Hey, as some of you know, we have a new dog called sunny.

When ever my mum leaves the house, he chases the fence in the garden and starts to whine. I take him in and pet him and play with him in the garden. But he's not happy 50% of the time.

He just goes to sleep, doesn't want to be disturbed, and rejects us when we call him, when we're 2 meters away and won't play with his toys, till mum gets back. Is this normal?

He has obviously formed a good bond with your Mum. My advice would be for your Mum not to give lingering goodbyes, infact to totally ignore him for a good 10 minutes before she leaves the house. Then just coat on and go. When he starts acting up then totally ignore him, dont fuss or pet him or try to comfort him with 'cutsey' voices and cuddles - this is only rewarding him for a behaviour you dont want and will make him worse.. Ignore him altogether and get on with what you are doing - he'll soon learn that Mums coming back soon and he'll adjust to that and should settle down.

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Jo, Nelly, Bhu and Molly
Some people talk alot.................and say nowt

We do ignore him when any of us leave the house. Mum would ignore him, if it wasn't for the fact that he follows her anywhereshe goes.

I do my own thing at times, but then I go and stroke him because he makes me sad with his big eyes. :P

But I don't always give in to that :P.

I'll just ignore him then.

I agree with what has been said above, although you could also try things like taking him for a walk just before your Mum leaves, then giving him a kong stuffed with something really tasty (boursin cheese is good) when you get back.

You could later progress (or just do this to start with) to leaving for the walk once your Mum has left, providing you don't start taking him out while he is making a fuss, or just giving him the stuffed Kong when he is laying quietly. he'll soon start to see your mum going as a good thing.

Also, get your Mum to ignore him when she returns for a while, so her coming back is a 'non-event'.

as I put above, we do ignore him when we leave or come back.

I'll try the walk thing next time.

If he follows her everywhere in the house, she could practice getting him used to her 'leaving' him by shutting a door behind her occasionally... go off and do whatever she has to do for 5 mins, then come back, making sure not to fuss him. Then just make the separations a little longer each time.

Also agree with the not trying to distract him, by giving him attention, as it does reinforce that how he's reacting is normal.

Good luck! it's lovely that he's got such a strong bond with someone in the house so soon!!!!