# Adjusting to new apartment?



## sujimama (Sep 24, 2019)

Hi, friends! Suji is one week away from being 6 months old. It feels like just yesterday that I was posting about what I thought were my initial housetraining problems. Hah! Suji is is about 98.9% reliably trained to go potty on her pee pads and now we're starting outdoor training, although I'm okay to continue to use pee pads (they're so convenient!). We've recently made a pretty big move and I'm interested in any insight you all might have, whether it's an idea on whats going on or tips/tricks to help. Let me know what you think! Story below:

We have been in our new apartment for not quite a week. (I know this isn't very long at all.) I hate to say, out of all the research I've done on raising a puppy and specifically a Havanese, I'm embarrassed that I didn't even consider that our move might freak our little puppy girl. Suji has always been velcro to me, definitely preferring to be where I or my partner is. In our old house, she only had access to the living room and occasionally the attached kitchen when we could keep eyes on her. When given the opportunity, her favorite past time is following us around the house. That is totally fine by me! At the old house, I was able to successfully leave Suji at home for 3-4 hours at a time maybe 2-3 days a week. I give her a kong with kibble and peanut butter, turn the camera on and leave. If she whined, I never caught it on camera and mostly saw that she slept or stared out to space while we were away. This brings us to now, our new place.

Suji seems to have a new level of anxiousness. I can't even go into the next room without her barking up a storm. Our new place is also bi-level and anytime I go up the stairs, she screams & demand barks as if I've left her forever the second I'm out of sight. I definitely can't leave the apartment without her screaming as if someone is murdering her. Our downstairs neighbor complained even on our second day here. Previously, we lived in a house so I wasn't concerned about her barking until she settled down, but now that we live in an apartment I feel like I'm in a bigger predicament because when she barks I feel as if I have to shush her immediately so she doesn't disturb others. We all know that any attention to that type of behavior is exactly what they're looking for. So I'm afraid that even when I shush her or give her the quiet command it's just reinforcing the anxious behavior.

I am really stressed about this. I don't want Suji to be miserable, but I also don't want to be miserable because I feel trapped in my apartment with her. Does anyone have any advice? I follow the same routine I always have, exercise her, give her a kong, and lead her to the kennel and expen and then leave without a word. She starts screaming the second I'm out of sight. What to do?


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Oh that is hard on both of you! 

Can you try gradually increasing the time you leave her and the distance you go, the way you probably did when you first brought her home? It sounds like she is well behaved and well trained for her age so you probably don’t have a need to actively supervise her the way you did when you first brought her home from the breeder, but maybe some closer supervision so she can explore the new space and settle in more would help her adjust. 

I hope you get some good advice and you both are able to settle in soon! It would sure be hard to unpack and take care of everything involved with a move when your puppy barks every time you leave the room.


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