Adrienne Farricelli

Hi there! I hear you. Not all dogs are blessed with great retrieving skills. Sorry if I missed it, in case you mentioned it elsewhere, but what breed is your dog? How old is he? Does he ever play or chase things? Do you have his mom and dad with you in the home? Do they try to steal the things he doesn't catch? Thanks for the extra info!

Hi, there! Welcome to the forums! It's great to hear that this dog was able to cure your wife's dog phobia! What type of illness did your dog have? I am asking because with certain types of illnesses, they may come to associate the bowl with pain/discomfort. How is he doing now? Was he eating from the bowl well before? What type of bowl are you using? Is he on the same food/diet as before? How old is he? Thanks for the extra details!

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! Digging is a totally normal behavior, it's adaptive as dogs used digging in the past for several survival reasons. Puppies explore the world too this way. More than stopping the behavior altogether, it needs management and redirection based on the type of digging. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/digging/ Is she out with you when she digs the hole next to the door in the yard? Have you practiced working on "leave its?" https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

Hi again, Ok, so now we have some new issues coming up and it sort of feels like everything is getting way harder even though Atari totally knows what we expect of her by now. I can tell she does everything for attention because she will start to chew the table or something and I will see her and she instantly stops and pretends she's doing something else (like "I was just gonna lick it, I swear"). More than attention-seeking, this sounds like a normal pup who has a natural desire to chew and stops the moment you look at her, simply because she has associated your presence with being told to stop. Sort of like a natural re-direction of "Oops, I thought I wasn't watched! Am I in trouble? Let me do something else then." With attention-seeking dogs instead we see more of them purposely going to chew things and continuing to chew just for the purpose of getting the attention. So it would be more like "Look at me, I am chewing! Hello? Don't you come to stop me? I am seeking interaction!" I would make sure she has access to chew toys (look for toys made for teething puppies) and interactive food puzzles that are rotated randomly so to keep her interest alive. Consider that, from the age of 12 to 16 weeks, baby teeth are shed and permanent teeth start coming in. This stage is particularly painful to pups sort of like babies crying from sore gums. They can get very chewy and cranky. There are also commercially available chew toys specifically designed to be frozen prior to use for teething puppies. The concept behind these toys is same as with the ice pack provided to people after a painful dentist visit. The only difference is these toys can be re-frozen and re-used. Alternatively, you can save some money by making your own frozen chew toys. All you need is an old dishrag or towel which you can twist into a long and stick-like shape and put in the freezer for couple of hours. Then, once well-frozen, give the dishrag or towel to your teething puppy. The cold relieves oral discomfort while the towel’s texture and chewiness promote proper biting behavior. Finally, you can use edible items, such as dog-safe frozen fruits and vegetables. Bananas, strawberries and carrots make excellent and tasty frozen pain relievers. Their coldness will numb the sore gums and their density may aid the removal of the already loose teeth. (Careful with carrots as some pups may swallow them whole or too big chunks of them which can predispose to blockages, this is not very common, but better safe than sorry). Make sure to keep an eye on her teeth to ensure that there are no retained baby teeth. These should be removed by the time the pup is 5 months. Here is a picture of a dog I boarded. The owner wasn't aware she had baby teeth because she wasn't very collaborative in having her mouth checked. Some things are getting a little better - car rides are getting somewhat calmer as long as we give her a chew or I pet her and talk to her. That's great! Keep up creating positive associations with the car and car rides! She waits for me to get up before she gets out of bed now in the morning. Great, we all benefit from some extra sleep! She's doing really well with the cats as long as it's supervised and controlled. However, the cats keep crying to come into the living room and trying to escape their side of the house because it's like they want to be her friend and she keeps trying to open the door to the hallway now even though we keep a gate there too. (She figured out how to open the door and my fiance calls her a raptor, haha). But without the controlled visits, she will chase them instantly. If we engage her the whole time, she will relax and ignore them. They escape once a day now, and attempt even more often. Today we tried to let them all roam and we kept the leash on her and supervised but then we both had to get back to work so it was not something we could do for long. She kept trying to chase them anytime we did not make her sit. You have a mix of breeds with strong drives to herd/chase, plus being a puppy there is this strong need to play and then you have cats who are inquisitive, but tend to flee. Lot's of things to work on! Your pup needs to learn to be better under control, and at the same time, your cats need to learn not to fear your pup because, the more they flee due to fear, the more you'll pup will feel the need to chase. And constantly working on this can be time consuming and impractical if we lead busy lives. I worked with a beagle last summer living with a cat, and the poor cat lived most of her life on the counters and shelves. I could tell she felt left out. The dog immediately would chase her and try to hump her if she ever jumped down. We had to work a lot on getting the dog under control using the leash at first, then the leash came off and we used the smacking sound,https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ and at some point you could tell the cat was starting to feel relief when the dog was no longer constantly trying to chase her. She started jumping on the floor more and more and gained a bit of confidence, but if the dog and cat were ever not supervised/controlled, the dog would go back to its instincts (history of long rehearsal made things more challenging). So we found a compromise of each day allowing the cat some quality time in the living room, while the dog was kept busy with a stuffed frozen Kong. After the Kong, the dog would may have tried to chase the cat again but was redirected promptly using the smacking sound and given something else to do (such as a safe bone to chew) and afterward, she would nap in the exercise pen. We also did exercises where the cat was fed a treat, and the dog a treat right after upon being asked to sit (yes, cats can be trained to sit too!) After some time, the beagle started associating the cat with getting all these goodies and also learned to *relax* (not chase) despite the cat being around, while the cat learned to be more relaxed around the dog and no longer running the moment she saw him. Gradually, they got to spend more time like this. I haven't gotten an update for some time, but last picture she sent me showed dog and cat sleeping nearby, so I guess all is good. Now, you have the advantage of having a young pup and young cats so there are better chances of each accepting each other, but problems arise when the cats are always acting fearful and they get into the habit of always fleeing. So if there is a door or baby gate that opens, get that fixed and make sure your pup doesn't scare the cats. However, it also true that there are cats and cats and cats. My cats were introduced with my Rotties at a young age so even if they were chased, they ran up a chair, but they weren't stressed by the dogs. They rather seemed to be amused, perhaps they thought it was a game, and sometimes when in the mood, they would even wrestle with my Rotties and even knead on top of them! So it's important evaluating their body language and how they really feel. Some cats seem to get a kick out of being chased and will purposely get close and try to get dogs to chase them. But if it's fear-based fleeing, there may be risks that the cats may learn to live in a vertical world. Which is not necessary a bad thing, many dog/cat owners have cats that live like that, but I feel that the cats need to have at least some time to feel included in the family and not feel as if they "were totally replaced by the dog." If you can do more and more of these leash introductions with guidance, its good so they get to know about each other and if you can feed them treats to reward them for being relaxed that can help in creating positive associations (have a helper feed the treat to the cats at distance while you treat your pup on the leash). That would be ok to live with if that is all there was - but now she is jumping on the couch for attention and chewing it up and she is throwing more and more tantrums - ear piercing ones. This still sounds like the puppy chewing phase with teething pups. Fabric feels good on the sore gums. If you don't want her on the couch, you can try to place bulky items there. If she chews, train a fluent 'leave it" https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ (she should respond well considering that you stated that sometimes just looking at her gets to stop chewing when she shows an intent) and when you cannot supervise, you can place an exercise pen around the couch. Basically for the dumbest reasons like she wants to go for a walk in the middle of the day which we never do. We are also surrounded by houses with dogs who bark (not all the time, but probably once or twice a day- no big deal) and she always ignored them before but now she barks back - today she barked at noises at the front door that I couldn't even hear - probably people walking by at the street? She's also getting more demanding of our attention. It used to be that I could work and she would take a nap, but now if she hears my fiance's voice when he's on a work call, she will wake up and run to the door and then throw a tantrum wanting him to come out. She wants us both to be with her now. You are not alone on this, trust me, so many new puppy owners are dealing with this especially with many of them working at home. You can find several tips on this issue here: Tonight, I was the only one home and I was on the phone but she got so upset that I was not paying attention to her that she started trying to play bite my legs and jump on the furniture to get my attention. When I ignored her, she threw a loud tantrum. I kept ignoring her and she got right in my face and barked. Sounds like a big extinction burst, what happened afterward? If we reinforce this by getting up and attending to her, that would have reinforced persistence. She has also taken to trying to bolt outside the front door whenever she can - even though we always make her sit and wait before she is allowed to walk through any doors. Now that she is getting walks, she tries to rush outside even if we are going to take the garbage out or get the mail. She may be entering the flight period: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/ You can outsmart her by using your body to block passage through the door. Keep the door slightly ajar and don't open it fully until you have a nice solid sit-stay and if she tries to slip through, be fast to close it. Open the door very slowly, making it clear that any of her forward movement will cause the door to close, open wide only once she got the concept and is on her best solid sit/stay and then invite her out. I thought we were doing everything right -redirecting her instead of giving attention - working on her impulse control, training her - she knows tons of commands and games. At puppy class, the instructor saw that we make her sit at the door and wait before she walked through and she commented that even the dogs in her obedience II classes can't do that yet. That's impressive! I think you are on the right track, things often seem to get worse rather than better at times, you know all the extinction bursts, and being puppy owners is a lot of work (sort of like having a baby) but also teething can cause lots of crankiness and the flight periods can cause new behaviors too. But when class starts, she gets so excited that she struggles to look at us or listen to us - we basically stop existing once the other puppies arrive. We've increased the value of her treats which helps a little but not a lot. We basically try to survive until puppy play time - but it's embarrassing when she throws a tantrum and all the other puppies are learning their commands and being all quiet and stuff. She's a social butterfly and just wants to go play with them but the first 2/3 of class are for obedience training. Discuss this with the trainer, the trainer can take steps to decrease her arousal using more distance and sometimes visual barriers that can be gradually removed once she calms down. Giving her something to chew can help too. Make sure she gets to join puppy time only once she's a little calmer and capable of listening to cues otherwise we risk reinforcing her hyper behaviors. She also gets excited and pees when she meets new people almost every time. I just don't know what to do about the excitement stuff. She walks great and we go twice a day for about 15 minutes - aside from zig-zagging, she basically walks next to us every time. We're working on heel still. I'm increasing the amount of times we train her to listen to her name at home - but once we're out in the world, it doesn't matter anymore. She has no name. For the excitement urination you can toss treats on the ground to distract her from the peeing. You also may want to have people try to ignore her. Most pups outgrow this eventually. More on this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/submissive-urination/ So I guess I could use help on the tantrums and the over-excitement and any additional advice on the cat stuff? I don't know if we should just keep doing what we're doing and be patient... but it does feel like everything is getting harder and I worry that it's all because I'm doing something wrong. Should we do jazz up/settle down when we have friends come over? You can practice hand targeting with the guests https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/ and practice her taking cues from the guests (sits, downs etc) and you can also do round-robin recalls (sit in a circle and take turns calling her and rewarding her), but also teach her to relax on a mat with a chew once she's less excited. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ How do we redirect her from barking at the cats through the office window or the neighborhood dogs - when we are inside the house? Because I feel like us going outside is a form of reward but then I can't stop it without doing that. And she won't stop on her own, I've tried waiting to see if she does. Thank you. 🙂 You can try the 'hear that' method: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ and also buffer the sounds with some white noise (fan, tv, radio). You can place window film on the window if feasible or do something to block visuals. I hope this helps! Best, Adrienne

Hi Cheryl, welcome back! Glad to hear Shiloh has turned to be such a loving happy-go-lucky pup! I don't recall you mentioning this behavior before. I went through some old threads and found only that he loves meeting new people. Especially kids. I am sure you are concerned though about this behavior of wanting to mount while out playing with the kids. How often does he roughly play with the kids? How old are the kids? Was Shiloh neutered? How old is he know? I assume he's about 18 months? How long has he been engaging in this behavior? Is it a recently new behavior? As I await your reply, please keep him away from the kids as we don't want anyone to get hurt! Also, we don't want him to keep rehearsing this behavior, as the more he does this, the more it establishes and risks getting more and more ingrained.

Thanks for the update! So glad that you are able to see better already, and noticing such a big difference! Both my parents were told to get surgery and they are a bit worried about the surgery and recovery. They postponed their appointment due to covid cases going up again in Italy, but thinking of re-scheduling soon. I'll let them know how wonderful it feels to see well again. Seems like things are proceeding well with Esther! I agree that the term "aggressive" is tossed around too easily. It's a label and doesn't give us enough info on what is really going on with the dog. This umbrella term also gives the impression that dogs are dangerous, unpredictable and untrustworthy all of the time. Instead, most dogs who are labeled as being aggressive are only *acting* "aggressively" in specific contexts and situations. I like to tell my clients that, in dogs "aggressive" behaviors are often adaptive, meaning that they have a survival purpose and the purpose in this case is attaining a certain level of control over their environment and its associated events. This doesn't mean that dogs are taking every chance they can get to take control over us. It simply means that dogs may engage in *aggressive* behaviors so they can avoid certain things and attain others that make them feel safer. There is often an element of reinforcement playing a part in the background of dogs who are engaging in aggressive displays. For example, if a dog is fearful of men wearing hats, his barking and lunging keeps men with hats away and the dog soon learns that his behavior works so he'll be likely to engage in the same behavior next time in hopes of feeling that "relief" again. Same goes with dogs who "hate the mailman" or dogs who growl when in possession of something. This latter dog is likely telling the person or other dog something along the terms of "I don't trust you near my resource, now please back off!" Obtaining distance can be highly reinforcing to a dog who feels threatened by someone who risks taking his resource away. If we think about it, dogs often engage in natural behaviors that are actually meant to avoid aggression in the first place. In other words their "aggressive" displays are meant to actually avoid causing harm. The barking, growling and tooth displays are ways dogs are trying to inform other people or dogs about how they feel. They're a dog's plea to please listen to their feelings so they don't have to escalate their behavior to a potential bite. It's the canine version of a child "using his words." Ritualized aggression is often used to depict this. So I often ask clients to try to replace the term aggressive with something else. This makes us see things from a whole different perspective. So instead of saying "my dog is aggressive" using the word aggressive as an adjective, it triggers us to give a more descriptive picture of what's really going on such as "my dog acts aggressively" or "uses aggression" or "behaves aggressively" when he has a bone. This info can be further broken down by removing the term aggressive altogether and describing the aggressive behavior instead, as such: "My dog growls when he has a bone" or even better "my dog growls when he has a bone and I come close to him." We now have a clearer picture of what the dog is doing and in what circumstance the behavior is taking place. Smart Gertie seems to have learned to go to the mat at super speed! Going back a few steps where you can catch her before she gets there and can say your cue, should easily fix that. Happy training and Happy Easter to you too!

That's some wonderful progress you have there! Keep us posted on how things go.

Hi there, Welcome to the forums, Great to hear your Golden Retriever is such a sweetheart! I have met many lovely retrievers, they're a wonderful breed, so happy, gentle and outgoing. In regards to the behavior of barking and jumping when there is some action on the TV, this is not an uncommon problem. This is a behavior that we are seeing more and more, possibly due to the higher quality pictures and better sound systems of modern TVs, which turns them into some sort of a "window" to a different world, that randomly, throughout the day, emits some intriguing sights and sounds. Dogs may not see things on TV as clearly as we do, but their eyes are built to detect movement. On top of enticing sights, dogs are also attracted to specific sounds. This combo of sights and sounds may therefore prompt dogs to bark, just as they would if those triggers were happening for real. On top of all of this, imagine what our dogs must think seeing us stare intently at the TV for hours. To our dog's eyes we are likely "guarding" our homes and they wany to join in the "fun." Something that makes the behavior of barking at the TV really addicting is the fact that the animals or strangers eventually disappear from the screen. There is eventually a change of scenery or a commercial break or maybe the show ends. From our dog's perspective, it is therefore thanks to their barking that these strangers or animals have been sent away! This increases a dog's drive (internal motivation) to continue the behavior. The more dogs get to repeat behaviors, the more they become stronger and establish, becoming more and more ingrained and difficult to extinguish. I treat barking at the TV in a similar fashion as dogs barking at outside triggers from a window. After all, as mentioned, to a dog, a TV is some sort of "window." I therefore tend to apply the look at that method as outlined here, although depending on each case, I may use several other individualized strategies combined. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Now, if the dog is too aroused and therefore not very responsive, and if we identified the exact triggers (other dogs? certain sounds), I will use a more direct approach with desensitization and counterconditioning. Desensitization entails presenting a trigger in a less intense form that doesn't evoke the problematic behavior. In other words, you want to keep your dog under threshold. Sometimes, this requires a creative approach. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ You may have to work on visual triggers and sound triggers separately initially before presenting them together. Desensitization, works best when used along with counterconditioning, which will be explained better in the next few paragraphs below. Strategies To Reduce Reactions to Visuals: Dimming the TV. Most TV sets have an option of dimming the TV so that images are darker and less intense. Every model will have their own instructions to follow. Adding distance. Keeping your dog at a distance from the TV can help keep him under threshold. You may have to place your dog behind a baby gate or use a tall pet gate that he can't jump over. Placing some fabric. Taping a piece of fabric over the screen can reduce the saliency of the images. One may use different fabrics gradually moving to more and more transparent ones. Using a Calming Cap: a calming cap like the Thunder Cap can block a dog's visuals so to reduce reactivity and help keep the dog under threshold. Strategies To Reduce Reactions to Sounds: Lowering the volume. Simply reducing the volume of the triggering sound can help better keep a dog under threshold. Adding distance. If your dog is in a separated area at a distance from the TV this can help keep him under threshold. You may have to place your dog behind a baby gate or use a tall pet gate that he can't jump over. Adding some white noise. A fan running while you watch TV can help buffer a bit the noises. Using noise-cancelling devices. There are several products meant to make noises less salient to your dog such as the Happy Hoodie or Noise Cancelling Head Phones for Dogs. Counterconditioning entails creating positive associations with a trigger so to change a dog's emotional response to a trigger. It works better along with desensitization, so that the dog is exposed to lower versions of their triggers, while making great things happen. The goal is to obtain what's known as a conditioned emotional response, where the dog looks forward to hearing or seeing the trigger (because it predicts something wonderful!) versus dreading it. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ I like your approach of keeping some treats close by and when he runs to the TV, you shake the treat container and call him over while saying "leave it" and then ask him to lay down finally reward him. The fact that the behavior is diminishing is a good sign and the going to the TV and looking back to you, is suggestive of you having potentially established what is known as positive conditioned emotional response (+CER) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Here is an example of a case I worked on not too long ago: Roxie was a 2-year-old Pitbull who recently started barking at the TV. This dog barked at the TV when other dogs showed up or barked. Knowing what the exact trigger is is very helpful considering that predictability allows a certain level of control over the trigger. It helps pave the path to behavior modification since the sight and sound of dogs barking can be presented in a less stimulating way. Roxie was therefore exposed to a recording of dogs barking using a video from YouTube played from a computer (without any visual) starting from a low volume. Every time, the sound of the barking dog was presented, a tasty treat (piece of roasted chicken) followed. This was repeated several times until Roxie developed that "where's my chicken" look. She simply turned her head in our direction upon hearing the dog barking versus reacting. After several trials, the volume was increased gradually. Once she was fine with that, the same exercises were moved to the living room in front of the TV, but still using the audio recordings and now tossing the chicken on a mat. Next, videos of dogs were displayed on the TV (without audio) using a thick cloth taped to the TV screen first. Roxie was kept on leash at a distance from the TV next to the mat. The same exercise was done, feeding chicken every time Roxie spotted a dog. Once we got that "where's my chicken" look we used a gradually thinner cloth and did the same. We then graduated and used the thinnest cloth and then started adding some audio starting at low volume first. Finally, we removed the cloth altogether and played at regular volume. We used baked liver rather than chicken (liver was at the very top of her favorite things!) for this last part to more effectively compete with the saliency of the dogs barking. If at any time during the process she reacted, we took that as a sign that the stimulation level was too intense and would take a step back in the process. After several trials, we were able to have her go lie down to her mat upon seeing/hearing a dog barking and rewarded her and then we established a new routine of keeping her busy with a stuffed frozen Kong (her dinner meal made of kibble mixed with canned dog food and frozen) when the owner was watching TV in the evening. The more a dog doesn't react to the sights/sounds (despite hearing them in the background), the more we establish some level of habituation, where the TV stuff starts getting more and more boring and ho-hum.. so not worthy of paying attention to. To answer your question about your concern of teaching him to bark and run at the TV to just get a reward, this is possible, but please remember to cherish the improvement you have obtained so far. Imagine if all these times he were to be barking and jumping while instead you were able to stop him in his tracks! This is a very powerful transformation (not easy at all, considering how aroused many dogs are-too aroused means less ability to think and follow our cues) and you therefore need to pat yourself on the back for this accomplishment, so kudos to you! Now, what you are referring to (the fear of him purposely going to the TV for a treat) is technically called a behavior chain and there are several methods to prevent them from establishing. Here are several strategies: So what to do if you suspect your dog has learned that, "every time a dog appears on TV, and I bark, I get a tasty reward?" There are several options for this. My favorite approach is prevention, but we'll see below several other strategies. Adding More Behaviors In this case, after the undesirable behavior occurs, the dog is asked several more behaviors (at least three) in hopes that the dog sort of "disassociates" the undesirable behavior from the reward. So in the case of a dog who barks at the TV, you can make a smacking sound, then ask your dog to go to his mat, then sit and then lie down. Here is how to train a dog to go to his mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ Adding a Delay In this case, a delay is added in between the undesirable behavior and delivery of reinforcement in hopes of extending the chain and confusing the dog a bit. This method of un-coupling behavior from reinforcement is thought to work because, reinforcement, in order to be effective, is suggested to be delivered within 0.5 seconds of the desired behavior (Karen Overall, Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats). In the case of the dog who barks at the TV it may therefore help to not immediately reward the dog when stopping to bark and making eye contact with us, but asking the dog for some longer eye contact (like holding a treat at eye level for a time lapse of 5 seconds before giving the treat). Preventing the Problem Behavior This strategy aims to go a step ahead of the first chain, preventing the inappropriate behavior from occurring in the first place. In technical terms, it's known as antecedent control. This is my favorite method therefore because it doesn't allow the dog to rehearse a problematic behavior. If you therefore pave the path for no barking at the TV, it is easier to help your dog succeed. For example, the moment you notice a dog coming up on the TV, use the mute button or quickly change channel. If you are caught unprepared (where's that stupid remote!?) redirect your dog *before* he starts barking. Make a smacking sound with your mouth and toss treats on his mat. Here's how to train the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Train your dog to respond to a smacking sound beforehand (away from the TV) so that you have a nice, quick and fluent response. If you catch him before the barking, you can't be accidentally reinforcing the barking and then getting a treat. Even better, we can set the stage for better behaviors if we make a routine of coordinating our TV downtime with giving our dogs something to keep them busy, putting their mind to work in more productive ways. So if we can create a new routine of turning on the TV and giving our dog a stuffed frozen Kong to enjoy on a mat at a distance from the TV or some other long-lasting food puzzle, our dog may be less tempted to go bark because he has something much better to do. The more a dog doesn't react to the sights/sounds (despite hearing them in the background), the more we establish some level of habituation, where the TV stuff starts getting more and more boring and ho-hum.. so not worthy of paying attention to. Finally, some thoughts about rehearsals and needs for exercise/ mental stimulation. About rehearsals: The more a dog rehearses the barking at the TV behavior, the more it puts roots and establishes. It is therefore best to prevent access to the TV when you don't have time to actively train. Therefore use management techniques for these times. Following are several management options: Keep your dog in a separate room when you watch TV Have somebody walk your dog when you watch TV Have somebody play with your dog in the yard when you watch TV Keep your dog in a crate looking away from the TV (if your dog's barking is triggered by visuals) Avoid leaving your dog alone with the TV on (unless it's a channel that you are absolutely sure it never displays any triggers (like classical music channel, white noise channel). About exercise/mental stimulation If we look at a dog's past, we will notice how many dog breeds were selectively bred for some type of work. Retrievers were retrieving downed birds for the hunter, scent hounds were tracking hare, collies were herding sheep. Even small dogs were bred for chasing rats or warming up the laps of aristocratic ladies. It can therefore become a dog's new hobby to want chase away dogs, people or other critters from your home by lunging and barking at the mysterious box that contains them simply because the dog needs a "job." So it's important to also tackle a dog's deep need for exercise, play, socialization, mental stimulation (brain games!) and training. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Hi Jerilyn, Glad to hear you have been able to accomplish so much! Kudos to you, don't forget to pat yourself on the back for your determination and patience.

You are very welcome, keep us posted on how things go! Best, Adrienne

You're very welcome! Keep us posted on how things go! Always keep safety in mind and monitor carefully body language and interactions. If you notice signs of aggression or anything concerning, best to work along with a dog/cat professional. You may need a cat behavior pro if the cats are particularly stressed or show signs of aggression.

You're very welcome, keep us posted! Best, Adrienne

Okay, we were starting to feel like we had this figured out. Atari got her second shots so we were able to take her on short walks but no park this week. Vet also thinks she is younger - probably 12 weeks but maybe even 11. She has learned a lot of things very quickly - she has "leave it" down pretty well when food is involved and she is better about playing with her toys by herself. When she does chew on something else, she is quickly redirected. At night, she can settle down for bed in about 10 minutes and any time she is up in the middle of the night, she goes right back to her bed after. She also learned to play fetch and even the car rides are getting easier. There is light at the end of the tunnel! (Separation anxiety is still taking some time.) Sounds great! That's a lot of improvement, kudos to you! If she is actually younger, that can explain why she has been struggling with the separation times. These young pups enjoy a whole lot company, and tend to have a fear of being left alone. Not to mention, being in their prime socialization time, they want to explore and learn more about their world and tend to have fear of missing out. Keep up teaching her to to entertain herself with food-dispensing toys, (like Kong Wobblers) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/adriennes-picks/top-5-dog-feeding-toys/ and playing games of hide and seek https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/hide-and-seek/ (she is too young to hold a longer sit-stay or down stay, so you can have a helper hold her while you hide and release her once you're ready) along with the other exercises to prevent separation anxiety, https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ Things tend to start getting a little better once these pups reach their flight period: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/ However, the cat stuff is getting worse. The cats spend a lot of time sitting outside the door that separates them. (They have most of the house and Dan's office is there so they are rarely alone). I am not sure if they are upset they cannot roam the whole house or if they are looking for treats because when we do "cat time" with Atari, they know they get to just eat treats on that side of the gate. But they all seem obsessed with each other Now Atari wants to sit at the door and bark at them. Our cat training times have gone very well. She totally ignores them and focuses on us doing the "look at me" and "leave it" stuff. When she seems bored, we will mix it up and do other stuff like lie down, get up, or track. But then we close the door and she wants to go back and sit there. This just started yesterday. For the last week, we could do cat time and then close the door and it was over. Now she obsesses on that door. We redirect her but it's nearly constant. And sometimes the older kitten will cry for a second which riles her up again. We did let her go (leashed) to visit the kitties today and made her sit and look at the 7 mo. old. (Older brother hid in closet) But we can't let her go off leash and if we don't redirect her the whole time, she just wants to chase/play with the cats. She's way bigger than they are so it's definitely not a good idea. Your pup is young, and your cats are also fairly young. I think it's normal for them to all be attracted to each other. These cases of puppies wanting to chase/play with cats pose some challenges, because we can't remove a pups' instinct to want to play, chase and interact. For sake of comparison, I think it's sort of expecting kids in daycare to stay away from each other with each being kept in their own area. I would imagine all toddlers crying because they want to mingle and play with the others, even if they would have access to the best toys. With puppies being super social and at the prime time of their socialization period, all they want to do is play, explore and interact. It sounds like your cats are also intrigued by the pup. Is there anything we can do differently or do we just have to wait for her to desensitize... some day? People keep telling us to just let her go and have them work it out because apparently their cats smacked the dog on the face and the dog left them alone. We know this will not work with her and could result in injury for either her or the cats - most likely the cats. But this is really hard and I'm wondering if there is a better solution that might help speed this up? You can keep on gradually introducing them, until they all seem more comfortable with each other and you can trust them being around each other more and more. You have the advantage that your dog is puppy right now and your cats are fairly young. How fast you can move in the process will vary based on several factors such as your cat's personalities. You will need to keep an eye on their body language for clues and when to intervene. Here are some general tips, consider that for the most part, it's a two-way process: making life easier for the cats and training the puppy to control his instincts to chase. Following are several tips that can help the cats acclimate better, I know you are already doing many of these, but will post them still to have all basis covered. Gradual introductions: cats do best if they are given some time to get used to seeing and hearing the puppy. Rather than letting them meet face-to-face and hope for the best, keep both in separated areas so they can see and hear each other, but without interacting directly. While, in general, a dog requires about a month to adapt to a new addition in the household, cats may need many months to adjust. It is best to go slow. Slower introductions are more likely to succeed. Do scent swaps: while in their own areas, provide the cats with a blanket that smells like the puppy, and provide the puppy with a blanket that smells like the cats. Reward the pets for interacting with the blanket or simply place some treat on top. These scent swaps help all parties acclimatize to each others' smells. Ensure your cats keep getting attention: It's important to continue giving the cats the attention they were accustomed to prior to getting Atari. Make sure to dedicate some time in playing with the cats and giving them extra attention. Pups can be a lot of work, so sometimes we may feel exhausted, but the kitties need attention too. Confine your puppy. If your cats used to have the full run of the house prior to getting your puppy, don't make their world smaller by confining them in a small area while the puppy enjoys the run of the house. Rather, confine the puppy in an x-pen or use baby gates to separate the pup in a room. Puppies do best in smaller areas of the home for ease of potty training and to grant them a puppy-safe area where they don't get too much in trouble. Create a space with a double partition. If your cats seems stressed by your puppy continuously trying to interact, or your puppy is constantly wanting to access the cats, it can help to create a space with a double partition. This allows a sort of "buffer" "between the dog and the cats. Help form positive associations with the puppy. Feed your cats something delicious every time they see the puppy. You can use some of that gravy stuff to put on cat food on your finger and let the cat lick it every time they see the puppy using the open bar/closed bar method. Provide escape routes/safe areas. Cats need areas they can retreat to if they feel the need to escape. Baby gates/ pet fences that allow the cat to escape but keeps the dog contained, also lots of vertical options such as cat trees, tall furniture, cat escape hatches etc. Cats are very vertical beings so they need the ability to jump up and away when they need a break. Train your puppy. Puppies see cats as fun playmates to play with and chase, and some cats get stressed if all the puppy wants to do is chase. It's very helpful to train the puppy some impulse control and basic obedience. Many cats find puppies less threatening if the pups are able to sit and lie down on cue. Leave its and recalls come also handy in case the cats appear to be want to be left alone. All these skills will be helpful for the pups' entire life. Start with leashed introductions. It is best if Atari has exercised enough so that he has drained some excess energy. Keep the pup on leash in the house when around the cats and use your trained cues as needed rewarding accordingly with tasty treats. How long you'll need to keep your pup leashed will vary based on several factors, the most important being the comfort level of the animals involved and their safety. You will therefore need to evaluate your cats' body language and personalities and how they seem to respond. Have your pup drag a leash. When doing training around the cats, let your pup stay on leash until he learns to follow your cues and your cats appear more comfortable. Then, once pup and cats seem more comfortable around each other, you can let him free (always under strict active supervision) for short periods of time, but let him drag the leash so you can intervene swiftly as needed by holding on top or stepping on the leash. Make sure all the cats have access to escape routes and have vertical options. If all goes well, after several days, you can gradually increase duration. Watch your cat's body language. Puppies like to play a lot, and some cats can like to play too. Some cats do well playing with pups (some cats seem to purposely enjoy provoking pups) as long as they have a place to retreat to as needed and that the puppy learns to respect when the cats have had enough. There should be breaks within the play and intervention may be needed if you notice tense body language in cats (ears back, tail swishing side-to-side, paw up) or the cat being cornered with no way out. Use calming aids for cats. If your cats appear very stressed by your puppy, you can always use some calming aids such as pheromone diffusers (Feliway) or other calming supplements under the advice of your vet. Always put safety of your animals first! It is tempting to get complacent at some point an assume that all is well, but any time dogs and cats are left together there are chances for mishaps and sometimes even scary accidents. Dogs and cats should never be left together unsupervised. Most dogs will want to chase fleeing cats and a dog may react differently to a cat running in the yard versus in the home. It therefore helps a lot to practice training in various locations around the house and garden and to help the cat feel comfortable enough to not want to run away all the time. I hope this helps, Happy training! Adrienne

Sounds like a great plan! Keep us posted on how things go! Best, Adrienne

Glad to hear the front-attachment harness is working well for you! Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the extra details! With this kind of urine marking, I agree with you that there is likely an element of anxiety, although we may need to factor in as well the possibility of him simply over marking areas that may smell like puppy pee (like maybe the puppy peed or stepped in pee and walked to an area, like the corner where the bed/comforter is and left traces of pee/pee smell). I think you are already doing a good job management-wise! Here are some extra tips: -Clean up Puppy Accidents Properly If Jumpshot pees in the home, make sure to promptly clean it up using bacterial enzymatic odor eliminating products (like Nature's Miracle). -Use a Black Light Sometimes, pups may have accidents in places that we may not be aware of. This is more likely to happen if we get upset for them having accidents in the home. Even if we don't get visibly upset, just acting frustrated when seeing the pup have a pee accident and cleaning up quickly can be enough to concern a sensitive puppy. I have found it helpful to whistle (or try to whistle!) or hum while cleaning up. To identify these previous accidents, you can use a black light. The black light used at night in a dark room will cause the urine stains to become fluorescent. It's pretty cool. Once you identify them, clean them up with your enzyme-based cleaner and test the black light again to ensure you cleaned up all traces. -Use management Sounds like you are doing a great job with this already. Basically, prevent access to the areas your adult dog has shown a preference for marking in the past. Erect a baby gate or place bulky items to make the area inaccessible, especially when you cannot supervise. Once Maxx gets better, gradually allow him more freedom, but always actively supervising closely. -Do not place any novel objects/puppy objects on floor until Maxx has gotten used to having them around the house and are more familiar. -Watch for Early "Pre-Mark Signs" Quickly redirect Maxx if you notice any signs of him about to urine mark (sniffing intently a spot, intent to raise a leg). Recording his behavior when he is outdoors and marking and then watching it in slow-mo can give you hints on his pre-marking behavior so you can intervene at earliest sign and redirect him to going outdoors. I like to rush towards the door saying in a fun tone of voice "let's go outside!" -Reduce Anxiety If the marking is due to anxiety, help ease your dog's anxiety using calming aids such as Adaptil sprays and diffusers. Create positive associations with the puppy, by making great things happen (feed treats!) every time Maxx sees the puppy. -Establish Legit Marking Areas Provide outdoor vertical objects (I like to use fake fire hydrants as pee posts) where you allow your dog to urine mark and praise and reward him for using those. -Practice Walking By Basically, before letting him free indoors, walk Maxx on a leash indoors around the commonly marked areas, and then take him outside prompting him to pee in the established legit marking areas, praising and rewarding for using them. What to do if you catch him in the act? Ideally, you should intervene *before* your dog has raised his leg, by carefully watching his body language. So if you catch your dog urine marking, redirect him promptly by calling him away and taking him outside immediately, prompting him to urinate in the appropriate place (legit marking area if available). I hope this helps! Happy Training!

Hi there! The puppy things he has marked, is it the first time he has had access to them? Have both these episodes started in these past days? Any recent changes, like are they spending more time together lately? Has the marking on walks increased since you had Jumpshot?

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West highland white terriers are a breed that can be prone to tracheal collapse so a harness may be a better choice for them for going on walks. What makes you afraid of him choking on the collar? Does he pull on walks? What went wrong with the harness? Are you attaching the leash to the front or the back of the harness? Yes, more details will be very helpful!

That's great progress! We try to do as best as we can, life events sometimes are difficult to control. Thanks for the p-up-date! Keep us posted on how things work out for you.

If this is purely attention-seeking behavior, it tends to get worse before it gets better. Ignoring leads to what's called an extinction burst and then you have episodes of spontaneous recovery. This is the most difficult part because behaviors fueled by attention requires that we ignore these behaviors totally, no looking, no talking, no scolding, no pushing, no making eye contact. No attention at all, even attention of the negative type. You would therefore have to pretend as if your dog isn't there, waiting for her to give up engaging in the undesirable behavior. In simple words, an extinction burst takes place when you have provided your dog with attention and then suddenly stop providing it. The behavior will typically intensify or the dog may try new behaviors in hopes of getting attention again. If one is able to endure this temporary intensification, one will eventually succeed. If you give in though and dole just about any form of attention, you will be back to square one, or may have even regressed, as you have reinforced persistence. *However,* you mentioned that she really never liked the kennel and that she freaked out last time you closed her. On top of this, you mentioned her being startled by noises and fear of the kennel cover so we likely have some strong elements of anxiety at play. So we have three main solutions: take some steps in making sleeping in the play pen/crate the best place on earth, or if that is still too anxiety-inducing then, if sleeping on the bed is the only thing that keeps her calm and you are willing to make that her permanent sleeping place, that's OK too as long as you stick to that rather than swapping back and forth between crate and bed which can create confusion. I generally have no particular issue with dogs sleeping on beds as long as they aren't guarding the area or acting aggressive when moved/startled and that they don't take off at night to play and chew things. However, keep into account that, if you are are going on the camping trip, she may then suffer if she'll be sleeping in your bedroom all alone, and when dogs are anxious, they are likely to chew things and panic. Also, if you would decide to let her sleep on the bed, it would still be important getting her used to like the crate more considering that you may need to crate her when going outside. The third solution is having her sleep in your bedroom without being confined but on her own bed/mat. You may need to initially put the ex-pen around your bed initially to discourage her to jump up or place bulky items on the bed. Of course, this works well only if she's not the type of dog that in the middle of the night will start chewing on stuff. After my Rotties were perfectly potty trained and respectful of our things, I stopped letting them sleep in their crates at night in our bedroom, and graduated them to sleep one each on a mat on the floor at the side of our beds. Acclimatizing her to being comfortable in the crate/ex-pen obviously will take some time, so it's something worthy on working on for the most part once you come back from your trip. Here are some pointers to help you accomplish that: Establish a reassuring bedtime routine. For example, you can have Daisy play with you a couple hours prior to bedtime, give her a last drink and then in the next hour let her wind down with some calmer interactive toys/brain games. Then, send her out to potty a last time (making sure she goes), and bring her into the bedroom, say "crate" as you toss a bully stick/long lasting chew in the crate/ex-pen, let her in it and close it. Shut off the light, say "night-night!" and go to bed. During the day, create positive associations with being in the crate/ex-pen. Keep the crate/ex-pen with the door open and place toys and treats in there, so that your dog visits it often. Turn it into the best place on earth. Never use the crate/ex-pen for punishment. Don't yell or push your dog into a crate. Have your dog assessed for separation anxiety if she struggles being left alone. Record your dog's behavior when left alone and show it to your vet. Crating can make these dogs worse and they may even hurt themselves trying to get out. Teach your dog to follow a relaxation protocol. Teach your dog to be relaxed on a mat in the living room and then aim to practice having her relax on mat in the bedroom, adding one element at a time and trying your best in keeping her under threshold. Leave worn items of clothing in the crate/ex-pen so that your scent comforts her. Consider trying calming aids. DAP diffusers, DAP sprays,. There are also nowadays many calming supplements such as L-theanine, GABA teamed with L-Theanine and L-Trytophan, Calming Care by Purina etc. Ask your vet about these options. If the dog has had a negative experience with a particular crate it may help re-starting with a different crate in a different location. Make sure she received enough exercise, training, brain games, play and mental stimulation during the day. Don't let her nap too much during the day and see if that helps. Play calming music in the bedroom (Through a Dog's Ear, Canine Lullabies). I know a dog owner who must play Chopin for her dog, while another uses raggae (a recent study found shelter dogs respond better to raggae/soft rock). Some dogs do best if their crate/ex pen is right next to the human's bed. These dogs feel reassured by seeing well their owners. I had a dog not too long ago who struggled as soon I laid down in bed and he couldn't see me and then when I turned off the light. I had to use a night light and move the bed so he could always see me. I hope this helps! It's surely frustrating when they whine so much during the night. I hope things get better for you soon.

Thanks for all this info! We have just started trying the dropping a treat when taking off a leash. No progress yet, but it's too early of course. Did she eat the treat when you dropped it? That would be a good starter sign. If not, she's still too over threshold. There are also some other options if the snapping on and off the leash is a problem. There are slip leads that you can just slip over her head as you distract her with some tasty peanut butter to lick off a wooden spoon. Now, these tighten around the neck when walking, so I would look for one with a martingale function that prevents it from tightening. Yes, slow and steady wins the race with these fearful dogs. It helps to keep a journal where you can keep track of her behavior and any little improvements so to not feel discouraged. And of course, keep posting here when you have any questions or just need some moral support. It's not easy with these fellows. I try the positive interaction with other dogs approach every day. When outside and we meet a doggie friend, she will run and jump with joy, tail wagging. I pet and give attention to the doggie friend who of course all know me and interact well. I even try rubbing myself all over the other dog (some are big, and she has no fear of them), in the hopes that my smelling like them will be something she likes. She has a great nose, and I can tell when a doggie friend has passed by recently because of her behavior. It's really the only time she'll pull on the leash. All the neighbors laugh, because she is so cute and funnily enthusiastic to see her friends. Keep up the great work! This is also good because walking together can be a great bonding activity. The more positive walks you go through together, the better. Sniffing around can also be a good anxiety-reducer. I wonder if you can organize some fun treasure hunts in the forested area. Just hide some treats here and there before going on the walk and then tell her to "find them!" Inside my neighbor's place, which we visit at least once a day, she will run to my neighbor, and I sit down or stand while the pup gets petted, accepts a treat. My neighbor has tried talking to me and handing me a treat to give to her, but she runs and cowers against my neighbor. It may be insightful to see how she would react to having a friendly and gentle dog go for a walk together and then come into the home and see if that dog can model some positive human interactions in the home for your dog to watch. If you can borrow a friendly doggy for some time, it may help. Social facilitation can be a powerful tool. The good news is that I think she accepts her under recliner hiding place as a safe spot. But I hate the idea of giving her a medication for anxiety when she only needs it when she is with us. I hear you. However, we need to think that also being stressed in the way she sounds like (shaking, hiding) causes the release of high cortisol levels that cause chronic stress and this can lead to side effects. There are also calming supplements your vet can suggest although these may have less impact on dogs who are too over threshold. I honestly wonder if it would be easier on her, to rehome her in a place that already has another little dog, and where she could run around in a backyard. We live in a park model (tiny home) in a camping club. The area is completely forested, with lots of interesting smells, but every dog has to be on a leash. She has adjusted to that, because she loves the time outdoors so much. However, we can only stay here 6 months at a time, then we move next door for another six months. Our move date is coming up in 3 weeks. And 3 weeks after that I will head out of town for a visit out of state to family. I'm concerned that any progress we make will be lost due to that tumultuous change. And we'll do it all again in 6 months. It is just painful to see her so happy when she is out of the house, and so scared inside the house, though to be honest, we literally don't see her inside the house except for her running to the front door to go out. Not ever. Changes like this may cause more stress, but then again, we can't really know for sure. If moving to a new place, it may help to remove any hiding spots and set up for her an ex-pen in a quiet corner with food, water, a comfy bed, toys and a DAP diffuser. This is to stop the recliner hiding in which sometimes fearful dogs can get stuck sometimes. The problem is, once they establish themselves in a hiding area, that's where they'll always go to feel comfortable, it becomes a deeply ingrained habit. An exercise pen offers the advantage of her being able to see you and better habituate to your presence. If she seems very stressed, it can be covered with a blanket for more privacy and then gradually removed. Before leaving the place, a few days prior, if you decide to still keep her, it may be worthy as a last-ditch effort seeing how she would react if you would lie down on the floor nearby her (but not blocking her exit) with some tasty food while reading or doing something quiet nearby for a while Some dogs do better us with us when we're lying down versus standing up. You may want to use a word to announce when you're about to get up as a heads' up so they don't get startled, dropping some treats as you get up can further help create positive associations with your scent left behind. However, keep in mind that how this may work varies from dog to dog. Some dogs find us less intimidating and it can help them come out of their shell, some others feel even more scared as we are interfering with them feeling safe in their only safe spot. I know of a dog who did OK with this, coming out and laying down next to the owner, while the other kept acting fearful and had to be rehomed....So this could negatively impact her, to the point of her not coming out even for walks. So there are considerable risks to keep in mind. It could go both ways, helping her see us less as a threat or seeing us more as a threat. Her body language may give us some clues.

LOL about the broken whistler! Funny too that your cats respond best to it! Have you created positive associations with its sound? These whistles are often sold with zero instructions and it's easy to assume that dogs will respond to them just because the sound attracts them. I treat them like a clicker, they are conditioned reinforcers so whistle/treat, whistle/treat, whistle/treat in the home. I then use it for a game of hide and seek in the home, with asking the dog to sits/stay down/stay while I go hiding and whistling and then praising/treating when the dog finds me. Then practice outdoors in the yard, hide and seek game, then on a long line outdoors, whistling and delivering several high value treats in a row. I used to get a panic attack when I would head out without having my whistle along, so I started wearing it around my neck. It made a good conversation piece too when out and about around people!

Also was thinking that, based on her reaction to dogs, it may also help keeping her in a comfortable, non-threatening place and allow her to watch you interact very positively with another dog that she has previously interacted with positively. So if on walks she's more comfortable, you can have a helper hold her leash and let her watch you as you pet and interact positively with a happy dog. If you notice any positive change in her body language with you after this, you can then progress to doing this in front of your home.

Hi Kristy, Welcome to the forums! Please see my observations in non-bold. Hi, i have a 3yr old border collie named Daisy, we have had her since she was a puppy but we had NO idea what we were getting into so she didn’t receive the proper training, attention, or exercise she needed. She quickly became an outside dog, after 2yrs of her being outside(she didn’t like being out there all the time all alone) we re-homed our cat that didn’t get along with her and now she has been an inside dog since November. I had no idea how I was going to fix all her issues then I found this so thanks! I haven’t started the training course yet but have been working on things like whining. It's great that you decided to make Daisy an indoor dog, that's awesome! Although it does come with some challenges such as learning how to behave nicely in the home. The biggest problem I’m having with her is in her kennel, she doesn’t like going in there and she has been whining/freaking out when we put her in there. Couple things to keep in mind: she has to go in there at night and sometimes during the day(never for very long though), she sleeps in my bedroom, her whining has been affecting my sleep and that heavily affects my health. It sounds like she may have some confinement phobia, which makes sense if she was used to sleeping outdoors with lots of space. However, there can be other factors at play. I don't think she's missed out on any of these, but prior to her bed time, it would be important making sure all her needs are met and there isn't something that needs direct attention. So before confining her: -Make sure she has peed and pooped. Haven been outdoors for the most part in the past, she likely went any time she felt like it, so I would make it a routine to send her outside to go potty to ensure she is empty by bedtime, and while you are at it, you can aim to train her to go potty on cue, here's how to accomplish that:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ -Make sure she has received enough exercise, training, play and mental stimulation (brain games!) during the day. Border collies are vey high energy and need a "job." Some of them are prone to becoming anxious if their bodies and minds aren't put to "work." -Make sure she isn't hot. Dogs with a full winter coat can be uncomfortable with indoor heating running at night during the winter. -Make sure there isn't anything in the room that could be making her anxious. Any critters in the walls, inside the attic, air fresheners, air from vents etc. Daisy has never really liked her kennel so we’ve always had to fight to get her in there. We’ve recently established a routine of her coming into my bed for an hour or however long before I go to bed then I put her in her kennel, it still took some convincing(making her really want a treat) and she still whined a bit but we were getting better with the whining part. About a week ago she went in her kennel very well and didn’t whine at all but the next night, it was late, she went in her kennel to get her toy and I locked her in. I very quickly regretted doing that as she freaked out(panicked whine, pants hard, jumps up against the kennel wall, paces as much as she can in her kennel) I ignored her for about an hour, I knew if I let her out she would figure out that she can do this every night to get out of her kennel, the only reason I let her out to basically restart the night(bathroom, my bed, kennel) was because she was jumping up against her kennel so much I was worried she could injure herself. So I let her out and she stayed in my bed from about an hour then I put her back in, she did the same thing. I believe it took me sternly telling her to be quiet for her to stop. Over the week I’ve tried to talk to her softly, sternly, I’ve yelled(I know I know) nothing has worked, I can’t even tell her “good girl” because she starts up again. The past three night I’ve given her a kong with peanut butter but that only lasts her about 2 minutes. After realizing that talking to her does not work I’ve just completely ignored her and sometimes it takes her an hour to calm down sometimes she whines the entire night. I’ve had to switch beds with my mom two night so I can sleep, I didn’t want to cause anymore problems by leaving her alone. She is a people dog and doesn’t like being alone. She is mostly fine when she is put in there during the day. Based on this info, it sounds like the issue is mainly with the crate. Has she been acting like this in the past 5 months since you have had her indoors since November? Or is this a new behavior? What have her indoor sleeping arrangements been up until now? Is she having any pee or poop accidents since she has been in the home? It sounds like your routine was starting to help, but then the change where has created some anxiety-and she may have felt trapped. You can make a Kong last longer by filling it up in a more challenging way, for instance, sticking a cookie at the bottom, then a layer of peanut butter/canned dog food mixed with kibble, then another cookie at the top and if possible freezing it for a much longer challenge. There is guide for creating positive associations with the crate, but it would take several baby steps to increase duration in it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Also I am going to a camp at the end of April for the weekend, last time was gone for the night she whined all night. What could I do for her that weekend? Where will she be when you are away for the weekend? Will she be in your home? Who will be taking care of her? If it will be a family member, starting today it may help a bit if this family member can take over some tasks that you have been providing so far, firstly with you nearby and then gradually with you at a distance. I would like to know how I can fix this kennel problem? Everyone in our house is losing sleep because of her so any suggestions would be very helpful. I could possibly let her stay out but I’m not sure how she would do and if she isn’t good with staying out of her kennel at night I would never be able to get her in there but if she was good I would be able to work with her better. Where would you be planning to keep her at night? Does she panic if she's in a room away from you? Does she have a history of chewing or eating things in the home? I think this could be an intermediate solution as she learns to be calmer in a crate/exercise pen, but we need to ensure she stays safe and doesn't chew things. Another option may be the use of an exercise pen.