8yo with a new barking habit
I recently got an English Setter puppy (who has been a handful to say the least), and my 8 year old female cocker isn’t coping very well.
She has always been a Velcro dog, and although it was rare I needed to leave her home alone before getting puppy, she was fine for up to a whole working day, where she would just sleepy and sit in the sun.
Since getting puppy, we haven’t had the chance to leave the dogs alone much. Now puppy is 6 months, we have started with a short periods here and there and built up to 1-2 hours. At first this was going well, but the last few times I have watched our Cocker go mental on our doggy cam. She finishes her pigs ear/ toppl/ kong, runs straight to the front door and starts howling, then barking non stop.
I am at a loss, she has never been this vocal before nor has she shown any signs of seperation anxiety. Once she starts barking, the puppy joins in. I’ve tried to seperate them, thinking they encourage each other, I’ve tried to go back to basics and leave for shorter periods - but the barking prevails.