[scottbeckerle]

Hello I just recently got a Brittany puppy about 3-4 days ago. He is 11 weeks old. He is going to be outside for most of the time but has a shed where his bed (crate) is and a fenced in area that's about 600sq. Ft to run around and play in. Now we played with him for most about the whole weekend except at night when we stuck him in his crate to sleep in the garage since it was kind of chilly outside. Now the question is whenever we go to stick him in the fenced in area where he will be at when were not home he cries, moans and barks for what seems forever. He has toys, food, water, pretty well everything I can think of but he just hates to be alone. Will he eventually out grow this and get use to it, because we can't play with him all the time. Maybe there is something we can do to stop him from barking and moaning and making it easier to adjust to the whole staying by himself thing. Hes not usually alone but for more then like 4-5 hrs tops without someone checking up on him and playing with him. If anyone has any ideas or just anything let me know. I just want what's best for him and sometimes unfortunately he's going to have to be by himself sometimes.

[labman]

It is only natural that a puppy doesn't want to be alone. What the puppy
Wants more than anything else is to be others, you, anyone else in the
Household, and any other pets. In our modern society, even if we are home,
Other things distract us from the attention an uncrated puppy must have. The
Only real solution is to crate the dog when you aren't around. The dog may be
Happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its
Den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
Its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them
Will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic
Ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put
In a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select
A crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in. Leaving a puppy outside by its self is not a good idea. A hawk and snatch a smaller one. People can and do steal them. Kids may tease them. Being by themselves and distracted by things they can't control, many dogs will bark. Neither the dog or your neighbors will be happy. Inside in the crate is much better as long as you aren't gone more than 4-5 hours.

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave
Anything in the crate the dog might chew up. It will do fine without even any
Bedding. You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.

Likely it will cry the first few nights in the crate. I have never had much
Luck with the old clock or radio tricks. What I do is lay down by the crate
Like I was going to sleep there. Usually a puppy may fuss a little, but then
Settle down and go to sleep. Once it is asleep, you can get up and go to bed.