Puppy Crying in the Crate? It Might Be Separation Anxiety—Not “Bad Behavior”

You’ve probably heard it all:

• Whining in the crate is normal for puppies

• Just let them cry it out

• Wait until they calm down before letting them out

• They’re just whining for attention

• They’ll grow out of it

• They’re not old enough to have separation anxiety

• Dogs naturally love their crates

While some of this well-meaning advice is true for some puppies, there are plenty of cases where it can be devastating.

Puppies can have separation anxiety at any age after 6 weeks old. It’s true, some go through a little rough patch right after adoption and many can learn to cope with isolation within just a couple of days. For others, however, what started as minor whining turns into barking, then screaming, then digging, chewing, and destroying their crate. Many will injure themselves in the process. However, this doesn’t have to be your puppy’s destiny.

Track 1 – Graduated Departures

This option relies solely on training your pup to slowly tolerate being alone by themselves. Through the process of gradual desensitization and counterconditioning, we teach the dog to stay calm, and then gradually expose them to longer times alone. For many dogs, these “Missions” start with no more than 5 seconds of isolation. The learner must stay under threshold, not have a panic response, and remain calm and happy throughout the entire training process. Through patience and diligence, thousands of dogs have learned to hope with their alone time through this proven procedure. The downside, however, is that not all families can dedicate several weeks or months to this training process.

Track 2 – Medicated Departures

With this option, we rely heavily on anti-anxiety medications to chemically prevent the panic attacks associated with separation anxiety. Through collaboration with your veterinarian and a little trial and error, we put together a “prior to departure medication protocol” (PTD rx) that you know you can safely administer to your pup and leave them at home for x-number of hours. They don’t hurt themselves and the family can continue operating like they should – going grocery shopping, having doctor’s appointments, working at the office, going to school, etc. The downside, is that we aren’t teaching coping skills. Oftentimes we’re “numbing out” the separation anxiety.

Track 3 – The Best of Both Worlds

At Mindful Mentor Behavior, we want to ensure that we have that PTD rx AND work on training confidence and independence. There are times that we need to leave our pets at home, but drugs shouldn’t be the only answer to the problem. We work you to develop protocols for Mission Departures and Medicated Departures so that your pup really can be comfortable staying home by themselves without the hassle, the worry, and the panic.

Think it can’t be done? Let us prove you wrong.

Schedule a Discovery Call today to speak with a provider about your pet’s behavioral concerns.

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