I obtained a puppy about a week ago. He's about 14 weeks old (3 months) and his major problem is that he wont go anywhere without me! That itself doesn't bother me as i love him to death, but i spend most of my time in my bedroom where my TV and computer and other reptiles are. Because his food is generally downstairs in the kitchen he only eats when i go downstairs so i've took to fetching his food dish upstairs into my bedroom with me and he now eats it all up as he's always there with me. Is there an easy or specific way of getting him to go eat his food on his own without me? As i cant keep his food in my room and i'm not going to sit downstairs in the kitchen with him every time he wants to eat!

Another question is that he chews on himself a lot! I know he hasn't got fleas as he was frontlined before i fetched him home. Is there any reason for his chewing on himself? He's part lab and my nan has a lab and says she chews herself too pretty much all the time... dont know if it's a lab thing or if it can actually cause him harm. If it can, i'd like to stop it before it does!

__________________
1.1.0 bearded dragon (Kefka + Terra)
1.0.0 amber corn snake (Dimitri)
1.0.0 mack snow leopard gecko (Mercury)
0.0.1 crested gecko (Shizzle)

http://godzillareptiles.webs.com/

it's not lab thing i have 6 labs and none chew themselves and have kept labs since i was a kid where is he chewing himself??

as for him going everywhere with you, its because he's scared and feels safe with you, let him settle in and he will start to come out of his shell and be more independent, does he sleep downstairs on a night? you really should make him he might cry for the first few nights but should settle... i am wondering as i typed that was he with other dogs at his old home, was the full litter still at home? as he might be lonely got any big teddy's kicking around if you have wear a t-shirt put it on the teddy then put it in his bed.

__________________

I think your pup is just insecure at the minute. Make sure he has his own bed downstairs and toys and chews.Get him used to spending time on his own to stop him getting seperation anxiety(start with a few minutes and increase a bit each time )A week is a very short time for him to settle. Perhaps put a bit of old clothing in his bed that smells of you. You will find in a few weeks he will stop being so focused on you and feel more secure in his surroundings. The chewing is probably part of the same thing. If you can see no irritation then every time he does it turn his attention to something else, throw a ball or rustle a bag or make a noise and hopefully he will reprogram himself to do other things. If he has skin irritation then I would see a vet

__________________
1 Blue Tongue OZZY, 1 Uromastyx BRUCE
3 Oscillated Skinks
11 assorted dogs
15 assorted cats(Coming soon 1 Sphynx kitten)
2 African Pygmy Hedgehog(Elvis & Evi

Woodlands Animal sanctuary http://animalsanctuary.org.uk/

He chews his legs mostly. And yeah, he was two other brothers at the sanctuary so him being lonely makes sense.

This is the first time i've actually owned a puppy myself, we got a puppy when i was a kid, but it was my mum that did most of the caring for it, so this is quite new to me to take care of it all on my own.

Thanks for the tips, i'll give them a go ^.^

__________________
1.1.0 bearded dragon (Kefka + Terra)
1.0.0 amber corn snake (Dimitri)
1.0.0 mack snow leopard gecko (Mercury)
0.0.1 crested gecko (Shizzle)

http://godzillareptiles.webs.com/

My GSD was not very food orientated. I always had to sit with her and make sure she ate her food 4 x a day, or she just wouldn't eat it. If I sat on the floor and pretended I was eating it too, she'd go crazy and eat it all up, but if I just left it down and ignored it, she'd ignore it too

Luckily she grew out of it with time.

__________________

i got GSD and they are not food orientated my bitch puppy is sortof but prefers being cuddled and hugged but my big boy blue who is 3 he has never really like his food only freash meet but he not aloud that all the time lol

Josh

__________________

To get him to be more confident without you,

go out the room, shut the door! . . . wait 5 seconds then walk straight back in and give him lots of praise.

Make the time longer and longer! - when your up to lets say - 5 minutes or more give him a chew when you come back in.

our dog would stay on her own for hours at a tiem without braking when she was just 4 months old - take a long time but its worth it

__________________

Two big babies Tammy the terrier and Ellie the yorky!

Two noisy Chins Betty and Bubbles.

Cornsnake Guss the old grouch

Royal python Savannah

Thats a great tip, Stephanie!!! Thanks!!

__________________
1.1.0 bearded dragon (Kefka + Terra)
1.0.0 amber corn snake (Dimitri)
1.0.0 mack snow leopard gecko (Mercury)
0.0.1 crested gecko (Shizzle)

http://godzillareptiles.webs.com/

This is a good idea but every book I have read says to use this technique but dont make a massive fuss when you come back in or the dog will get worse.

Hi Andy is spot on with the not making a fuss when you come back and you should also ignore him a bit before you leave too. This helps by not emphasising the difference of you being there or not. Also giving treats as you leave is far better than giving them when you come back - you want him to be a little bit glad you went. Have you considered that he might be afraid of going down stairs, lots of puppies have trouble going down them.
One other thing - you should stop spending all your time in your bedroom - sounds like you both need to get a social life (just because I'm an old croc).