Quote: Sheila Buckley

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I see you have been there/done that too. This could have been posted by me.

Yes but you are too busy being Angel Martin. :laugh:

That was decades ago, you smart-***. LOL

Back in my nighttime private-investigator-sidekick days.

It has been very tough. After seeing all the improvements I can make with the potty training, this is my biggest worry.

Other than in her crate, when we put her in there and during the day we have no accidents in the house what so ever. We also were able to break her of pooping in her crate within 3 days. Other than those days, she has never once pooped in side the house.

Thank you for the tips on the games to play. we have like 9 different kinds of treats, healthy, and not so healthy ones, to train her with. She has been very sucessful at tricks, but right now there is no place where she doesnt freak out when left alone. As I said in one of my earlier emails, even if she is left in the open space of the living room and I go too the bathroom right behind the baby gate with the door open and she can see me, she still freaks out.

Since we had her, there was 1 time when we went from the backyard too the crate. Other than that, we always play with her for atleast a couple mins. In the morning before work I will make lunch while she lays at my feet. We try too make sure she never goes right into her crate.

We have a ton of toys and bones and a kong. We put one toy and a bone in there for her at night and during the day too give her something too do. I will have too look into the two level crate idea.

It looks like seeking a professional is the best we can do at this point also. We try too work with her as much as we can and on our 3 day weekends, she is always with us. She is the sweetest dog and it does make you desperate too help her when she screams that much. Your advice has been reasonable and is something I will start as early as tonight. Thanks so much.

I'd start by teaching her to be calm on a mat then. Calmly laying on a mat = higly rewarding.

Start with touch the mat, then standing on the mat, then sitting, then laying down. Do three minutes of highly rewarding mat work several times a day and by the end of the week she should happily go to her mat.

Then up the anty a bit - she lays n the mat while you wander around for 10 seconds, then reward. when she happily lays in the mat for a minute, duck out of the room for just a second, then back in and reward. It could take a week or two to get to this point. The idea is slow and steady and only progress incrementally as she masters each tiny step.

You want her to the point where she sees the mat come out (only bring it out for your short training sessions) and she is dancing around happy for the chance to lay on it.

I'm not sure if it was addressed or not but I would be very hesitant to put a pup with SA outside all day unsupervised, even in a kennel.

Water would be a biggie for me. Even with shade several hours without water (spilling it right after you leave) could be lethal in some climates such as mine.

Noisy dogs have been poisoned.

A dog in a panic, spinning, ect can do some very strange things. I've had jaws caught on crates, things like that.

SA can be very difficult to deal with and I'm not the best one for advice in that area. I did have one dog that had a very mild case of it and we worked on building up confidence. It helped, but like I said his case was mild.

If he was with another pup at the breeders that is why she did not see some of this behavior.

Rachel, as many of us here have raised multiple pups can tell you...they are all different..but one thing remains the same. You need to be able to get a pup out at least every 2 hours at the most to potty train within a reasonable time. Just like babies & potty training they have their own timetable as to when they can 'hold it' & for how long.

I had a pup out of the 3 that I have raised in the last several years that was a tough case. I had to take that pup out every 1/2 hr or 45min at the most for several days(almost a week) to get him reliably potty trained. He would wake up & stand up & pee. I have no warning at all. I would grab him up the second that he stirred & run him outside to the potty place & thow a BIG party when he would go.

I would make the last water at night was at 6 pm until morning. In order to help the overnight potty training. You need to get up at couple of times at least to take the pup out at night.


As Al, mentioned...this dog has some genetic issues, based on what you know about the dam. Under the best & ideal of circumstances this pup would be a challenge to potty train. Toss the seperation anxiety in on top of that & you have quite a problem to deal with. Probably not ideal for an owner that works away from the house.

Working the hours that you do..this pup or ANY pup for that matter, will be a problem to potty train unless you get someone that can come in during the day at the very least a couple of times. These are the challenges of raising pups.

I will also add that the longer this pup potties in his crate & gets used to sitting in it... the longer it will take to potty train him.

Maybe this is not be an ideal match. Maybe the breeder has an older pup (6 mo or older) that might be a better match for your situation. BTW..it isn't all that fair to this pup to be left alone, all day, with the issues that it has. I really doubt that the seperation axiety has anything to do with not being with a litter mate any longer. That kinda thing ends within a short time after the pup settles in to a new home. You have a pup with issues, no matter what this breeder tells you about the other pups or the mother.

Betty and Anne and Al make very valid points.

I've said several times that an uninterrupted span of time is needed for this dog -- a span where the dog is the major (the only) focus -- and that a dogwalker, ongoing, is also needed. These are probably the absolute minimum.

But yes, the issues are only becoming more entrenched as time goes by without this focused intervention. I hope the O.P. will be able to realistically assess whether she can meet the pup's needs.

 Quote: Rachel Ivey

She is the sweetest dog and it does make you desperate to help her when she screams ...

This is so true. The SA dogs I've dealt with have been very affectionate dogs, and it's very distressing to see and hear their anxiety.

Had a phone call & missed my edit window...

BTW... I have a whiner. (screams at times, too)...the dam did also. It DOESN'T go away. It's GENETIC!

I have an SA screamer who did recover from the screaming, but it did indeed take a lot of work. I couldn't have done it without concentrated work over many days (and then weeks) and also the help of a neighborhood teenager and a dogwalking service.

thanks for the mat training tips. We are going too try those also and hope that with time it helps. I cant quit my job to stay home with the puppy but I am also not going to just give her up without atleast trying some steps. Just b/c some "screamers" dont grow out of it doesnt mean others wont. German Shepherds are very vocal dogs anyway and I am going to try some of the techniques that some of yall have suggestged. Every dog is different so we may get lucky and be able to work through this with her.

What I dont understand is how was the only time she did this is when the breeder left the house? The breeder had her paried up with a 4 months old shepherd after the rest of the breed was sent home. Isnt this something she should have heard more than once? My pup was crated at night with the other puppy.