Nipping and separation anxiety

[cheeseisthebest]

We've had had our gorgeous shih tzupuppy 3 weeks. He's absolutely lovely and the kids are great with him but if I leave the room to go upstairs he races to the door and barks until I get back down. Same with my teenage daughter, we do the most for him and with him. Should I put him in crate for those few minutes? I want to build up to him being ok on his own just for a few minutes for now! Or just ok with son or husband. My daughter and I have been out and he's been fine but the racing to the door feels like he's really worried. Same with back door actually. I'm sneaking out the door feeling like I'm on one of those dogs behaving badly programmes!

Also any tips for nipping, I know it's normal and just playing but he nipped my 10 year old on the nose and now he's a bit nervous. He's so excited to see him when he comes down in the morning that he jumps and I'm not sure best way to get my son to manage this.

I know it's early days, he's mostly absolutely chilled and completely lovely. I know the nipping is normal! Distraction works sometimes but he really wants flesh!

Bump.

Re leaving the room. Throw treats on the floor behind you when you leave the room.

Re nipping as you say puppies will need. Give them lots of toys to chew and hold, interact with the puppy when you have toys to give them. Check the puppy is not over tired so do enforce rest regularly. They will nip more when over tired.

Could you use a barrier rather than shutting doors? For a small puppy like a shihtzu a doorway barrier fashioned out of a cardboard box will work for a while - then you might have to move on to something stronger like a wooden board. (Of course you could also buy baby gates if you don't mind splashing out) I am very wary of opening and shutting doors around tiny puppies anyway because it is so easy to trap their feet, or even their body, as they can't comprehend door working when they are tiny. The advantage of a barrier is you can quickly step over it and be gone before they've even cottoned on what's happening. Don't signal what you are going to do and make a 'thing' out of it - you leaving the room has to be accepted as a normal part of life. The advantage of this is that the puppy can hear you moving around so knows you're still there. You need to regularly leave the room without warning, and come back without making a big fuss so the whole thing becomes a non event.

Thank you. I tried the barrier thing before but he's actually quite a big shih tzu and it didn't last!
Might try using a chew and scattering treats.
Thank you.
Nipping won't last I guess!