[pzarat]

Sorry for the really long post but I wanted to explain the whole situation....so here it goes:

In the morning I walk Maxi for 30 minutes, then I leave for work at 8am and I leave Maxi in his ex-pen with two kongs, a treat dispensing ball, and 3-4 toys. My roommate stays home until about 11am, but Maxi remains in his ex-pen. Then, a dog walker comes to play with Maxi from 3:30pm until4:30pm. Finally my husband gets home at 5:30pm, and I get home at 6pm.

Maxi had been doing great with this separation. He would be entertained with the kongs for 15 minutes or so, and would whine/bark/howl for 5-10 minutes, and then sleep. He would wake up to play a few times, but wouldn’t whine at all for the rest of the day. Part of this success is because everyone in our house had been on the same page about ignoring him completely if he whines/barks/howls. Once he has stopped barking for about 5-10 seconds, then we would acknowledge him.

Yesterday, Maxi was whining after I left and after about 5 minutes my roommate opened her door and told him to “shhh”, he was quiet and she said good boy! Then today, the same thing happened, he had been whining/barking for about 10 minutes, she opened the door again and said “shhh”.He was quiet while she was in the kitchen, but after she left he began whining again (which he never did before, he only whined when I left, never when she left), and he has been whining/barking since 11am and it’s now 2:30pm…..


My question is, is his constant whining today because of the two days of her saying “shhhh”, or is there any other reason for it? I know that he is alone for a long time, but he had been doing great for over a month. I’m really worried, because we are going to be moving in two weeks and the lease at the new apartment says “barking will not be tolerated” and I would hate for neighbors to complain about him