# X-pen and crying non-stop



## Cassidy (Jul 29, 2014)

We have a new pup, 10 wks old today. She has been with us for 3 days and very good at going outside for potty. However, she will not remain in x-pen with her crate in it, a water bowl, chew toys, potty pad etc without high pitch crying. It never stops. I just tried it this afternoon. Took her out to pee, she would not do. Brought her in, put her in x-pen (turned soothing music on) while I was doing some much needed catch up on computer. She had a moment/a second of silence and I took her out to back yard again. No potty. Brought her back in... more crying and frantic jumping around her pen. Finally, another sec of quiet and I went to take her out, but she had peed on her pad. Now I brought her in and she is laying on floor in front of me sound asleep. Yikes, she got her way!! 
Now, if I move around the counter I am sitting at, she immediately get up and follow me. She will go into her crate but only for a bit if I put food in there. I have not shut the door on the crate and I take it in and out of the pen so she can get used to the crate as a safe haven. Am I expecting too much too soon? I DO NOT want to encourage bad habits, nor do I want to "scare" her if she is experiencing separation anxiety. However, I do necessary errands, business, housekeeping, laundry, even personal grooming that I must leave her alone for a while to accomplish. Wow, I thought I knew what to expect, but she has me perplexed! 
Comments, please.
G.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Molly used to stand up in her crate and "scream" when I first got her. She was fine at night but hated it when I put her in it during the day. Just keep at it and ignore the crying. You definitely don't want to reward the unwanted behavior by responding to it. It will get better and then you can start praising her when she is quiet in there. I used to get in Molly's expen with her to play at first. Also make sure you have it in a place she can see you when you are doing things. She will learn to amuse herself and be quiet.


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

I promise it will get better. Mae used to get herself so worked up she sounded like a cross between the lost boys from Peter Pan or a really sick rooster. These guys are really smart and if you relent when they cry and let them out they will learn that crying will get them out, it's a really bad Catch 22. I know it's next to impossible but what made things easier for me was to give myself a set time, like 10 minutes, and make her stay in the expen, crying and all. Since they are so smart they learn fast that crying won't get them anywhere. Sometimes I would go upstairs and take a shower so I wouldn't have to listen to the whining. You really will thank yourself later when they can be confined and it's not a punishment. She's still a baby and has always been with someone so it's hard to be by yourself but stick to it, sounds like you're doing a great job! My two will go in their crates on command and lay down and Mae just turned 1 so you don't have too much longer!


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## Naturelover (Nov 30, 2013)

You could try leaving her alone with a food-dispensing puzzle toy, if you have her on kibble. So she learns that the times you aren't there are fun times and she will be distracted by something else. Also a good time to offer a soft bully stick (lightly supervised of course) or kong with some tasty baby food or something smeared inside. Just to get her to soothe herself and entertain herself if you are not physically visible. It definitely will get better as long as you don't reinforce the bad behaviour and set her up for success to have good behaviour for short spurts. Then you will be able to let her out after she finishes the puzzle toy or finding all the kibbles scattered around, before she starts crying.


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## Cassidy (Jul 29, 2014)

My new pup was so much better in her crate today. I did not look at her or feel sorry for her when put in her crate/expen today. In the morning, we put her in expen and she cried for a while, but settled down after about 15 min. I took her out to potty and she did not but right after putting her in pen, she peed on potty pads. When I left her again, she did settle down again more quickly. I picked her up after settling and she was free to run around until again I crated her. At the end of the day when I left to run errand for 15 mins, I returned to a quiet dog in pen and she greeted me calmly. Whew, thanks for the encouragement. Without your input, I would have caved. She is a smarty but now I have her number!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

The exact same thing happened to me. I gave in and I'm sure it was a mistake. This is how I salved the issue to be on my computer. LOL


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

All of us here have dealt with similar if not identical issues. *Welcome to the club!* In the 2012 Havanese Club of America Health Survey separation anxiety ranked #5 in "health and other problems", so it's very real and breed-wide.

The breeder I purchased Rory from cautioned me sternly to deal with it straight-away, that if I failed, the pup would run the house, and run me. He said it was important that she develop confidence and a sense of her own identity, and to my surprise, he added, "Remember, she is just a dog."

As harsh as that warning sounded to me, the premise has held me in good stead - particularly in working through her separation anxiety.

I did my separation 'training' very incrementally, starting at 1 minute, and increasing from there. I kept a written log and put Post-its on my computer screen to remember to work on it. I work from home and she gets left maybe four hours a week _if that_, so I had to stage routine pretend separations just to get her adjusted to them.

There are more experience folks on here, but that's what I did, based on reading forum posts and having been forewarned by the breeder.

This video by trainer Emily Larlham helped me see things from the dog's perspective too.

Now, she accepts my absence without crying or barking.


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