# Separation anxiety



## Wendy m (Oct 29, 2015)

Hi! I'm new to the forum! I have a 9 1/2 week old, gorgeous vizsla bitch called Roux. She's a delight but is causing me a big headache because she literally howls when I'm out of her sight. We've got her used to her crate now and she goes in there happily when I'm in the room and she's ok about the door being locked, but the very second I leave the room she screams and howls! In order to sleep at night I have resorted to having her crate in our bedroom, which has worked a treat! I work from home but run a home beauty salon so not ideal! 

Could anyone offer me advice please, so that I can have a shower and visit the bathroom without screams! I also need her to spend time in her crate on and off during the day when I have clients. 

Please help! 😬🐶


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

She's a normal pup, and has to learn to settle, and that you will return.
If I need to shower, I just crate them and shower. Yes they howl at first, but they learn you will return. When you have a client over put a heavy blanket over the crate, and turn on some music. It will help drowned out the howling until she learns.

As far as the restroom, I don't think I've gotten to be alone (dogless) in there for years.
They must think the commode is going to swallow us, and have to keep a vigil watch to make sure it doesn't happen.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I remember those days! Wait for her to grow up and offer complimentary earplugs to your clients in the meantime.  We can also offer lots of tips, but I think time is the biggest factor in getting them to stop. They are babies and babies will cry. It doesn't make it any less frustrating at times! 


If she already likes the crate you've won three-fourths of the battle. Really, pat yourself on the back for that! Start building in multiple short training periods to your day where you shut her in the crate, ideally with some kind of distraction like a food-stuffed kong or a bully stick, and leave the room. Keep the door of the room open initially and only wait a few seconds before returning to the room. The goal is to return and praise her before she even notices you're gone. Not easy with these guys! If she starts crying, just wait it out, and as soon as she stops, praise her. You're teaching her that, yes, you will return and that nothing bad happens when you are gone. Work on increasing the amount of time you can be out of the room first, then introduce closing the door. Whenever you introduce a new variable into a training scenario, reduce the difficulty in another area. In this case, if she is fine with you out of the room up to a minute with the door open, go back to only being gone a few seconds with the door closed. 

Hope this helps!


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## Wendy m (Oct 29, 2015)

Thank you both for your replies! The noise she makes is incredible! She sounds like a pack of dogs fighting! It's reassuring to know that one day it'll stop! 😄😄


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## Canadian Expy (Feb 27, 2013)

I second everything TexasRed and Einspanner have said. There is no fast fix. My V pup went through the same thing, but we started working on it as soon as he joined our family at 8 weeks old. It didn't take long for him to get into the routine (though it felt like an eternity at the time). Not giving in, and not feeding into the poor behaviour are key.

I am now in the care of a foster dog who has extreme separation anxiety. He has been in my care for 2 weeks and I am now seeing progress with him. I worked from home for 2 days listening to the carrying on and thought I might lose my mind, so I sympathize! As Einspanner said, keep the training sessions short and work to build up time and distance away from pup. At first I could only leave for 15 seconds without chaos ensuing. Now, I can leave the room and go anywhere in the house without a peep (maybe a minor wimper, but I'll take it!). We are now working on the same but with us leaving the house.

Stick to it, and if you need to vent or just reassurance the forum is here.  If you don't put the time in now, it won't get any easier later - for you or her.

Stay strong


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## Wendy m (Oct 29, 2015)

Thank you! It's reassuring to know it's normal for Vizslas and that there is light at the end of the tunnel! I had spaniels before and had none of this! Thank you for the support 😘


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## ks310 (Sep 28, 2015)

We went through this just a few weeks ago. We live in an apartment building and were getting complaints from the neighbors and that was only leaving her two hours a day.

A few things we realized quickly:

1. She responded really well to a schedule. When she finally began having days of now crying when in the crate it was when she went in at exactly the same time as the days before. So from about 6-8pm she's conditioned already to know that she's going in there.

2. She was less likely to cry and more likely to sleep if we tired her out before going in. So if you can coincide it with nap time she's more likely to sleep and just be content in there. 

3. Positive association helped a lot. We fed her in there and gave her special treats every time she went in. The treats weren't normal treats and were only given when she went in there.

4. Time. It felt really stressful when the neighbors started to complain but the only thing we could really do was give it time. The first week she went in it was 1 day we came home to no crying. The next week it was up to 3 days. Then it was only happening occasionally and now we haven't heard crying coming home in about a week and a half. 

I know its stressful so I hope it all goes well for you!


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## Wendy m (Oct 29, 2015)

Many thanks for your response. It's always reassuring to hear success stories! I've discovered that she makes less fuss if I leave her in the kitchen without the crate for short periods...she seems to feel less enclosed. She's happy in the crate all night so that's a blessing! 😊


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