mouse my cats had) and i slept on the couch across from it, i read outloud till she fell asleep turned off the lights and layed down, 30 mins later we had to start over, after a couple attempts i found that if i leave the light on so she can see me then she doesnt freak out

Great! It'll get easier once she gets used to a routine.
:D