New puppy cannot be left alone and I am worried about work

[Adrundel]

I got a new puppy who’s nearly 6 months old last weekend- I absolutely love him!
I purposefully got a slightly older puppy as work and while I work from home I do need to go into office too/ I had a plan of doggy daycare 1 day and a dog walker on the other office days to break the day up.l where I’m in the office. I have time off work to settle him which has been going wonderfully.

However, the pup can not be left (and I mean for seconds) without crying, barking, howling.
i nipped out and was watching him on the camera and he chewed my bag and a basket and was crying. When I came back in, he had weed inside and had been so stressed he was drooling and quite wet. The area was puppy safe- I have absolutely no idea how the bag was knocked down from the table- it must have fallen as on the camera it was on the table at one point.
I couldn’t care less about objects or cleaning up- I am just worried about the puppy’s wellbeing. I thought I had a solid plan for office days and feel absolutely stressed and over whelmed now.

i have done a lot of researching and everything says about building up but I can’t not go back to work after Easter. Also the second (as in second too!) I leave the room to start building up he is quite hysterical.

A full days doggy day care for all the days is also financially not possible but of course I’m not going to leave him in distress but i really can’t stress how much financial pressure it’ll be for me.

he had a big walk and had been toilet/ eaten/ left with licky mat/ radio on. He isn’t crate trained but has a soft pen (crate like)- even if I am sat with him he goes absolutely beserk to the point where I was worried he’d hurt himself if the door is shut. I am also concerned re noise levels of him barking/ howling.

I have literally spent all night researching there is quite alot of conflicting advice. I also know he’s very new but I am sure you can understand why I am so worried. He has settled in beautifully apart from this. I have contacted a dog trainer tonight to try and cover all bases- I just want him to be happy :(

I would very much welcome any advice/ stories of reassurance.

Thank the Lord you rescued him from where he was, well done.
Our 7yo (we've had him since he was a puppy) is clingy to me and even if someone is in the house he howls if I go out. It used to be the whole time, but niw it's just when I leave as whoever is in calls him to them and they are with him the whole time.
Separation anxiety is such a sad behaviour.
Because it's very rare noone is in and we have 3 other dogs, we didn't train it out of him. He was safe. I now leave him with his allies - he lives scooby doo balls from B&M - and a puzzle.
As he's a only dog, please take time to train it out of him. An earlier post explained how to do it.
Find a bona fide pet sitter too. But for the short term, train, train, train.

You'll get there.

he’s just settling op, people on mn talk about training, breeders etc etc, at the end of the day it’s a living creature that’s been taken from everything they know to live with you, his new person and him learning to see your place as his relaxed environment is going to take a while but he’ll get there

Do you have any family or friends who could pop in for a bit? Or neighbours?

Chihuahuas are usually wee yaps so it isn't a surprise due to the breed of dog.

Take the dog back . It’s going to be a nightmare to sort this. Sounds like the wrong dog for you - in fact don’t get a dog if you are not at home full time for 3 months

Your poor neighbours

bite the bullet and rehome him

I think that assuming the dog would be settled after such a short amount of time is where you have went wrong.

If you can't meet the dog's need then it may need to go back to the breeder. You can't leave the the dog, can't afford care and have to go to work- unfortunately something has to give.

Also, some dogs never get over this anxiety. Yours might, but you have to assume it won't and plan how you're going to manage for the next 15-20 years.

I'm sorry, but in this situation I'd have to give the dog back/rehome :(

Sorry to say you haven’t left enough time to settle him in. The poor puppy is bound to feel a little in secure as his whole world changed overnight.

Other people have suggested doggy daycare while you do more training. I'm not sure this is the best idea. Some doggy daycare places can be very full on and energetic. You'd be getting the dog used to full.on days of play and running and then suddenly expect them to be calm at home alone. Ideal would be to leave her with a calm person either in their house or yours while you work on training. Is there anyone who might be able to help ? A friend who works from home? Neighbour?

@OtherS isn't wrong though. In reality, you have taken on a juvenile dog from a dubious source who is clearly not trained or socialised without a concrete plan in place.
The point is, in your situation where you have to work outside of home, you’ve made a bad decision. What the solution might be is difficult. I think you’re going to have to dig deep financially and send the dog to daycare when you’re at work. Having a dog Walker dropping by sporadically doesn’t sound feasible at the moment given that the dog shows signs of stress within minutes of being left alone. In fact, that could be more upsetting for the dog.

She sounds like a prolific dog breeder and not particularly ethical about it and your little dog has been damaged by this, i would go with a pp suggestion and maybe sign up to borrow my doggy and have him looked after on work days.

Unfortunately if a dog has separation anxiety you cannot leave them alone for a second to go over the level they can cope with or you'll take a step back each time.
So it's either you or someone else is there whilst you're working on it. This can take weeks if not months.

I think you either need him to go somewhere full time for the times you are out, not dog day care but a more one to one environment, or take him back to the breeder.
The breeder should never have sold him to you. Did s/he know your work situation and plans?

These dogs are known for being ultra clingy. I think that's their purpose these days.

This sounds exactly like my dog when he was a puppy. He had really severe separation anxiety.

I did the gradual build up you've read about online, I treated it like you would do when sleep training a baby. It actually doesn't take that long to build up to an hour and a half, once he can do 20 minutes he's OK, but you do have to be with him the rest of the time until he does. You need to crate train him or he'll eat all your stuff and be terrified.

1. Get a really small crate, make it really cozy. Blankets over the top and inside Put loads of treats and toys inside the crate, but don't let him in ! Puppies are curious... he'll be desperate to get in.

1. After a couple of hours, leave the door open, walk away, pay no attention. He'll go in, let him explore and eat the treats. When he's in there, drop treats and walk away. You want him to think it's the most wonderful place on earth, dogs learn to associate actions with food. He'll learn going to the crate means good things - toys, treats, cozy reassuring place. This happens pretty quickly.

1. After a day of him choosing to go in there and hang out, put something inside which really occupies him. Walk over, shut the door. Then open it again and walk off.

1. Gradually extend (by seconds to start with) closing the door. Dont let him get upset by this.

1. Whilst the door is open and he's fully occupied, walk in and out of the room, desensitise him to this by doing it lots of times throughout the day.

1. Once he's inside OK with the door closed for a few minutes, walk out of your door, close it, walk back in. Gradually extend the time (by seconds to start with), go slowly, don't let him get upset.

1. Never go back into the room whilst he is barking, wait for a quiet time, then go back in - even if it's just a pause for breath between barks.

Once he's up to 20 minutes, you're OK for a reasonable amount of time alone in the crate if he's bad a walk, has something to chew etc. A reasonable time for a 6-month old is an hour or two, but he does need your doggy drop in person to take him out and do something physical with him then a calming activity and something to chew on and time for a nap for his next hour or two.

Eventually he'll calm down and grow out of eating your stuff and you can get rid of the crate.

Sorry for the very long post. This absolutely does work, I promise..it took me a week or two.

My poor puppy was so distressed he used to poo everywhere when left alone. He barked for hours. This method completely sorted it. He's 5 now and the most wonderful dog ever. Dogs who are very attached to humans are very easy to train and make great companions in the long run, I did think my life was over when he was a puppy though.

Oh gosh. We took in a very elderly chi for the last 2 years of his life. We basically had to wear him in a pouch at all times. Sometimes he’d settle with a hot water bottle in his bed but rarely for very long. Chis are famously incredibly clingy.

One of our dogs is like this, she will poo & be sick if left (even if she’s just been outside & been to the toilet.) It’s awful, so we never leave her alone now. Luckily we have another slightly older dog so he’s always with her when we go out & she’s fine then. If he ever needs to go to the vets then one of us will stay at home with the anxious dog or she comes to the vets too.
We are experienced dog owners but have never seen anything like her level of neediness. But we love her & are able to manage. I’m not suggesting getting another dog because it’s a lot of hard work but if we didn’t have another one I’m not sure what we’d do!

I agree with this..not all dogs are suited to doggy day care. The calm very sociable easy going natured ones are. Not so much the anxious hyper ones.

It caused me lots of problems.

It's not like kiddie daycare even though it seems like it is.

Oh bless him.

Could you take it to work with you, on a temporary basis?
or pay a friend who’s at home all day to keep it with them?
Just on a temporary basis, while gradually building up the time it can be left alone
It’s a lot of change for a young dog to go from being surrounded by other dogs to being in a new home with a new owner and no company for hours! I’d expect it to take a while to settle in.

It's a social animal taken from a pack environment and kept in solitary confinement. That would wreck anyone's head. Licky mats and puzzle feeders do fuck all to bridge the gap and replace this instictive and learned need for same species company.
Some dogs- especially those bred to be neurotic clingy furbabies- can sort-of replace their need for same species company with human company but I think this has to start young.

Can you get a crate and start from there. Put a blanket over the crate. One the pup can stand up in and turn when fully grown. Mine is left one day week, dog walker in twice a day. Its so hard leaving them. A dog trainer would hopefully be best. Can you afford doggy daycare while crate training. My dog when a pup, was in the crate even when I was wfh. Now it's just when being left. It will take a while but you will get there ❤️

You probably already do this, but I always do a long walk before leaving dog alone, in the hope she has a nap.

You've bought a puppy from a puppy farm and you can't meet his needs.
I'd try to rehome in your situation.
If you ever get another dog, you need to put much more thought into it.