# introducing Noa, and a question about separation anxiety



## noa and me (Jun 30, 2008)

Hello! My name is Revi, and I brought home "Camryn" from Katie/MopTop Havenese's "Y" litter on Thursday (thanks Katie, for a fabulous dog and for pointing me in the direction of this forum! i love seeing everyone's dogs and this place is full of useful information :biggrin1: ) Well her name is now Noa, and she is an absolute DOLL! She seems rather content in her new environment, and she's been doing really well with socialization, using her pee pads, and making herself at home. 

The only problem is, she's developed quite the attachment to me (which is great) and i'm worried about what will happen when I have to start leaving her home while I'm at work. When I'm home with her she has more or less free range to roam around, so long as I'm watching her. At night she sleeps in a plastic crate, which she seems ok with, but I don't want to confine her to that when I'm not around. So I got her a bigger, wire kennel (it's 36" x 24") that contains her potty area and some space to play/rest in. She's totally fine in there, so long as I'm sitting nearby, but as soon as I walk away she starts to cry. I know I'm supposed to ignore it (NOT an easy feat) so I don't respond to her whining, but even when I do that she just keeps crying. Is there anything I can do to teach her not to cry? I've tried distraction (there's plenty of toys in there), turning on music, leaving her with a treat...the only way to stop her crying is to sit by her side. Am I doing something wrong? Any and all advice would be appreciated.


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Wow - that's a huge crate for a puppy - putting a potty area inside kind of defeats the purpose of teaching them not to potty in their "den". Can you exchange it for an expen? Then you can put the pad on one side and a little bed in the other.

As for the crying - you're just going to have to hang tough or she'll have you trained in no time!


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Revi, congrats on the addition! 

As far as separation anxiety goes Lisa is right, you are going to have to be very strong and just tough it out. Try getting her toys or Kongs which will keep her busy while you are gone. It helps to start teaching her alone time even when you are in the house. Once she figures out you always come back and that she can indeed have fun by herself, she will be ok. Don't baby her and try your best to be strong. =)


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Hi Revi and welcome. How much time do you have before you go back to work? If you have a little time I would try leaving her for a very short time and then a little longer each time to get her used to the fact that you're always coming back. It's a process but one you both can easily handle. 

Good luck with your adorable little girl Noa.


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## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

Hi Revi,
I agree with Lisa, I would not use that big crate as it will only confuse her. Get an xpen or the plastic play yard for babies at ToysRus to keep her in during the day. Put her water, no food, pee pad and bed and if room the small crate with the door open. Be sure you or someone else comes home mid-day to play with her or take her out to go potty where you want her to learn to go. Be consistent, as that is the key to housetraining or any training for that matter. It can be hard on this breed to be away from their owners for 8 hours or more, so the more you can do now to teach her all will be ok, the better she will be in the future and you being away at work will be ok with her then. I have a wonderful article on my web site about crate training if you need that. Good luck and keep us posted.


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## noa and me (Jun 30, 2008)

Thanks for the replies! 

i live in an apartment and there's not enough room for an expen, so the big crate is the best i can do to give her a safe, enclosed play area. She's been using the pee pad inside it, and hasn't been going potty anywhere else in the house. I'm actually surprised by how long she can last - granted it's only been two nights, but she hasn't had overnight accidents and even during the day she only pees every 3-6 hours. I'm sure there will be accidents at some point, but so far she's doing really well with housebreaking. It's more the crying that I'm concerned about. 

I'll be going back to work on Thursday, and I live really close so i'll be coming home during the day to take her out. In the meantime I guess I need to just leave her for short spurts at a time and get her used to me coming and going? It's just so sad to hear her crying like that  Should I leave her in the little crate while i'm at work, instead of the pseudo-expen?


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Welcome Revi. I just wanted to say HI and tell you I have one of Katie's girls also. Roxie was a year old on Easter Sunday.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Welcome Revi!
When I first got Oliver I was on vacation as well but I forced myself to leave him home alone for short periods during the day. I wanted to make it easier on him when I did go back to work. 
It seemed to work


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Hi Revi! Nice to meet you and Noa. I agree with all your being told. You need to leave her for short durations so she can get used to it. Using the larger crate with a pee pad is setting yourself up for trouble IMO. It's the same basic thing that happens when someone gets a pup from a petstore window where the pups eat, sleep and pee all in the same spot (usually sawdust). They don't define separate spaces for each duty and can be hell to housebreak.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

First welcome to the forum!

I agree with the others that teaching a dog to potty in a crate is going to be a no no in the long run. You may just want to make it the 4-6 panel xpen rather than the full size one. I know Lina came up with a great set up for Kubrick (sorry can't find the pic but maybe someone with better searching skills can). The short burst are good and remember not to have a party when she comes out even though it is hard. You don't want her to think of it as a jail rather her safe place. For my puppy, I would place him in there with a bully stick that he loves so he had something to concentrate on.

Good luck and keep us posted 

Amanda


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## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

noa and me said:


> Thanks for the replies!
> 
> i live in an apartment and there's not enough room for an expen, so the big crate is the best i can do to give her a safe, enclosed play area. She's been using the pee pad inside it, and hasn't been going potty anywhere else in the house. I'm actually surprised by how long she can last - granted it's only been two nights, but she hasn't had overnight accidents and even during the day she only pees every 3-6 hours. I'm sure there will be accidents at some point, but so far she's doing really well with housebreaking. It's more the crying that I'm concerned about.
> 
> I'll be going back to work on Thursday, and I live really close so i'll be coming home during the day to take her out. In the meantime I guess I need to just leave her for short spurts at a time and get her used to me coming and going? It's just so sad to hear her crying like that  Should I leave her in the little crate while i'm at work, instead of the pseudo-expen?


Not to sound rude, but since you live in an apartment, what was your plan as to where she would stay while you were at work all day? No, you should not leave her in a small crate while you are at work. You can buy the pens that are 3 feet x 3 feet in size, which would work too. I am sure she will realize quickly that you will be coming back soon, but leaving her for short periods of time is a way to start.


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

Welcome Revi (and Noa) to the world of Havanese puppies!:biggrin1:
I am glad you decided to join! :whoo:
I agree with what everyone has said, and I agree that an x-pen would be better than a crate. When you said you were waiting on your order, I assumed you meant an x-pen! That's what she was used to being in when she was here. You can make the x-pen into a smaller area to better fit your space too, it doesn't have to be big like the one here You can always come back over and I can show you how to make it smaller~
But even in an x-pen she will prob still put up a fuss. That's a velcro dog for you! I am sure with patience (and maybe earplugs...lol) she will get used to your routines and schedule. Plus putting her in for short periods while you do just regular stuff around the house should help~
Now where are her pictures?! LOL


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## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

I had this problem with my first havanese dog and I didn't take the advice to start training him and it just got worst....so my advice would be start tomorrow with the training.

Just start leaving her for short periods of time like a minute or two and increase it, and go some places where you can't hear the crying if possible. 

What really works for me is the kong (can get them at Petco) and put treats in it. My two are actually glad to see me go now as long as I leave them a kong with their favorite treats.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Hi Revi! I live in a 1-bedroom apartment as well and I used an x-pen with Kubrick when he was younger, like Amanda mentioned above. I've attached the picture she was talking about... as you can see, I only used 4 of the 6 panels available. However, once he was older, I used a gate to gate off a part of our corridor so he had a little bit of a bigger area to roam while I was at work. It really worked for us! Perhaps you can do something similar? We just bought a baby gate for that purpose and it was great - I did start with the x-pen set up you see, though.

Also, make sure to leave her for small increments of time and then slowly work up to longer and longer time periods. Start with 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, then 30, until you can leave for 4 hours with no problem. If you continue to have problems with Noa, then she might have worse separation anxiety. If that's the case, then this is a list I've recommended several times that worked really well for Kubrick who was horrible but now is fine when we leave. As a matter of fact, I would STILL use this list even if she doesn't have really horrible Separation Anxiety since it will make her calmer anyway.



> Here's a list of things that worked really well for me:
> 
> 1. Before you leave, ignore your puppy for 20 minutes. That means no eye contact and no touching. This shows him that he can be apart from you while you're home and be happy. It might be hard at first because he might beg for attention. He will stop doing this eventually, though.
> 
> ...


I hope some of that helps you! Good luck!


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## noa and me (Jun 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the tips. Lina, the setup you have could definately fit in my apartment,it looks like it's only taking up a tiny bit more space than the crate i have. Where did you get the pen that size? My crate is about the same length, i think, but not as wide. She's not going potty anywhere except the pee pad, but I'm sure it would be good for her to have some space on the sides...


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Revi, the pen is actually a baby pen. It comes with 6 panels, but I took 2 off. Here's a link to the one I bought:

http://www.rightstart.com/global/store/product~item~6620.html

If you get another kind, I would definitely recommend one with a door like this one - the door helps out immensely!


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## isshinryu_mom (Mar 23, 2008)

I use basically the same pen for Roxie which I got at PetSmart... it is nice to have the extra panels even though I don't use them inside. Sometimes I take the pen with us to friends homes that don't have a fenced yard, parks, etc. 

Good luck.. I as sure you're baby will adjust since she has a mom who is looking for answers and support!


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

Revi, my daughter lives in a one bedroom apartment and she was able to make a regular expen work by making it a run...an oblong configuration. I think an expen is the way to go. Also, it's really important that she feels at home in her expen....I put the crate inside the expen and would put my puppies in the expen a lot while I was home. Now, they both still use the bed and crate inside the expen as I leave the door open. There is still a pee pad inside, but Doc hasn't used it in a long time, but he did as a puppy. Anyway...there is a lot of good advice here and I have to agree that the best advice is an expen made as big as you have room for in any shape you can. Make sure you put some hard plastic of some sort underneath it for easy clean up and no carpet exposed. I use an office plastic that chairs and desks sit on...not sure what it is called!!


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## casperkeep (May 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Noa and Revi....I would love to see some cute little pics of her. You have gotten some great advice here. One thing you could do is add a brother or sister to help her...lol just kidding. Becareful they are addicting though.


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## RickR (Feb 15, 2007)

Welcome Revi and Noa. 
Max and Bess send lots of hugs.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

:welcome: to the forum Revi and Noa.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Welcome Revi and Noa!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Welcome Revi and Noa!!!! I am so delighted we get to keep an eye on a Y puppy. I love the name Noa.


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Welcome to the form!

Ryan


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Revi and Noa!:wave:


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Welcome to the forum and the world of Hav!! Noa is a beauty!


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## noa and me (Jun 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the welcomes! :biggrin1: 
We've been working on short-term separations today, and she's kind of sort of doing a little better. She's not crying immediately when I leave the room, and if I'm in there but not directly beside her she is ok. It's baby steps, but nevertheless I call it progress.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Lina said:


> Hi Revi! I live in a 1-bedroom apartment as well and I used an x-pen with Kubrick when he was younger, like Amanda mentioned above. I've attached the picture she was talking about... as you can see, I only used 4 of the 6 panels available. However, once he was older, I used a gate to gate off a part of our corridor so he had a little bit of a bigger area to roam while I was at work. It really worked for us! Perhaps you can do something similar? We just bought a baby gate for that purpose and it was great - I did start with the x-pen set up you see, though.
> 
> Also, make sure to leave her for small increments of time and then slowly work up to longer and longer time periods. Start with 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, then 30, until you can leave for 4 hours with no problem. If you continue to have problems with Noa, then she might have worse separation anxiety. If that's the case, then this is a list I've recommended several times that worked really well for Kubrick who was horrible but now is fine when we leave. As a matter of fact, I would STILL use this list even if she doesn't have really horrible Separation Anxiety since it will make her calmer anyway.
> 
> I hope some of that helps you! Good luck!


^^^ I love this list of tips, it helped me when Henry would cry when I had to leave. . .


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## MaddiesMom (Apr 1, 2007)

:welcome: Revi and Noa! Noa is a cutie. Like others have advised, I left for very short periods of time and gradually lengthened the time. I also use the same words each time I leave. Once they learn you always come back, it gets easier. However, I've never left more than a couple of hours at a time.


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## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

noa and me said:


> Thanks for all the welcomes! :biggrin1:
> We've been working on short-term separations today, and she's kind of sort of doing a little better. She's not crying immediately when I leave the room, and if I'm in there but not directly beside her she is ok. It's baby steps, but nevertheless I call it progress.


Hi Revi,
I am glad to here you working on short-term separations today....you have alot of good advice here. I think that she is not crying immediately when you leave the room is a good sign she will be able to work up to being home alone.

Some of the things that worked for me was *always * leaving a treat when I left and I did use the same words when I left also, always telling him I would be back.


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## MaddiesMom (Apr 1, 2007)

Lynn said:


> Some of the things that worked for me was *always * leaving a treat when I left and I did use the same words when I left also, always telling him I would be back.


Oh yes, I forgot to mention that too. I *always* leave a treat. That way they usually focus on the treat and not the fact that you're leaving.


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