Whining when left alone at night. Advice?

Brego_mellon_nin

Hi all.
I have just gotten my akita home and she is such a darling.
I want her to sleep in her kennel at night, but she is howling and whining for a long time, and it breaks my heart! I do not want to traumatize her to the point where she will never learn to stay home alone.

I am trying to feed her in her kennel, so that she will think of it as something positive, but I had to leave her there for a while because I had to go, and she is now reluctant to go in there... Have I already done damage??

Any advice is greatly appreciated

okiron

Congrats on having her home.

Best advice is to not give in, especially don't take her out while she's whining. Wait a bit after the whining stops. If you're ok with it, crate her at night in your bedroom at least in the beginning so crate time doesn't always equal all alone.

I doubt you did much damage on the first day. Everything is still so new to her.

shishiinu

I also agree, if you give her attention every time she whines, it will teach her that she will get attention if she cries. I'm dealing with the same thing with koyuki but she's not a whiner, she's screamer.

Eventually she'll get used to it. Just be consistent and reward her when she is quiet and being good. Oh and by the way congrats!!

dlroberts

I'll third the advice. It breaks your heart to hear them cry like that, but you have to ignore it, even if it lasts for hours.

P.S. Kai are big-time criers when they are young, so get used to it. :-P

Brego_mellon_nin

Ignore screaming till she realises it doesn't help? It feels a bit cold hearted to me... Maybe I should take it little at a time, she will even whine a bit if I go to the bathroom and close the door I really don't want her to get so dependant on me, that I have to have her with me to the bathroom ;P Ofcourse it is still pretty new to her.

Oh and by the way Gen, Eowyn is also a screamer, or howler rather, it is really loud!

okiron

Tanja you're thinking too deep imo. Her crying for you on the first night does not equal life of dependency. She's just a puppy that got pulled from her home and in a strange place.

Brego_mellon_nin

My main problem is, that I love the nihon ken breeds because they are so independant, and my akita whines even if I go to the bathroom and close the door! I mean that's a little obsessive, right? It is still new to her, so I am not thinking doom, but I would like her to be able to be outside without me, or for her to accept me taking a bath without crying outside the bathroom door...

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Heidi

I think akita are less independent than the other NK breeds, but I've never owned one.

Brego_mellon_nin

Okay, I have not had this impression of the akita, but I might be wrong ofcourse...

However I imagined life with an akita, I did not expect to have a velcro dog!! I mean I didn't buy a lab

shibamistress

I commented on this in the other thread, but I just thought of something: Oskar DID want to follow me even into the bathroom when he was a pup. He was mostly curious I think--"what's she doing in there?" but also he just followed me a lot (he was younger than your girl is, but it could be about being in a new place, with new people too).

He's not at all clingy now. He's more affectionate than the Shibas, but he's pretty good at going upstairs on his own to hang out, or wanting to be outside on his own, etc. When he's in, he likes to sit by me, but he doesn't follow me.

So it is likely that she's just still too nervous and insecure in the very new surroundings. Unless you did get a velcro Akita, but I think it's too early to tell.

(BTW, people who have American Akitas talk about snuggling with their Akitas on the sofa, and the Akita lean--they way they like to lean on you--and Oskar does none of that. Once or twice a day, he'll come over and put his head in either my or my husband's lap, but mostly, he's a pretty content dog, and independent. And he's a pretty cautious dog, and not very confident, but he still is not clingy).

Brego_mellon_nin

@shibamistress
Thanks for your opinion Ofcourse she is still a bit overwhelmed by her new surroundings, and I will probably have a better idea of her actual clingy-ness after a few more weeks.

I will take all consequences, but I really did not want a clingy dog And I am just a bit afraid that she will stay that way... I mean otherwise she is a great and super sweet little akita and I already love her much!

Can you remember when Oscar started to "lower" his clingy-ness?

MirkaM

Ife did the same (whining behind bathroom door) but it stopped quite soon when I didn't give her my attention.