[carmensmama]

We have a 3 year old Yorkie named Carmen. We have had her for almost a year. Before we had her a friend of mine had he. He trained her well but at her old home she had other dogs to play with, she was crated each time he left and he let her play outside, so she was only a half way house dog. Since we have had Carmen she is an inside dog, we take her out daily to play, but mostly she is inside. We do not crate her when we leave, because for one I just done feel like that is right and she doesn't pee or poop on the floor and she hasn't ever chewed up anything she wasn't suppose to or gotten into anything.

Since we got Carmen she is so attached to me. When I would leave and someone else was home, she would cry and whine for a while. Sometimes she would scratch at the edge of the dog and we would get on to her and put her in the crate for a little while (that's about all we use the crate for.)

I work full-time and so does my husband and we leave about the same time everyday, but she does seem to act out more when I leave early. Today I got home and she had completely ripped the blinds in our bedroom apart, like she scratched and bite at the blind. She has never done anything this bad before. It really kinda of confused me why she would do this and at first I didn't want to believe she actually did it. I took her over to her mess and said "No, ma'am that's a bad Carmen" and popped her on the nose a few times and put her in the crate.

My questions are: Is that a good way to discipline her when she has done something wrong? How can I help prevent her having such bad separation anxiety? My husband and I both agreed we do not want to crate her while we are gone. Please help!!!!