All,

We have recently brought home our first pup, a golden retriever of 10 weeks, he seems to have settled in well in general and is very happy. we have had him for a week now.
We are trying to cage train him with varying degress of success, he goes in and out of his crate on his own no problem or sometimes through a little promting..treat, toy etc. The problem is that as soon as he is left alone or realises he is by himself he barks and barks and barks be it day or night.

Can i expect this to get better over time? should i leave hime for extended periods during the day? i understand he may bark if he requires out for the toilet but how can i differetiate?
He genarally wakes twice in a night.

We plan to leave him as of next week for 4-5 hours a day, can anyone suggest a plan to get him to settle?

Thanks

Goldies love company infact they crave it. Puppy tantrums overnight usually sort themselves out after 2-3 weeks. He is just a little nervous at the moment, everything is new to him and it's scarey.
Are you planning to leave him every day for this length of time as it is a bit long for him to stay clean at this age, Isn't there anyone who could see to him half way through

When he is in the cage do you open it when he is barking? Maybe if you go in and out of the room and ignore him he may begin to think hey whats happening and never know when you are going to open the cage. If he goes quiet and if you can make him sit before you open the door then that make work. Try never to open the door while he is barking

he is fine in the cage when we are within his sight, it is only when he is left alone that he will bark - i do not let him out until he is quite.

im affaid not. why is he ok in the cage when we are around but starts barking when im not there.
Can you suggest anyhting to help

Id imagine when he can see you he feels reassured, and when he cant he is calling out for you?

The only thing I can think of is to go to the cage at odd times when he is quiet (but awake) and make a fuss of him and try your hardest not even to look at him when he is yapping!

Pics please?

is leaving him in the cage while he is barking not causing him stress? he wags his tale and gets all excited when he can see you and stops barking. he will go in and out of the cage no problem.
I have been sitting with him at night until he is asleep before locking his cage and going to bed myself, is this the right thing to do?

Personally i would say no, the pup needs to learn to go to sleep alone, much as you wouldnt sit by a baby's cot till he dropped off.

I wouldnt imagine he is under stress when you leave him in there, the flip side being that if you always go back to the crate when he barks, he will learn that barking gets him out of the crate.

Congrats on the goldie pup!! Pics are a must.

I too have a goldie pup -although she is now 5 months old and quite big.

Lily has been crate trained since coming to live with us. We basically went the whole caboodle. Her first night we made her crate nice and cosy -with a blanket that her doglet mum had laid on so there was a familiar scent. She also had water, a teddy bear and some paper to reliever herself (although she never did and has not once soiled in there). She slept in there over night with no bother at all.
The next evening I put Lily in the crate whilst I was upstairs bathing the children. Lily barked and whined like mad. However I couldn't do anything cos I was bathing the kids.
After about 45 mins, it all went quiet and when we went downstairs Lily was sound asleep. And from that day on she has been as good as gold in her crate.

So the moral to my story is -make the crate nice and cosy, and then leave pup to it.
HTH

I'm not sure what this refers to, but if it is to Rona's question asking if you have someone who can come in to him when you are out, then I think you may need to employ someone (a dog walker perhaps). 4 - 5 hours may be ok for an adult dog, but is way too long to leave a 10 week old puppy.