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Training Teddy: Halt the Howling #2

(P)update: over the past week, I have been following Kevin-the-Trainer’s very thorough instructions (See Training Teddy: Halting the Howling) to help quell Teddy’s separation anxiety. Now that he has managed to be tied to a bench and watch me move twenty yards away without howling, we are ready for the next step.
“Teddy is getting used to the idea of being tied up in random places for short periods,” says Kevin. “You should continue to practice this even when you introduce the next step, which will get him used to you going out of sight.
Start out-of-sight training at home and in your garden. Again, tether Teddy in one room and go around the corner into another room wait for twenty or thirty seconds. When you decide to return, use the ‘quiet Teddy means you go back’, and ‘noisy Teddy means you stand still or even walk a step or two away’ approach. The first few times you do this Teddy will not know what is happening, so don’t make it too difficult by stretching it out.
Once Teddy is able to be quiet when you are in another room, then you can bring him back a treat. Only do this if he is consistently quiet as you don’t want him to think that barking and howling is rewarded.
When you have got a really consistent ‘quiet when out-of-sight’ both in the house and in the garden, then you can try it in a park. Choose a place that is both easy to tether Teddy and that is easy for you to get out of his sight within 10 steps. Then repeat the method above. Don’t stay away for long, instead consolidate learning in short periods of up to 30 seconds and once this is consistent then you can extend to one minute. This could take a few weeks,” says Kevin. Luckily we have all summer long to practice, before the school gates loom once more.

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