Puppy concerns

Hi everyone,

We just adopted a 3 month old Whippet X through a rescue society in Calgary. The puppy (along with his litter mates) came up from Mexico. I'm a first time dog owner and since I work from home am with him all the time. I have a couple of concerns. It's very cold where we are and I'm worried that I'm not giving him enough excercise because he can barely be outside for more than 5 minutes. With this comes some housebreaking challenges that we are working through. My other concern is that he has some pretty significant seperation anxiety and has become very attached to me very quickly. We are kennel training him and he does fairly well for the most part, however today I noticed that when it was time after lunch and playtime for him to go back in he flipped out. I've tried the hiding the treats, the kong, a chew bone, he has a wubbie (stuffed dog) etc. Well he eats the treats and then cries/barks/drools/claws the door of the kennel. It's funny because from what I can tell when I just leave the house with a brief Cya and ignore him until he calms down when I get home it's fine.

I'm just not sure what to do and of course feel like I'm a bad puppy mummy because it's my first time.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

A

Hi amberandzach, welcome to pets.ca :).

I find the more tired pups are, the more willing they are to remain quietly in their crates. Have you thought about getting your pup a sweater/coat/booties so that you can both stay outdoors longer? He can wear the sweater indoors so you don't have to dress him every time you need to take him out for potty breaks.

If your pup is up-to-date on shots, have you thought about puppy classes? It's a great way to bond and let him have a chance to tire himself out with other pups (not to mention socialize him as well). Perhaps you can arrange play dates with other puppy owners?

Hey and welcome to Pets.cs. LP has all great ideas!! We would love to see pics too btw

We would love to see pics too btw

Oops, yeah...that too :D.

Thank you so much for the welcome. We bought him a jacket that is fleece lined and boots (which he hates and his completely embarassed by..LOL). Unfortunately, they don't seem to help much.

We are going to start socializing him with other dogs once he get his next set of shots. He's not been feeling very good for the past week and the Vet suggested not doing the shots until he is.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. It's suppose to warm up a bit this weekend which will help. We were able to go about a block or so the other day. We have been running stairs and the hallways of our building with him (despite the accident he had yesterday morning).

Congrats on your new family member!

A few ideas:

re: the cold...we rescued a german shephed puppy in the middle of February, in Ottawa, and she HATED going outside. It wasn't actually the cold, it turned out, but more fear of outside itself...she hadn't been out at all in her first "home". It took a week or two, of patient, indoor pee pads, and praise, and she FINALLY calmed down outside and got the hang of going potty out there. Now we can't keep her in the house!!!:laughing: If, however, your little one is simply cold, why not invest in a nice comfy warm dog coat, and some booties. He really doesn't have a great coat for a wintry place like Edmonton, so a coat is probably going to be a must even when he's older.
When your outside, and he's properly bundled up, keep the mood fun, light and happy, bring out his favourite toy and some super-yummy treats and praise like crazy!

Actually, our shepherd (now 2) is similar to your pup in that she'll cry her head off if she's separated from us and we're in the house with her, but she's totally fine when we're gone for work. I dont' consider it true "separation anxiety" so much as she's just a big baby sucky pants :rolleyes: and likes to be with her people...sigh. What happens if you crate the pup and then leave the room and are quiet? How long does the ruckus last? Does he eventually settle? What about using a "busy" treat, rather than something that can be eaten quickly...maybe get a puppy Kong, and stuff it with plain yogurt and a bit of natural peanut butter and some of his treat/kibble (may sound gross to us, but trust me he'll love it), freeze the whole mess and give him that? It'll keep him busy for a while, maybe long enough to forget the angst?