Our nine week old Rhoesdian Ridgeback is having panic attacks. We are crate training her and it seemed to be going well until we tried to close the door. She absolutely freaked out and got so worked up in the space of 1 minute that she threw up her lunch. It was surprising as we often close the door on her when she falls asleep- she simply wakes, whines and scatches to get out but does not panic. We then tried putting her crate in a mud room without the crate door. The door to the room was left open with a baby gate to block it off so she could see out. She cried when we left the room but stopped when we returned a few minutes later- once again no panic. Tonight we actually left the house for the first time in a week. We put her in the mud room with a TV on in the other room to provide some noise. We went to get a bite to eat and were gone for just over an hour. She was obviously frantic as she had peed twice and had thrown up twice by the time we returned. We know that she needs to learn to be on her own and that we must do it gradually but we are both going to back at work next week. I may be able to stop in once or twice during the day and our neighbor is also going to look in on her but even with all that she is still going to be on her own for a few hours at a time. She is not being destructive and she has all her favorite toys but she just can't handle being alone. What can we do?

Hi,
Here is a link:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/crate2.html

Scroll down to "How do I get my puppy used to a crate?"

It is sometimes difficult to get a dog use to being alone, and especially in a crate. I hope the suggestions in the above link will help.
Happy New Year.

Crate or no crate, she is going to have to learn to stay alone. Leaving her in the mud room with the crate open didn't help. This sounds like a severe case of a puppy's normal aversion to being left alone. It is an unnatural situation dogs instinctively fear. If she came from a pet store, she may have been left alone long periods in a small cage making things worse. If you are using a wire crate, put it in a corner, under a table, cover it, etc. to make it more of a den rather than an exposed cage. If you bought a large one, perhaps pick up a small plastic one that fits her now. You could try a cardboard box inside a large wire crate to give her a comforting den.

Try putting her in the crate, closing the door, and lying down in front of it like you were going to sleep. Talk to her, perhaps singing to her. It has worked very well for us for many puppies the dreaded first nights in their new home.

I am slow to suggest medication, but have enough experience to know this could be a case for it. Talk to your vet. It is unnecessary in most cases. We have never had to use it. The techniques in Fred's link work with most dogs. Chances are, they were in a leaflet that came with the crate.

One more thing is a rack. I always use them with a new puppy until it isn't having any accidents in the crate. They are available with the crates, but a piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. The rack will allow urine and vomit to fall through and to a lessor extent stools. This makes it much easier to cope with the problem until the puppy adjusts.

Your ability to stop in and have the neighbor check should make the adjustment much easier.