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Child Item

Puppy crying for attention

Uncle Pierre

Hi all. Hoping for some advice.

We have a Cockapoo puppy, just shy of six months old, and he's a great addition to the family. However, one of the things that makes him such a great pet (that he's friendly, sociable, and loves attention) is also becoming a bit of a problem during the working day.

My wife and I arrange things so that there's always at least one of us working from home, and we spend a few minutes with him every hour or so, as work allows. In between times, he's free to go outside and wander around the garden (secure site, rural area), and he's happy enough doing that a lot of the time too.

However, when he's back inside and confined to the kitchen area of the house, he'll regularly howl and whine for attention, until one of us goes to see him. Then as soon as we leave him alone again, he'll start again.

Allowing him down to the home office that we work from isn't an option because there's just too much stuff around that he'd chew to pieces. This includes electrical cables - so we're afraid of the damage he might do to himself too, if we took our eye off him there for a minute!

He's not hungry or thirsty at these times, and he's not calling out for a toilet break either, as he can go outside anytime to do that (has been quite a while since we had an "accident" in the house at all). Distracting him with chew toys doesn't really work either, because again, as soon as you leave, he'll start whining.

Any suggestions? Should it just be a case of "tough love" and leaving him to cry it out? Is this a stage that most or all puppies go through?

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tk123

Could you maybe set up a crate / pen in the office for him or even a baby gate on the office door so he can see you? My older boy is like this in the morning sometimes when I’m working. He’s not able for the stairs anymore so I just come downstairs and work in the kitchen for a couple of hours until our walk at lunchtime and he settles immediately.

[Deleted User]

I've minded a Cockapoo for a friend, and they are the best... but, they are very demanding time wise. Lovely dogs though...

Re your whining problem... that's their way of communicating, so when you come running when they whine is a learned experience on their part... I whine, human comes.

Six months is very young, and they have HUUUUUGE energy.

From my experience it's the dog we'd like to get ourselves.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119901931#Comment_119901931

Took me a minute to realise that you saying your older "boy" referred to a dog and not a child! 😂

Anyway, we've actually tried both. We have a crate that he sleeps in at night, and so I tried bringing it to the office and putting him in it during the day, but he's not happy to be confined to such a small space then. Could take a chance on buying a pen, but I'd be afraid it wouldn't work too well either, and so would basically be money wasted since we don't need it for anything else around the place. And with the baby gate on the door, he'll just howl at the gate itself until you either let him in or send him back to the other end of the house (where'll he howl anyway!).

Starting to realise maybe I'm asking an impossible question here, and maybe all we can do is "tough love" the situation, and hope he grows out of it.....

airy fairy

Getting a large puppy that size, requires big attention and is a big commitment.

Perhaps booking the puppy in for day care might be better if you can't care for him. Working from home is fine, but you are still working, so in effect, the dog is expected to amuse himself until an owner is finished work. A few minutes an hour of entertainment won't suffice a dog that size. Tough love is cruel, especially when the dog is doing nothing wrong. You're expecting a puppy to sit and chew for 50+ minute sessions for a part/whole day!!

By going to day care, you are giving him his exercise needs, and his play and social skills are met too.

Faith

We have a 7.5 mo golden retriever and we experience these issues from time to time too. It seems to be on a phase basis, it's not constant. Sometimes she's fine without us, sometimes she won't settle even if we're in the same room as her but focusing on something else. It's particularly bad when she wakes up in the morning.

Long story short, once you're sure she's only looking for attention, then all we've found works for us is the tough love route. You just have to ignore it. Expect it to get worse before it gets better, so you have to hold firm. Dogs love routine and they'll be absolutely fine being left alone for periods, once they know you'll be around at predictable times. Unfortunately, reinforcing demand barking by giving them what they're looking for makes it a much bigger, harder to solve issue.

newport2

Just to add, I have a Cavapoo and while still full of beans, she did quieten down a lot when she reached a year old, so things may get a bit easier from then on.

Is it possible to just puppy-proof your office and remove or isolate anything chewable? I'd miss her not being in my office now!

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119902454#Comment_119902454

Thanks for the reply, but seems a bit OTT to suggest that we can't care for him because we happen to have jobs? Seems by your rationale, the only people who should keep dogs are the retired, the unemployed, and others who don't work for a living.

The dog gets plenty of attention up to school run time around 8.45 a.m., during lunchtime, after the young lad gets home from school shortly after 3 p.m., and especially so after either my wife or I finish work sometime around 4.30 to 5. He's well cared for all right.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119903299#Comment_119903299

Thanks too. Am hoping he'll quieten down a bit after a while too, as he grows older.

Think I'll have a go at puppy-proofing the office all right. Going to take a fair bit of re-organisation and will probably take much of the weekend, but hopefully it'll be worth the effort.

airy fairy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905732#Comment_119905732

No suggestion the puppy isn't being cared for, no doubt it's fed, clean and warm, but the size of the puppy and your expectations that short relief breaks at lunch, after school etc isn't sufficient imo. This isn't a toy dog. It's genetics come from working dog. Lots of long walks, runs and less sitting and waiting for the next break for someone to interact with it. And not just give it a pat on its head during working hours.

It's my opinion, you posted looking for advice. My advice was to seek day care to quell the boredom and develop socially as it needs that too.

muddypaws

Dogs sleep a huge part of the day, your pup just needs to learn that nothing exciting is happening whilst you're working and to settle down. Absolutely nothing wrong with working during the day and having a dog, it's how the vast majority of pets live - mostly happy lives!

What is your routine? When is he given his breakfast? If you feed him out of a bowl, I'd ditch that. When you start work, either scatter feed him or use a toy such as a Kong or K9 Connectables (Irish company) and stuff with his food. Get a few toys like that, so that there is always at least one ready to go - freeze them. If you're feeding kibble then mix something wet and smelly with it to stuff the toy - a lot to be said for tinned fish from supermarkets - in spring water, sunflower oil or tomato sauce.

He will start to associate you leaving him alone with nice food and feeding this way will keep him occupied for a while.

When he does start crying for attention, go to him but don't go into the room until he stops. The second he stops, in you go and reward him. Never go in while he's crying, dogs are simple creatures, they will repeat a behaviour that works, which is also what makes them so trainable. At the moment, he's crying and that is being Rewarded by you appearing, you need to change that so that when he's quiet, that's when he is Rewarded.

If you have time in the morning, do 5 or 10 minutes training with him as well as a walk, mental exercise is tiring for a pup.

Can you leave a TV or radio on in the room with him for company?