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Is Charlie testing me?? Please advise

estelle

estelle

Well-known member
As some of you may know we recently got Charlie he's 11 wks tommorow and absolutely gorgeous. Over the last couple of days he's become increasingly clingy towards me with my youngest daughter and husband coming a close second! he constantly barks when I go out the room sometimes he's ok if someone else is in the room but most often he just wants me :roll: He's absolutely tired out but will only fall asleep if he's on me and as soon as i put him in his crate he just gets straight back out and follows me back to the couch :roll: :roll: I have bought the dap diffuser and got him a snuggle pup today which he seems to want to eat rather than cuddle :sl*p: .
Should I just ignore him when he barks for me? I know this is probably the best thing to do but with the kids constantly going in and out of the front room is this confusing him and telling him that if he barks someone will come?? i'm soooooooo confused and don't know what to do for the best :( :(
 
Ignore the barking. He is doing what comes normally to puppies -- he wants you to be around and he's telling you he's not happy when you go away. A mother dog would start ignoring these pleas for attention after a certain point -- because the puppy needs to grow into a well adjusted adult. Don't even look at him when he barks at you, walk away, do what you need to do. Consider getting a xpen and put the crate in the xpen and the puppy in the pen so that you can have grown-up time without puppy following you around. Kids going in and out is probably overexciting him too -- he needs a quiet puppy place where he isn;t around all this traffic and movement and stimulation -- the x-pen. You can hang a blanket over the side to cut down on the stimulation too.

I've recently posted some links on crate and housetraining as well as some on separation anxiety and teaching a dog to stay home alone. This would be helpful to you.

I also recommend going through some of the links here:

http://diamondsintheruff.com/behavior.html

You will see a huge list of puppy information links that should answer your questions and give some guidance.
 
Thank you :flwr: , it's difficult trying to find the right balance between letting him know he's loved and not letting him take over!!
 
This may sound bizarre, but if you're still having problems after a while, send the pup to someone who has a hearing loss. It's amazing how fast they settle down when no-one comes! When Holly was a puppy I put her to bed in her crate, turned the light off, and then if she didn't settle quietly, switched off my hearing aids. Result: a dog that can happily be left alone at any time... and one who loves to sleep in the dark! :D :D :D She really did settle very quickly. I know my uncle and his girlfriend ended up bringing their shih tzu cross puppy to bed with them, and it's only comparatively recently that it has settled down- and it's not that much younger than Holly (who's now 3).
 
I agree with Karlin, ignore his barks - it is hard though when they are so weet but you'll make a rod for your own back if you don't!

Another good idea if he's clinging to you, is to give him an old nightshirt or something with your smell on it and let him lie on it - works wonders for unsettled puppies :)
 
Bradley can be clingy too.....

I've discovered that all I need to do is to "make his bed" on the sofa - that just means straightening out his fav blanket. He's laying on it at the moment, because I can't have a laptop and a cav on my lap at the same time. ;)

I would say pup is too young to be 'testing' you.

:)
 
Sounds just like Merlin when he came home - at 11 weeks weeks I suspect he's still getting adjusted to you being his Mummy and just wants to make sure you're there and a bit of reassurance.

I agree, ignore the barking - let him in the same room but occupy yourself with something that you have to turn your back - like make some cakes ( you won't be able to make a fuss of him with cake mixture all over your hands!) - so that you are not always focusing attention on him but you are still there.

Just an idea!
 
thanks everyone :flwr:
I'm continuing to ignore his barking and I think (fingers crossed) it's getting less each time.
I just hope the neighbours are not getting too cross icon_whistling
 
I used the x-pen with a crate inside for both of mine when they were babies. It worked great. I could walk away knowing they couldn't follow me and at the same time they were safe.
 
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