I'm starting to go through the course with my new Goldendoodle puppy who is now 13 wks old. She is a loving, relaxed and mellow dog most of the time who just wants to follow us around and sit at our feet. She is my second dog and I did all of this back when my lab Cali was a pup 14 yrs ago. Cali knew more words/commands than my own kids until they were about 4 yrs old. I have clicked around and we are having 2 persistent issues with her that following the notes haven't helped us with progress. Hoping someone can give me some extra suggestions?
1. Crate training: I crate trained my older dog with no issues so have followed all the things like feeding her all her meals in there, nice blanket, cover, never letting her out when she is crying. We basically put her in there overnight and maybe 1 or 2 hrs in the day when everyone is out of the house. My husband works from home, so there are no day long stretches. She resists going in, and then cries like she is caught in a bear trap for 5-10 minutes at night and up to 20 minutes during day stays. She never soils her crate and we take her out beforehand, so its really about separation anxiety I think. We have done this consistently since day one, which was 3 weeks ago. The duration of crying when we close her in has been increasing week by week instead of decreasing. (I've already read "love the crate")
2. Morning play excitement? barking: Since my husband works from home, on teleconferences, etc we CANNOT tolerate barking from a dog. When she gets excited and especially in the morning with the kids when she first wakes up she barks a lot. In the morning routine trying to get them to school and me to work, I have them take her outside and run around, but she continues barking. I've tried distracting her by getting her to sit for treats or other actions, but she can't focus first thing in the morning. The barking has escalated over the weeks significantly and I need to nip this in the bud. (I've already read "excitement whining", all three barking ones, and the "Impulse control / frustration tolerance")
Any help or direction would be much appreciated before these behaviors get worse
