Pacing
 

Wasn't sure really to place this so please forgive me if it should be somewhere else...

When Lulu is in her x-pen, I have noticed she paces back and forth...from one end to the other (we have it set up in a rectangular shape). I know she really doesn't like being in it...she would rather us hold her or be in our laps all the time. I can't let her run around the house as she will pee and poo any and everywhere...never on the pads I have laid out for her and never in the same place... but she does go on her pad when she is in her x-pen. Anyway, I know this is probably normal but I feel so bad when she does this. She has lots of toys to play with but, instead, either paces or sits and looks at us with her sad eyes. :(

Also, how do you ease separation anxiety when you can't take her little furbaby with you? I try to never leave her for more than 3-4 hours by herself...but it doesn't seem to matter if I am gone 20 min or 2 hours she whines, cries and paces to the point that she pushes her x-pen across the floor. I found this out by leaving my mom at home (she lives with us) one day while my hubby, 2 sons and myself went out of town for a few hours. My mom was in her room and could hear Lulu howling and crying as soon as we went out the door...my mom said she was so afraid Lulu was going to hurt herself so she took her out of her x-pen and she spent the day with my mom in her bed with her watching tv. I felt like such a bad mommy when I heard about this. :cry8:

How much time is she spending in her pen? Yorkies are companion dogs and want to be with you. I bet she never made a peep when she spent the day in bed with your mom. ;)

Keeping her in a pen all the time is not a substitute for housebreaking. A good alternative is leashing her to you while she is out so you can watch for signs she needs to go potty. If she is peeing and pooping when she is loose, you are not watching her carefully enough.

At most, she spends an hour (too much by your standards?) in her x-pen a day when we are home...and this is when I am cleaning or doing something that I can't have both eyes on her. Of course she didn't whine being with my mom...but that is exactly my point in posting...my mom happened to be home that day...what about when she (my mom) isn't home while we are away from the house (and for whatever reason cannot bring Lulu with us). I know not everyone is with their babies 24/7...so I want to hear from those who have to go out and leave them for short periods of time...what do you do to ease their anxiety?


I did not get her to have her caged 24/7...she spends most of the time everyday with me, either here at home or out running errands. I am fortunate enough to be able to homeschool my sons so I don't have to leave her for hours on end alone...unless we are doing something that we cannot take her with us. The time that she has went to the bathroom in the house is when one of us has turned our heads for a split second...we usually catch her midway through and bring her to her pad. ANYWAY, I am not really concerned with the bathroom issue (it will come with our continued persistence) but rather the pacing and anxiety...hence the title of this post.