# HELP PLEASE!!! - My dog is howling when left in the garden



## Rocky the Cockapoo (May 6, 2009)

I have just had a call from my neighbour saying my dog is howling in the garden and has been since I left him 3 hours ago, but I have to go to work!

I have a 5 month old puppy who is lovely and has spent all his time with me. When at home he does follow me everywhere. I have been bringing him to work but he wont go for a walk with anyone else but me.

We have a nice garden with enough room for him to have a good run around. Before we got him we made sure it was all secured so he couldnt get out and was safe. I have even gone out and bought him a kennel and put his favourite blanket in there and water bowl and toys. 

My other alternative is to lock him in his cage when I go out which I think seems really cruel when he has the whole garden to run around in.

If you give him a chew stick when you go out he will leave it and will wait till Im home to eat it. 

Sometimes he wont even go for a walk with my kids or partner but is never like that with me and will go anywhere.

How can I stop in howling in the garden but able to leave him out there to have some fun?!?


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## Guest (May 12, 2009)

May be you should post this under behaviour in dog chat as it will get more attension over there 
kerry x


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

unfortunatly it sounds like you may have made a rod for your own back! having your pup with you 24/7 will not help matters when you need to leave him in the future.
Hows about getting him a big juicy bone from the butchers and leaving him with that,my dogs find these irresistable or a gammon hock(fed raw) these keep my pair quiet for hours


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

Can a moderator move this thread to the appropriate place, so the poster will have more responses, please.

I would start from scratch, allow him outside while you are in for a few minutes gradually building up the length of time he is left.

I would also make a point of letting other responsible family members taking him for a walk, he has bonded really well with you which is good in one way but it can lead to separation anxiety.


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## trabonita (Mar 20, 2009)

I posted a similar thread last week, we had a complaint from our neighbour and the general reply was that there is to much noise in the garden to leave a pup out there on his own and expect him not to get distressed. We actually have a dog flap but have decided for the time being to restrict him to the house while we are out so at least if he barks the neighbours won't hear it as much! we restrict him to the kitchen and dining room only, I personally couldn't keep him locked in his crate whilst were out, I think its cruel.


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

Hi. I have seen a number of these posts with owners complaining about the same thing and I have not heard one person reply and say that it works for their dog. Maybe somebody can give a success story???

For a dog to be left on it's own outside, in my opinion it takes a very balanced, calm and prob older dog. This does not apply to a 5 month old pup. You may think that you are doing the nicest thing, but you're not. There are too many noises outside which can scare the dog or make more anxious or excited and because it is outside, there will always be a different noise i.e a helicoptor, a different animal/bird, a person, a delivery truck etc etc. The more room a dog has to move around the more problems you will encounter, this is why people restrict access to a room or a crate. For my dogs they have access to only two rooms, and are left for a max of 4 hours at a time.

My advice is stop any access to outside when you are out and put him in the kitchen or another suitable room. You don;t have to crate him because he is inside, I have never used a crate.

Finally you need to address the issue of seperation anxiety. Google the subject and look on previous threads on this forum. If you don;t address it, you could find the behaviour gets worse. You need to begin to "seperate" yourself from the dog so he is not so clingy with you.

Best of luck x


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## fun4fido (Jul 22, 2008)

Rocky the Cockapoo said:


> I have just had a call from my neighbour saying my dog is howling in the garden and has been since I left him 3 hours ago, but I have to go to work!
> 
> I have a 5 month old puppy who is lovely and has spent all his time with me. When at home he does follow me everywhere. I have been bringing him to work but he wont go for a walk with anyone else but me.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately you have taken a backward step with leaving your puppy outside. This is an excerpt from a [ recent post on my blog ]:
_*
Then why crate train at all? Why cant I just leave my dog in the garden all the time?*

Because dogs (like many other animals), by nature are sociable animals. They prefer the company of others (probably more so than humans do). They need to be in the house, even when you are not there or when you are sleeping and cant be interacting with them. They need to feel that they are part of the family and that means being in the house, even though you may not be in the house. Depriving your dog of that feeling of belonging and of being a part of your family group can do as much psychological damage as locking a child in the closet for most of the day.

Behaviour problems such as digging, excessive barking, territorial guarding, chewing, and escaping WILL develop in a dog kept primarily outdoors. Crate training prevents destructive behaviours when you are not home or cant supervise the dog directly when indoors. As a family companion and friend, your dog should be in the house with you; allow him to belong._

Done in the right way crate training is not cruel, and it is not for life, it is just until your puppy has learned appropriate toilet habits, and has learned how to live with humans.

Of course it is not right to leave a puppy (or any dog) crated DURING THE DAY for 8 consecutive hours. But you could gradually build to crating your puppy for 3 hours, then you could arrange for a friend/neighbour or dog walker to take your puppy outside for 30 mins walk, and then return to your garden for a 30 mins play session. Make sure your pup has eliminated before going back in the crate for 2 hours.

If you could somehow work this in to your puppy's daily routine I'm sure it would help.

Before you do this you would of course need to work on weaning your puppy off of you, and have him interact and walk with other people.


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