Advice needed on separation anxiety Behaviour

HI everyone! my name is sheri and i am from australia. my partner and i own a one year old female german short haired pointer who has separation anxiety while she is outside and we are inside the house. I believe this started when she was a pup as she was allowed in the house a lot during the day and used our smaller dogs dog door to come and go as she pleased. (at night she happily slept in her outdoor kennel which is fully insulated and very warm).

once she started to get bigger and couldn't use the smaller dog door we encouraged her to stay outside more often but she was still allowed inside periodically during the day and evening. This is where our trouble started and now she has difficulty settling outside without a human near her (if we are outside she is fine). We have tried to mentally and physically wear her out and allow her some human time but its not enough. constant human attention is what suits her best and she shows her frustration from being outside by constantly pacing circles around the house and trying to look into the windows to see where we are, whining and pushing against the small dog door. If we lock her up in her dog run she will whine and cry, even if we are outside and she can actually see us.

how do we get her to understand that it is ok for us to be inside sometimes and for her to be outside. i understand fully she wants to be with her pack family but she is a big dog and i cannot have her in the house 24/7. i need to figure out how to get her to balance human time and alone time!

any tips and advice are appreciated!

thank you!

sheri

Let her sleep inside house with you guys leave her on the landing outside your bedroom if you don't want her in your bedroom.

hi, thank you for your reply! the funny thing is that she will happily sleep in her kennel outside at night. its day time that we have trouble with her. i dont know how to teach her to be content on her own when she is outside and we are in the house

She might be a touchy touch dog & needs to have a human in her view at all times, to reassure her that they are ok.

I am not quite sure why you got a puppy, which you knew would grow, when you want her to now understand and accept that small puppy = a lot of indoor time, but big puppy [and at one year old she is still a puppy] = only in when you say so.

You said that when she was smaller she was allowed in the house a lot during the day and used your smaller dog's dog door to come and go as she pleased but then once she was too big to use the dog door "she was still allowed inside periodically during the day and evening" - presumably only at your convenience?

If she is happy sleeping in her kennel outside at night, is there any reason why she is not allowed more "inside" time with you during the day and evening?

Do I take it that you have a smaller dog which is allowed to stay indoors?
Could the dog door be enlarged to allow them to both have access to the house? Seems a pity to allow one in and not the other.

100% agree a larger dog door may solve a lot of your issues.
A dog often gets used to something and has a really hard time with change.
I will be the first to say I have a warped sense of size, but I don't look at the breed as that big. A bit of house training and a larger adjustable dog door may be the ticket.
My Mastiff is a inside dog, who has a dog door, with his size he has been trained from a pup to leave the coffee table, kitchen counters, and dinner table alone.

No jump, and a crate/ stay spot generally work well for company, or simple enough to lock a dog door if that needs to be done for dog free time or till she has been properly socialized with company, and taught what is acceptable.

I know there are all different opinions on the subject but I wouldn't keep a dog outside for long periods. I have a friend who is proud because her dog is in the yard all day and into the evening but she always brings him in for the night.

I just can't quite imagine. Our dogs are in the yard or walk with me several times a day for a hour or more sometimes. But not the whole day or night.

Our routine largely depends on the time of year. At the moment I'm snowed in and the paths are so icy all walkies have been abandoned for the time being. Georgina and Gwylim are usually let out around 7 am and will stay outside for maybe half an hour, after which they both go back to bed and sleep till about 10 am. They'll then have their breakfast and go outside until around 4 in the afternoon .... not my doing, I hasten to add, it's entirely their idea! They spend their time pottering around an enclosed area of a quarter of an acre of land. When they come in I try to spend some time playing with them until its their meal time after which they'll fall asleep until around 7 pm. I then let them out for the last time before we go to bed. Depending on the weather sometimes they'll only be out for a few minutes, sometimes for as long as an hour, but when they come in they both take themselves off to bed and that's the last I hear from them until the following morning!