Separation Anxiety Barking!
 

So I decided to adopt a 6 month old female Yorkie. I named her "Butters". She's cute. Except whenever I leave her in her play pen or leave her sight, she goes absolutely nuts. Bark-o-rama nuts. Like the world has ended. Other than that she's pretty quiet when I'm around.

I don't carry her or pick her up incessantly, I keep her in a 2 x 4 playpen in my living room and she's okay as long as I'm around. She doesn't do this with anyone else. If I wasn't in the house she would go crazy without me and if she was with someone else, she won't stop barking unless you pick her up. And when you do pick her up she'll start crying.

My training is slowly improving her habits. I can go upstairs for a few minutes and leave her in the living room playpen and at most, she'll whine and cry. But for the most part she won't leave me alone and when she does, she'll bark and cry.

I don't have a problem with her following me around the place, but the problem is that I can't house train her. She'll pee or poop anywhere near me and will not go on a pee-pad in fear of being left alone. My other Yorkie "Peanut", who living in a different city with my wife, is house trained. He'll go outside and if he can't leave the house, he'll run to the pee-pad and go there.

It's been a month since I got her and it feels like a slow uphill battle with a 7 month old dog. My other Yorkie "Peanut" who I got at 10 weeks only took me 2 weeks to house train.

How do you house train a dog that has a severe case of separation anxiety? When I got her from the original owners, she was living with her Yorkie parents, and I'm guessing they never separated her from them. But for some reason she won't calm down with anyone else other than me, and she's been doing this since day 1! Seriously, I don't baby this dog for that reason. I take her to work everyday to be socialized and I barely carry her, but still I feel like it's not improving enough. Can anyone suggest any other ideas that would help?

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/att...205285&postid=

Ha ha ha. Thanks. ;) She's even cuter when she's not driving me nutz with the barking.

Separation Anxiety
 

I would try carrying her around or giving her free rein of the house. It can only help. She sounds like little kids who are insecure, and they just need a little more nurturing. She sure is cute as a button!

Is there a way to put her in a more enclosed space, even if it means putting an open crate in her playpen, just so she feels more secure? Perhaps the playpen is too open for her?

Also, as far as the housebreaking goes, I'm not sure how long you have to leave her at a time, but have you considered crate training? Or using an x-pen w/ a potty pad so she has a defined potty area?

On a side note, she is absolutely adorable! We're on a waiting list for a future litter than won't be ready to come home until spring, so the wait is killing us. My son was wandering by when he saw Butters' picture and said he hoped our puppy looks exactly like yours! :D

The playpen is actually doing a great job training her to pee on the right spot. There's just enough space for her to sleep on her bed, get to her bowl, and a pee-pad on the other side. She chooses to use the Pee-Pad and I always keep it clean. I learned early on with my other dog that keeping the dog clean gets them in the habit of staying clean. But when she goes into panick mode, she'll pee anywhere!

For the most part I got her going outside, problem is I haven't successfully trained her to just hold it until she gets there. I can sit outside with her for 15 minutes and she'll poop and pee... then pee again in the living room 10 minutes later.

I'm just afraid that she won't change these habits by the time she turns 1 so I'm trying to find out what everyone else is doing. I try not to leave her in excess of 4 hours. When I do, she does go on the Pee Pad. It's only when she gets her anxiety attacks where she'll decide to go wherever she wants for the sake of not being separated.

Thanks, she is adorable. Funny thing is that I thought she'd get bigger. Her parents are 4.5 and 5.5 lbs. She's already 7 months old and hasn't gotten past 2.3 lbs. My other dog Peanut is now at 5.5 lbs which is in between his Mom and Dad's weight, but he's already a year old.

Anyway, please keep the suggestions coming. I'm trying them. Thanks!