Dog behaviour advice please!

[Millarkie]

We've just got a 7 month old labradoodle bitch who needed to be re-homed. Her owners said that she has been used to being left from 8.30 - 4.30 each day (!) whilst owner went to work.
However, so far she has followed me around house constantly (we are on our second day), and whines if I shut a door on her (eg. we do not let animals into bedrooms). I work part-time (although I have arranged for a dog walker to come and take her out for part of this time) so I need to know she will be ok if left.....but.although I am at home today I have just put her into the utility room with bowls, chewing toys etc..and pretended to go to work.
She is going crazy. Barking her head off and banging on the door.
Can I just treat this as her learning what is expected? ie. that she will be put there when we leave the house and she must settle down there, and if so, how long do you think she'll take to learn?

I'm ill with labyrinthitus at the moment so feeling dodgy enough without an upset dog..but I'm persisting as I guess it's in her own interests to learn to settle.

Any advice? or at least a bit of hand holding

oh bless, it's difficult to know isn't it? How about you do like you would with a baby and put her in the utility gradually building up the time...?

It is very early days with her.

lol! Not that I would put a baby in the utility!!!

Thanks for the hand holding It's similar to sleep-training a baby isn't it...just wish I hadn't thought she would be ok about it...argghh. I will be back at work later in the week and don't want to be worrying about her. I'm going to warn the neighbours that we aren't mistreating her and that she does have limited time in there etc.
I'm doing 45 mins now (she's just gone silent..hope it lasts), and then she'll be in there whilst I do the school/nursery run and buy her a new dog bed. and that will be it for today.

Former owners also let her sleep in their bed, so she was not impressed with being given a dogbed last night...also whimpered and barked at regular intervals through night.

Whimpering again now

notjustmom - I do feel for her and she has a kong with hidden treats,and other chewy toys, no radio reception in that room and she needs to be in that room ideally so that dog walker can get to her easily without setting off house alarm.
Can't build up in 10 minute intervals when I will be at work Thurs or Friday. If I went back so quickly and praised her wouldn't I be rewarding her for barking etc?
If she doesn't settle she'll have to be returned and re-homed again - and they had been trying to find someone for some time (we will have someone in the house all day from July onwards..and would much prefered not to have a dog at all until then, but dog owners were running risk of eviction and were desperate. It;s such a pain that they couldn't hang on until July.

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Yes, I could do it in the evenings - (must admit we spent most of last evening in the garden playing games with her)

Still worried that returning and praising whilst she's still barking will be giving wrong message.

Thanks for all advice - at least it's kept me busy these last few minutes.

Off to give her lots of cuddles now (and to find out if she's eaten a washing machine )

just a thought but would your dog walker be willing to keep her all day ,just until july ? that way you arnt going to be worried about her whilst your working

You might like to consider a DAP collar for her - it releases a calming pheromone that may be helpful for her just until she starts to calm down and trust the routine, that she is not being abandoned etc. Has she been used to a cage - some dogs take a lot of comfort in them and so if that might apply if she has used one it could be a good investment for her too - you could always leave the door open for her to come and go but at least she could feel secure in one then.
Building up a little bit at a time is a good idea where you can manage it. Try to set up situations where nothing bad happens in terms of her not really having time to worry. If you have a set routine of shutting doors and windows, putting a coat on etc when you go out, just start with doing that but not actually going out so she sees that is nothing to worry about. The do all of that and add on going out of the door, count to 3 then come back indoors.....add in starting up the car, extend further in time/drive away etc as she gets used to the last stage. Plenty of reassurance for her too when you are home, but don't pander to silly behaviour, just lots of attention when she is being good and settled.

justwater - I'll talk to dogwalker (when I arranged the daily visits I was thinking that dog would be ok left for a short time by herself) but she does have her own dogs plus others to walk so might be asking too much.

Beautifulgirls - thanks, lots of good advice. I had thought of trying a plug-in diffuser (I've used one for my cats in the past and it was fab) but didn't realise you could get a similar thing in collars.
She hasn't been used to a cage - from what I've been told she's been given the run of the house (amazing that she hasn't chewed anything). I have thought about getting one, but will involve a few days delay at least.

She is a lovely girl, and incredibly good with the kids, and she managed not to wet the floor when I left her to pick up the kids..

Agree with beautifulgirls advice.

DAP would be a great idea but would recommend the plug in diffuser as she will then begin to feel generally more relaxed in her new home and therefore less stressed when you have to leave her. If necessary you could buy the DAP spray to either spray on her bed or on a bandana round her neck as a sort of boost when you do have to leave.

DAP worked fantastically with our rescue lurcher and also helps dramatically with our other dog's firework phobia every year.

We did the 'gentle signals' method of locking doors and putting on coats etc then building up from just stepping into hall, then opening front door and coming straight back in then standing on step outside for one minute and building it up from there. Its slow progress at first but many dogs seem to have an 'Aha!' point when the light bulb goes on that you are not going to leave them forever and then you can start to build up in spaces of 5 then 10 etc mins.

It took a concerted effort over about 6 weeks with our boy but he is actually more chilled out about being left than our old lady dogs now!

Another thing to bear in mind is not to return and give instant enthusiastic praise. Try ignoring her when you get back and go about your business for a couple of minutes - I know it sounds harsh, but keeping things calm when you return gives her time to relax again and then you can reward her appropriately when she is exhibiting nice calm behaviour. Some people wait until the dog has given up trying to elicit attention and gone to lie down - I just wait until everyone has either bums or 4 paws on the floor and I have had chance to get my coat off and put the shopping bags out of snouting reach! lol

So basically, I would recommend doing the 'gentle signals' with a gradual build up of time left and not fussing or rewarding her until she has suitably calmed down.

I do understand the last part sounds harsh and is hard to do (everyone loves to be greeted by their dog and give them a great big fuss) but it really does help as the dog is not being rewarded whilst in the hyped up/nervous state but instead learns to connect the calmer more relaxed state with your presence and rewards.

Hope this helps, not sure if I am making much sense with my preggy brain fog .

Thanks Moosemama - yes I'm not fussing her until she's calm - this is because she has a tendancy to jump up and because she's a big dog and I have small children I want to discourage that..so I open the door then turn my back and ignore the leaping about..and give a a big fuss when she's calmer.
Will look for DAP tomorrow.

The DAP collars are a more recent thing on the market. The draw back of a diffuser is that it will only cover the room it is in for the most part and several might be required depending where the dog is allowed to go. The collar however will go wherever they go. I think they last about 4 weeks once put on and just slowly release the pheromone. It is probably a more cost effective way of using DAP than buying so many diffusers.
Vets will sell them or you can search online too.

Had't heard of the collars - assumed they were just put on when a dog was going to be left alone. (Don't know why I assumed that - doh! I blame me 'ormones )

They sound like a great idea. I will definitely be investing in one well before bonfire season this year.

We are now on day 4 and she's getting a lot better. I've continued to leave her for 40ish minutes a time (school run etc) and she has stopped barking when I leave her - not sure how she behaves when I'm away..she certainly barks when she hears the car pull up, but that's fair enough.
And...she went 11pm to 4.30am in her own bed without a whimper.

I got a DAP spray from the vets today - gave her bed a dose before I went out, not sure if it's necessary but makes me feel better about leaving her.

Another question for the doggy experts..At night, she is sleeping in a tiled room which has been emptied apart from her dog bed and toys. I put newspaper down in case she messed/wet..and each morning I am woken by barking at about 3.40-4.30am..when I go down to her i find she has messed and wet on the paper.
I was just wondering whether, by giving her paper, I have given her 'permission' to wet/mess in her bedroom..I think I shouldn't have given her the paper and then maybe she would hang on until I let her out?
I've been thinking about getting a crate for her - hopefully once she gets used to it, it will put her off messing at night.

All advice eagerly accepted. Thanks

She is still very young to be going the whole night with no mess. However, dogs do not like messing their bedding so a cage might work. It also makes them feel very secure.

Thanks LMTTS - I was assuming it was because she was young and then I googled house training and kept reading about how puppies much younger could hold for 7-8 hours overnight (she is managing 10.30-3.30 I think)...relieved if it's just a matter of her growing up a bit.
Trying to discuss the crate idea with dh but he doesn't get the 'lair' explanation - he thinks it sounds cruel...will keep trying though.

I have a goldendoodle and she didn't get bladder control until well over 8 months. Apparently the larger the dog, the longer everything developmental takes...

Thanks Hullygully. That's reassuring.