Adrienne Farricelli

latest news : We changed strategy for the witching hour moment : starting with the return of the evening walk, the yard is totally forbidden. We return between 7:30PM and 8PM, he's usually tired because it's the longuest walk of the day with both my gf and I, usually at the same time than some of his buddies... So we don't want to add anymore the excitation of being in the yard with checking of everything that pass by. It would be the worst, as he's already excited from the big walk. He would whine in front of the door, but we do not indulge. It would be the time we cook and eat. so he gets his last meal, and the special treat in the hoof. It usually last half an hour or so, enough time for us to eat while watching an episode. When he finishes, best case scenario, he has cool down, and he chills with us. And worst case scenario, he's still a little hyped (we would try to get on the coach to us, or bite us to come outside), and in that case, we tried something : he got a form of timeout by being kicked from our video room while we stayed in. We enjoy the end of our episode, while he put alone in the living room. We still check with the camera. He would whine a little in front of the door, and even scratch at it a bit, but after a few minutes, we've seen with the cam he would lie down in front of the yard door, or downstairs. In that case, we finish our stuff, get out, and praise Not too bad so far : we avoid big barking in the evening... we have a chance to watch our shows with him around... and in misbehaving cases, we "punish by timeout", but at the same time make him used being alone in the house free Please let me know if there is something bad in this implementation It depends what method you use for the timeout to get him out of the room. If it's a collar grab, there is risk that with time, he may not like to be touched by the collar, or that he may "play hard to catch." In other words, he may learn "every time I am touched by the collar, it leads to be me being moved away. However, little question on the side : can absence cause excitation after the return ? I mentioned my gf was on a girls weekend ('about 5 days), and since she returned 2 days, he cannot chill with her around. Yesterday evening, he was timed out because he was non stop onto her after his chew : bitey, tried humping. She was supposed to put him to bed yesterday, but if it was her, it wouldn't chill... she has to disappear, and let me handle the end of the evening. Today, she's working in the office, and he biting the chair, which he never did with me while she was gone Can this be related to her absence, or there is something else ? We already talked about the difference of treatment from him between me and her, but here it seems like some regressions, but only towards her.. May this be some kind of fear she will disappear again ? or something like "you've been too long ! take care of me now !" I hope it's just that ! I'm the one having a guys weekend in 2 weeks 🙂 I will be worried if she'd had to go all the day with a little demon 🙂 For sure, not seeing her for some time, increases hear saliency. Something that can be tried is doing "side-by-side training" in other words, she stays next to you, you ask Loki to do something and reward, and then it's her turn, mimicking what you did. She can also experiment using your tone in case her tone is too overstimulating. Doing several reps of this, back and forth, can sometimes help generalize the behaviors to her. It would be important starting at times when Loki is in calmer mood and not actively greeting her or at a time of zoomies. It can also help having her practice cues behind a baby gate, so Loki doesn't have the chance to latch on to her in any way. Of course, all this requires some gradual "fading" like the baby gate will need to be faded, where she will then start asking the same with the baby gate open, then farther from the baby gate and then you will move away farther from her in the former exercises. Recording her behavior may also help. Sometimes we do things that rev dogs up. My sister has the problem that dogs seem to be extra nippy around her and jumpy. I recorded her behavior around the dogs and showed her how every time she was around dogs, she would often keep lifting her hands up in fear of being nipped and this encouraged them to jump and nip, even when they weren't initially in nipping mode and were just sniffing her hands.

"Shooting out of the door at break neck speed (though she Does wait until I tell her she can go), not sitting (basic stuff here, Gerts!), and her recall Stinks. She practices selective hearing. I Know she can hear me because if I so much as whisper "treat" to Esther I can see Gertie's ears perk up. Sounds like the typical adolescent stage! Doesn't this sound familiar? Stuck in a “Duh” Moment "Gone are the days when your puppy was eager to please you. You’ll now likely notice your dog acting as if he has never heard a command before. These “duh!” episodes of memory loss are quite common during the adolescent stage and will require your patience and understanding. Getting mad and frustrated when your dog doesn’t come to you when called won’t do any good. Fortunately, this is a transitioning phase and you’ll eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel. More Independence Just like human teenagers, adolescent dogs will want to have it their way and will want more independence. We can’t blame them: This is the age where, in the wild, the dog’s ancestors separated from their families to form their own packs. Dogs at this age are keen to try new behaviors and test their boundaries. Gone are the days when your puppy loved to stick by your side and would come running the moment you were out of sight! There are many more interesting sights, smells and sounds at this time just waiting to be discovered. More here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ I would suggesting keeping that brain busy and yes, doing some refresher courses. Practice those recalls using sub-steps of what was particularly challenging, upping the reinforcement value. It's amazing how dogs respond to whispering and calm tones of voice.

I think it may be a bit of all. Intensity of stimuli depends on what it is... A wanderer = little stimuli. Another dog = big stimuli. Another friend dog = "OMG !! PLEASE LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW !!" state :). And therefore the value of treats will depend on that. Dry food or paste works (ish) for the 2 first, I'm not sure anything would work for the last one. OK that stimulus gradient gives you the knowledge and level of control on what you need to work more on. I don't know if this would be feasible, but if you have any neighbors or friends who own a friend dog and are willing to volunteer walking back and forth until you can get some level of responsiveness, that would be a great exercise to widen the chances for opportunities to reinforce more desirable behaviors. Distance can help you find that "sweet spot" where he is more responsive. A use of a leash can help you maintain that. Also the repetition of the exercise, with the dog owner walking the dog back and forth, may help make the stimulus become less salient from "oh, my friend! oh my! wow! yay! yippee" to a more composed "ok, there's my doggy friend again!" If this is repeated several times, you may start getting more and more of these more composed responses. You can then start raising criteria and getting more selective by reinforcing the calmer responses. If the above is not feasible, it may be just easier trying to track whether this friend dog is walked at a certain time and avoiding such high-intensity exposures. The underlying goal though should still remain: trying to find a way to keep him more under threshold. This may not be easy if one lives in an area where dogs aren't encountered too often and they therefore become super salient. Jean Donaldson calls this "suburban dog syndrome" Basically, they lack that constant flow of dogs and people that turns them into normal stimuli. Both my Rotties were raised in the country and they were developing this "whoo-hooo" response when spotting a person or dogs. A substantial change was achieved when we started traveling with them and visiting crowded places and cities. People and other dogs soon became rather "ho-hum". This had to be maintained, too long between exposures would lead to the "woo hoo" response returning. Humans may be experiencing something like that too with the whole pandemic. For the extroverts it may be "woo-hoo!" for the introverts it may be more like a stressful "eek!, I am no longer used to socializing!" Another contributing factor to high arousal levels is dogs who are allowed to greet other dogs on walks when they are super excited and whining, pulling, acting crazy. Then if they are behind a fence, or there is a dog we don't want them to meet it will lead to frustration barking/barrier frustration. It helps to do walks with other dogs, but with the dog not actively interacting/playing. Just calm walking. A nice, adult calm dog can help with that. This may take time to master (with pups it may take some time to master this level of impulse control, but it is attainable with practice). There was definitely some of that. When younger, and the barking was less, he'd been authorized the yard, and the barking, as it wasn't much. With him growing, the hard barking could not be tolerated anymore, as he also have bigger voice :). So yes, he has more rights before, and I guess no one likes to have some rights taken away :) Yes, changes can cause hurdles especially at first. We can help smoothen the transition if we create positive associations with the change. For example, if a dog was allowed to pull in the past, emphasizing how reinforcing it is to stick to heel position can help with that. I sense a bit of improvement though. However, he was onboarded this weekend as I had a baseball tournament and my gf have a girls weekend, and when back, he didn't bark as much, even a bit lower, and responded more to the treats... But I don't want to shout victory too soon, as he may be due to a bit a tiredness from being onboarded. A little part of me want to think it's the payoff to the effort :) I'm pretty sure the "you bark too much and too loud = no more yard" seems to have some kind of impacts (I know, it's positive punishment and not positive reinforcement but at least it's not aversive :)) Time will tell. If it's a result of the boarding, it would be interesting knowing if they offered some activities that helped calm down. Some places organize play dates, and this can exhaust dogs, however, the stress of being boarded (I think most dogs feel this stress to some level, if it's not a routine thing) can make a dog tired too. Nerdy fact: Removal as a result of an undesirable behavior with the goal of decreasing a behavior falls under negative punishment. Positive punishment is the + addition (positive) of something aversive to make an undesirable behavior less likely. Negative punishment is the -removal (negative) of something pleasant to make an undesirable behavior less likely. In behavior terms, the words positive and negative are not used to denote good or bad. Positive simply means addition and negative simply means subtraction. Also, in behavior terms, the word punishment is meant to denote a behavior that decreases in frequency, whereas reinforcement denotes a behavior that increases in frequency. Perhaps we should also include a nice edible chew when we go to make the association "seeing us going is good, you gain a nice chew, and you're not even contained" Yes, that can help a lot if it helps him stay calmer and he is getting better with being left alone. If he's way too overwhelmed when you are away, it can become a predictor of you leaving and can lose its effectiveness, so it's important to go gradual. I am sure Loki is blooming is a handsome pup! Send my pats to him!

it's bit like playing"cop and thief" : we see something to work on, we adapt, we work, it works after some time... Then something new and we repeat the same process 😂 Yes, however, when something was working, and then it no longer works, it's a sign that some tweaking is needed. For example, if he's not listening to "look at that' cues, it's important to evaluate what's going on exactly. Is the stimulus too intense? Too close? Are the treats used too low value compared to the stimulus? Are we catching him when he's already in a aroused state? We need to make our smacking sound *before* he gets to the point of staring intently and then barking. Important is to familiarize with the pre-barking body language. Often, the dog will orient towards something (twitching the ears, turning the head), close the mouth, stare intently and then bark although some just go straight to barking, in which case we need to catch them before they reach that state. Recording our dogs barking and then playing it back slowly with the mute on before the first bark is emitted can help us identify some subtle body language we may have missed otherwise. Is he allowed to bark outside on his own? If he's outside barking on his own with little or no guidance from us, that day we decide to start changing things, you'll likely to get some form of resistance. Sort of like "I have been barking on my own at things in the yard for some time, what is it that now you want me to respond to you? I have enjoyed taking the matter in my own hands." Well, they might not think exactly this way, but you get the idea.... Same if we allow it intermittently, like some time we do "look at that exercises" and other times we allow unrestricted barking at things. So it's important to manage as much as possible and redirect at the first signs of possible reacting. The barking in the crate was a one time thing, but last night so I don't know if it repeat. However, today in the car, he vomited, while he was fine with it during our holidays. I found an awful amount of foam from one of the toy he destructed. I didn't he had Time to swallow so much before I took it away. I wonder if that could cause a bad feeling, which caused the crate barking.. It could be that vomiting in the travel crate has caused some regression. If the same crate is used for travel and indoors, I would make sure it's cleaned with an enzyme-based cleaner in case of residual smells. If I recall, once Loki also had a regression in being crate when he once had a poop accident. In any case, it is possible that a negative experience like that can generalize to the other crate if a different one is used. That, or not using the crate for sometime can be a factor. Actually, we're trying more and more alone time in the house without containement. We set the camera in an angle we can see most, and that goes well so far. He's no more destructive of the furnitures, and he often end up going to sleep downstairs (it's more fresh). That's awesome! It's nice once they learn to not be destructive and we can trust the more around the house. The camera is super helpful to keep an eye on him just in case and also for getting him used to spend time alone. Other problem I think we reinforce : because when he starts to bark much, we come and call him back in the house, spécially at night... Or for the training : as we cant wait all day that someone comes, we get the treat after hé start barking, come, and treat when he stops... But seeing us when the barking occurs may be counter productive. It's hard to get the timing right on this one. If I recall well, you have neighbors, so you must do what you can to stop the barking. To prevent a behavior chain, when you call him it helps to add some extra behaviors, like you call him, ask for sit, maybe a hand target (of paw once he masters that) and then you feed several treats in a row to leave a strong impression. Of course, preventing him from barking in the first place is the ideal approach, so when outdoors, maybe be out with him and keep him on a long line? It's difficult to keep barking under control if the dog is allowed to rehearse the barking too much.

There's also isolation distress which happens when the dog does fine with anybody as long as she's not left alone.

Yes, there are other ways to train a dog to give paw. One of them is to have the dog standing in front of us, we would hold a treat between our thumb and index finger (letting it protrude a bit) and offer it next to the dog's face on the side opposite of the paw you want him to give. When you offer the treat on this side, as he gently mouths is, he should put the weight on the leg on the same side and the leg that you want to use for "paw" should lighten. You would do this repeatedly until you notice that he very slightly lifts the paw as he puts weight on the other. With several reps, muscle memory should kick in and he should start to notice that "every time my paw is lifted, I get the tasty treat. " At some point, you can start to gently touch/ hold the paw when it lifts and mark that and reward. Do this very slightly initially and then increase touch more and more until you are fully holding the paw. With several reps, he should start anticipating your touch, by lifting and placing his paw in your hand. Once the behavior is more fluent, add the verbal cue "paw" just a second before he places the paw in your hand. You should also start to fade the food lure so that it is no longer protruding from your thumb and index finger and and start giving it only after he gives paw. Then at some point, try saying "paw" without presenting your food lure next to your dog's face. When he paws, praise and give a jackpot of treats. Splitting the exercise and intermediate steps may be needed. Be patient, it takes some time. Last beagle I trained this way took 3-4 days or several short reps spread throughout the day. ***Be careful, pawing can get out of hand, so make sure that you praise and reward only when you ask for it, ignore all pawing that is un-cued (no positive attention, no negative attention).

Hi Jim, This barking seems to stem from some deep underlying anxiety. It's unfortunate but with some adult rescues, we don't know what they may have gone through. Most likely there is some underlying issues at play such as lack of socialization when he was young or even some negative events. Some dogs may be genetically prone to being reactive through exposure to stress hormones in the womb. While it's true that we can't change genes or a dog's past, a calm and nurturing environment can have a positive impact. Can you please report exactly what methods you have tried so far, for how long and what happened? Was he too "over threshold" to follow directions and take treats? Have you worked on creating a strong response to the smacking sound? https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Have you tried the "hear that" method? https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ Have you tried the "white noise" for the barking at night? For people at the door, here are some guides: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/barking/doorbells-knocks-on-doors/ For barking when somebody enters the home/room: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/ Is he kept outside in the yard on his own for most of the day? Or is he barking at people on the street from inside the home? Is he barking at other dogs on walks? The look at that method first used indoors and then used outdoors on walks can help with that, it's based on the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Please provide some details on what you have tried and what happened and we can do some troubleshooting.

Hello and welcome to the forums, When you take a dog prone to resource guarding to a dog park where toys are allowed, this can be risky business. On top of potential fights erupting, a dog prone to resource guarding gets to rehearse problematic behaviors. Practice makes perfect, so the more a dog uses his body language and vocal threats to send other dogs away from a toy, the more the dog will engage in this behavior in the future. Here's the thing: resource guarding behaviors are reinforcing. Every time a dog growls, barks or snaps, this behavior causes other dogs to move away, and therefore the guarder will want to use this approach more and more. While growling, barking and snapping works, one may assume that it's OK to allow dogs to use these ritualistic displays. After all, no dogs gets hurt once they get the message, so what's the harm? The risk is that dogs parks are unpredictable places, and there are a variety of dogs there. At some point, a resource guarder may encounter a dog who for some reason or another doesn't get the message and keeps approaching instead of backing down despite the guarder asking for distance. Or perhaps two distracted dogs are playing and end up too close. When this happens, the guarder will feel the need to escalate from just barking, growling or snapping to possibly attacking and biting with the intent to harm. Now, this dog will have a bite history and there are risks that he'll go straight to escalating to a bite next time since the lower levels of threats no longer seem to "work. " Dog parks therefore risk exposing dogs to situations that allow them to rehearse guarding behaviors and potentially even escalate them with the risk of these becoming the dog's default behavior when toys (or other valuables) are around. This may happen even with dogs who have no interest in the toy and just happen to be walking by. If your dog's resource guarding behavior is exclusively evoked by the presence of toys, going to a dog park that doesn't allow toys can help, although it is never possible to totally prevent future occurrences. For instance, dog parks that do not allow toys can turn troublesome too. After all, it is never possible to totally prevent future occurrences because to a dog anything can be perceived as a valuable "toy." For example a bird's feather on the ground or a stick may be worthy for your dog of guarding, just like a regular toy. Also, something unexpected may happen, like for instance, a child playing nearby may toss a ball the wrong way and into the park or a kite may land right in the dog park area. A safer option may be organizing play dates with a few known dogs and in a cleared area that is easily controllable so that you know that the chances of your dog finding toys or other things to guard are close to none. However, there can still be risks with this practice, so the ultimate goal would be working on the problem. Behavior modification for dogs who guard toys requires a multi-modal approach. This helps tackle the problem from a variety of angles while tackling the underlying root causes. Following are just some examples of what a behavior modification plan may include: Management The most important step is to stop the dog from rehearsing the problem behavior and therefore no longer exposing him to full-intensity situations that evoke guarding behaviors. This is mostly done by avoiding the dog park and other places where dogs aggregate and there is the potential for guarding certain items. Changing the Emotions Resource guarding requires a behavior intervention plan based on desensitization and counterconditioning. Desensitization is a behavior modification procedure that entails a systematic, gradual and repeated exposure to stimuli or situations perceived as aversive or unpleasant. The main intent of a desensitization program is therefore decreasing the negative emotional responsiveness and its associated physiological changes through systematic, gradual exposure. If for example, a person is terrified of spiders, he or she will be emotionally overwhelmed when a spider crawls on the arm and the physiological response may include a racing heart, increased breathing and sweating. A systematic desensitization procedure in such a case would entail having the person initially look at pictures of spiders over and over until the person no longer emotionally reacts to them, then criteria is raised, and the person may watch videos of spiders and then progress to viewing a live spider from a distance. Here is more info on desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning entails changing the dog's emotions towards certain stimuli or situations, so that, instead of dreading something, the dog looks forward to it. Here is more info on counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Use of Systematic Set-ups Desensitization and counterconditioning principles are therefore applied to systematic set-ups where there is a good level of control. This is done preferably with a dog trainer/behavior consultant who has access to a calm, well-trained dog to act as a "stooge dog." Such dogs are often well-versed in using calming signals and reading other dogs carefully. Both the toy-guarding dog and the stooge dog are kept on leash, one handler per dog at a distance from which the guarding dog will not react (he is basically kept under threshold). The toy guarding dog is provided with a very low value toy (or some object that normally doesn't evoke much guarding). The stooge dogs is then walked towards the guarder with the "toy" at a distance in which he is under threshold. Here is a read on threshold levels: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ The key is teaching the guarder that good things happen when another dogs approaches the guarded item. From dreading having another dog get close to his toys, the resource guarder therefore starts looking forward it. A nice goal is to obtain what's known as a conditioned emotional response towards the presence of dogs when a resource is around. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ The whole process needs to be done at the dog's pace, gradually decreasing distance and increasing the value of the toys. It goes without saying there are risks for setbacks if there is sloppy implementation. Kicking Training Up a Notch On top of creating positive associations, it would also be important to train the dog a good recall in spite of high distractions (like the presence of other dogs running around, possible resource etc). Along with the good recall, it would be important to also good to train a fluent response to the "leave it" and "drop it" cues despite increased distractions and with an increase in value of items asked to be dropped. It is important that the rewards offered are higher in value than the items left. Here is a general guide: Leave it https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ Drop it https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ I also like to train a fluent response to a smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Since many dog parks, on top of not allowing toys, do not allow food, it is therefore important training at a proficient level where the dog comes, drops and leaves it, using other forms of rewards. While it is true that training can help dodge a potential fight, it doesn't directly address too much the issue of tackling the underlying emotions, which are the root cause for the conflict. Importance of Learning Body Language It helps a lot to also learn more about dog body language and the slightest signs of stress. Recognizing early signs is paramount so that one can intervene quickly to redirect a guarder quickly by calling him or asking him to "leave it' or "drop it. If you catch your dog when he's feeling mildly tense, you'll have a better chance of redirecting compared to when the more overt guarding behavior starts. More on some of the early signs before dogs bite: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dogs-dont-bite-blue/ Importance of Training Better Impulse Control While this is an indirect approach, it's still important considering that dogs prone to resource guarding in general tend to struggle with feelings of frustration when they fail to get what they want when they want it. Training better impulse control through impulse control games can teach your resource guarder how to better cope with feelings of frustration. It's about mastering the art of self-regulating and obtaining delayed gratification. Here are some games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Have a Plan in Place Have a plan in place in case you ever need to break up a dog fight should it erupt. Loud, startling noises can be an effective way to stop the dogs in their tracks. You can try banging on a metal garbage can, blowing a whistle or an air horn. Spraying fighting dogs with a strong blast of water can also work. Many dog parks have a garden hose located somewhere. Spray Shield is a product that consists of a canister of citronella spray that can be sprayed towards the fighting dogs. It works on several levels such as by scent, the noise when emitted by the can and the sight of the spray and wet sensation on the skin. It can work with mild cases. The Importance of Working With the Pros As seen, best options to tackle dogs guarding toys at the dog park is to firstly stop taking them to dog parks. Secondly, it would be important working with a dog trainer/behavior consultant to find the most appropriate behavior modification intervention plan aiming at changing emotional responses and creating a foundation of highly fluent trained response. The whole behavior modification implementation should be a well-orchestrated plan, where the professional observes the dog, and makes important judgement calls such as when to progress by decreasing distance and using higher value toys and when to take a few steps back. It goes without saying that a sloppy implementation may lead to several setbacks that can have a negative impact on the outcome and there can also be risks for fights. Hence the importance of working along with a professional who can take safety precautions and constantly gauge the progress. As tempting as it may be to ignore the problem in hopes that it ameliorates on its own, it's a known fact that resource guarding issues tend to get worse rather than better without the right intervention. As Jennifer pointed out, it would be therefore important to find a dog trainer/behavior consultant committed to using force-free behavior modification. I hope this helps! Please keep in mind that the above is just an "example" of a behavior intervention plan for a dog who resource guards toys. Only a behavior professional working with you directly can provide you with a customized plan after carefully evaluating your dog and his specific triggers. Even then, no guarantees can be provided on the outcome of behavior modification and training and there may be chances that dog parks may not be recommended and other forms of exercise and socialization may be offered. Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

We're using a crate, which Diego likes, but he really hates being locked up in it (same in a pen). He will whine, scream and bite at the crate when locked up during the day. At night, he doesn't have a problem sleeping in the crate next to our bed. We are feeding him in the crate, playing crate games, using a Kong (which he loves for 10 seconds but loses interest after that), he's got an old T-shirt in it. Great to hear that Diego has been doing amazing in potty training! Are you providing some goodies when he's being crated or placed in the pen? Where is the crate located? He is young so he may feel too isolated for now so it may be best if you're nearby. Here is a general guide on introducing to the crate: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ These exercises can be further split in smaller sub-steps. Here is an example on how you can help a young pup learn that the crate is a great place to be. Step 1) A Treasure Chest of Surprises It all starts by keeping the crate open during the day and letting your puppy randomly find "little treasures" (like treats, kibble, chews, new toys) in it. Place these little treasures in there when your puppy is not around. This should cause your puppy to start visiting the crate more and more in hopes of finding these goodies. If your puppy is reluctant to enter the crate to get these goodies, place them initially nearby the crate rather than directly inside it . Step 2) The Treat Toss Game As your puppy visits the crate often and appears more confident entering it, you can start taking a more active role and start tossing treats or kibble (if your puppy loves it) in it so that your puppy enters further and further back in the crate. Once your puppy eats it, and turns to come out, toss another treat in it before he exits just to further prove him how the crate is a wonderful place to be. Once he's out ignore your puppy and don't give anymore treats. Step 3: Give it Name (Put Going in the Crate on Cue) Sit nearby the crate and toss a kibble or treat in it and another one before your puppy exits so he stays a bit longer in there. Once he's out, pretend to toss a treat inside.Your puppy should enter the crate looking for it. Once he turns your way, hand feed him a treat while he's inside the crate from your other hand. Rinse and repeat several times and start gradually morphing your hand toss gesture into a pointing gesture to tell your puppy to go into the crate. Keep on rewarding with a hand-fed treat from your other hand. At some point, start saying the verbal cue "crate" right before making the hand gesture. Do this several times always rewarding with a hand-fed treat from your other hand before your puppy exits. Step 4: Open Crate/ Closed Crate Game The goal of this game is to make your puppy feel like he's closed in a great place, sort of like children being closed in a toy store or candy store where they can feast on toys and candy. Basically, you'll ask your puppy to "crate" and then you'll close the crate door and feed him several treats through it. Once you're done feeding treats, then you'll open the crate door and the feast is over. Rinse and repeat several times. This exercise makes it clear that great things happen in the crate and all the fun ends once out. Step 5: Increasing the "Party Time" in the Crate At some point, you'll start gradually increasing the time your puppy stays in the crate. You can do this by feeding more and more kibble/treats through the crate door or by providing some treats that are longer lasting (like a hollow dog toy like a Kong or Topple filled up with peanut butter or a Lick-Mat smeared with some canned food for dogs or a long-lasting chew that is safe for puppies). It's important to vary the amount of time the puppy is crated so the puppy doesn't sense an increase in difficulty, with him being crated longer and longer. So a good plan would be for example to do 5 seconds, then 8, then 3, then 10, then 6, then 12, then 4, then 15, then 7, then 9, then 25, then 5, then 15, then 30 seconds etc. Step 6: Encourage "Independent Parties" Now, you want to start practicing your puppy staying in the crate alone. Ask your puppy to crate, then provide a treat that takes a few seconds to eat and while your puppy eats it, step away. Come back once your puppy is done. Rinse and repeat several times, always varying the amount of time you are away. If your puppy ever struggles with this exercise, keep track at the amount of time you were away and take it as a sign you have progressed too quickly. Therefore work more to get him comfy with that time gradually mixing shorter absences and building up to it. One method I like to use is to place something super tempting in the crate and keeping the crate closed. This should get the puppy's attention. Then once the puppy is pleading to have it ad has built lots of anticipation, you can open the crate door and close it and let him stay there as you step away and come right back when you expect him to have finished. Most puppies learn to accept the crate and the process is minimally stressful, but some others may really struggle with it. In such cases, the puppy may do better with a play pen with the crate always left open inside (latch the door so it doesn't bang against the puppy scaring him) or an indoor tether (always to be used under supervision) Important is to consider that placing an uncooperative puppy inside a crate leading to lots of whining, crying pawing and chewing the bars, risks conditioning a negative response toward confinement, leading to crate aversion, which is the opposite of what should be achieved (the goal is obtaining a conditioned positive emotional response to being crated) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ On top of crate aversion, it's important to consider that first impressions are enduring in young pups and they can have everlasting effects.In other words, allowing a young pup to feel frequently anxious and stressed can pave the path for more for fear/anxiety in other areas of their lives. So if you catch your puppy acting stressed in the crate, it's important to troubleshoot and take smaller steps in the crate conditioning process. It may happen though that sometimes, the puppy still cries in the crate, in such cases, should you open the crate when the puppy is crying?. The problem with this is that the puppy risks learning that crying works to get human attention and being "rescued" out of the crate. It is best therefore to approach and open the crate when the puppy is quiet, but how can the puppy be told to be quiet? One option is to stop the barking/crying/pawing/chewing bars by using the noise emitted by a squeaky toy to grab your pup's attention and get him to stop barking so that you can then praise him for being quiet and walk towards the crate and open it. If your puppy knows how to sit, you can also train your puppy to always sit before opening the crate door so he's not barking/whining. The ultimate goal though is going back to the drawing board and doing everything possible to make being in the crate a nice place to be. Important questions to ask oneself are: are all of the puppy's need met? Can he be thirsty? Hungry? feeling hot or col? needs to be taken out to potty? Has he received enough exercise/mental stimulation? Is he feeling socially isolated (crates should be nearby with young pups)? Does providing with a shirt that smells like us calm them down? Some young puppies feel reassured with a Snuggle Puppy behavioral aid. Does making the room dark and playing calming music help? Is the puppy cranky from being over tired and needs some help to chill? Giving something to chew can help with that. Most puppies learn to accept the crate and the process can be minimally stressful, but some others may really struggle with it. In such cases, the puppy may do better with a play pen with a designated potty area in one side and area for sleeping/playing eating on the other and the crate always left open (latch the door so it doesn't bang against the puppy scaring him) or an indoor tether (always to be used under supervision).

It's great you have found a special treat that seems to help sooth him down. Are you providing it when crated? If he hasn't been crated for long, I find it quite normal for him to bark in protest, but this can cause more crate-aversion as it should be re-introduced gradually if you plan on using that. A play pen or indoor tether (this latter always under supervision) may be a more suitable compromise for now. Yes, unrestricted access to the yard can do that, and if he's barking madly at anyone passing by that will surely keep him in an overstimulated/aroused state. That's why I am always out with dogs when they spend time in the yard, left to their own devices, as soon as boredom sets in (or stimuli keep coming and going), they'll start finding their own forms of entertainment. And barking at everything is a very common one as it's highly self-reinforcing. With dogs who are super friendly with everyone, the barking behind a fence can be a matter of frustration. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/ Although it can also just be he's just taking his watchdog duties more seriously. The look at that exercises https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ done first through windows, then out in the yard with a long line can help with this form of barking, but if he's left out on his own to bark, any type of guidance is likely to lose its effectiveness due to the fact that barking at triggers, once again, is highly self-reinforcing. Yes, the adolescent stage is certainly a wake-up call for many. Moments of regression aren't unusual at all. Being aware of the associated behavior changes though gives you the benefit of knowing what to expect, rather than being caught totally unprepared. Forewarned is forearmed, goes the saying. The positive thing is that embracing challenges can help make us better owners and trainers because they get us into that proactive thinking mode to find ways to tackle the issues as they arise.

Looks like you finally got a "diagnosis!" Sounds like pelvic bladder. I have access to a veterinary website for members and it says that it's usually diagnosed by x-rays with contrast, but an ultrasound may provide hints to it. So it could be a surgeon may want to do the x-rays to determine the exact position so if surgery must be carried out he's aware of it. The surgery should consist of tacking the bladder into a normal position (sort of like the stomach tacking they do in bloated dogs to prevent future incidences). It looks like meds though can be tried before going the surgery route. I think this now explains Esther's urinary problems. With the bladder in the wrong position it's unable to fill normally because it's being compressed. On top of this, the nerves that trigger the urge to urinate happen to be constantly stimulated, therefore more trips outside. I wonder if the fact she's able to hold it better at night is because she's laying down and the bladder's nerves aren't stimulated as much?

Got it! Should I ignore her as well or try to get her attention away from them? I'll try the kong and playtime. When a dog barks intently at us, as if asking for attention, it's important to carefully evaluate whether there is some unmet need. So make sure she's not telling you her water bowl is empty, she needs to be taken out to potty, or is bored and in need for more exercise or mental stimulation (brain games!). Of course, make sure of all these things are provided before the barking occurs so you know for sure it's not triggered by any of these needs. Once we are sure all needs are met, ignoring can be used. I just mentioned this in another post, and it's worthy of repeating. Our dogs often display many calm behaviors during the day and they often go unnoticed, but as soon dogs misbehave (like bark, dig, chew our shoes), they get all eyes on them and interaction. It's therefore not surprising why then we get a higher percentage of undesirable behaviors- they simply get all our attention and attention is reinforcing. Capturing calm is therefore helpful (you'll need to keep kibble/treats in your treat bag during the day so you can reward quickly). We can do so by praising calm behaviors with a calm, soft tone of voice, (possibly dropping a non-too exiting treat at the dog's feet) and preferably without making eye contact. Rewarded behaviors tend to repeat. Excited/hyper behaviors shouldn't get our attention-any form of that means none of the positive or negative type. Before we give any form of attention it's therefore important that we evaluate in what state of mind our dog is. Now, important is to avoid behavior chains. In other words, if the dog barks and then right afterwards is quiet, and we praise and reward that, this may lead to the dog learning to bark just to get the praise and reward. Therefore, it is best to not fall into this trap by either preempting any barking in the first place. So for example, if the barking happens every time you are watching a movie, or sitting to read a book, provide her with something to keep her busy before she even thinks about barking. If you know when or in what context the behavior is likely to happen, that gives you the power to take a proactive role and prevent it. As for entering and exiting she moves on quickly, like 5-20 seconds. She just seems to be upset that they're leaving or alerting everyone that someone's home (she doesn't always bark when entering). In this form of barking, it may help to train an alternate behavior. So if you are always there with her when this happens, you can initially prevent it by tossing several kibble/treats on the ground (in a treasure hunt style) and telling her to 'find them!." If you can involve your roommates in this type of training, you are at a great advantage as you can create set-ups asking them to enter/exit as you practice this. When you are not around, you can keep some treats/kibble by the exit in a bowl out of your dog's reach (like on a high shelf) and your roommates can toss a little handful upon entering and exiting, possibly aiming as much as possible to catch her before che barks. This prevents rehearsal of the behavior, and creates positive associations with entering/exiting as there's likely some level of stress going on. As her arousal levels lower, you can then progress to having her lie on a mat when your have visitors coming over. Here is a guide: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

And then I just snapped, it was the "too much" moment. I grabbed him by the scruff, put him down on his back, and said in a firm voice, but without yelling "STOP ! NOW ! ITS OVER !". A few seconds, he didn't whine, my gf went back, I stepped up, Loki too, I went into the house back, and he followed me, and went to lie down after that. I was feeling so bad about myself, and was thinking "oh my... its over... i've killed our relationship..." Then I went to cook, he came to the kitchen, offered a sit, I gave him a little piece of cheese... I tried to pet him, he let me... I don't want to justify my action, I don't like it much because it was done out of loss of patience, but weirdly, it may have helped. He was calmer. I was afraid he would be now frightened by me, but not at all, I would still come near me, took treats, and let me pet him. It reminded me a bit of a toddler who pushes, pushes, pushes, got grounded, and settle back I don't want this kind of episode to happen again because I really felt not good about it (and still do today whereas everything's good) but that made me really think about something like "pushing the limits", and the teenage phase, when I saw the consequences and him being better after being grounded please don't be too harsch with me, I love him, I would never abuse him, I'm just human I am not here to judge or be harsh firstly because I know how well loved Loki is and secondly because I think as humans, we can have a breaking point, especially when a loved one or another dog we care for is at risk. The good news is that (in general) dogs are rather resilient and bounce back. That is, if it happens just once, they'll come to think we just had 'that one episode" an odd, exceptional behavior that was out of character for us. Sort of how we may surprise them when we accidently step on their tail or trip on them, and then they understand it's all good, no harm was meant. If we keep at it though, that's when we do the most damage. We come to prove to the dog over and over that we are unstable, untrustworthy and unpredictable when dogs need to feel deeply secure with us. Physical corrections, snatching things from their mouth and even yelling can have negative repercussions. As a result dogs may become suppressed, anxious and even defensive (fear/stress/uneasiness is the main cause of aggression). Signs of a dog acting suppressed/anxious/defensive include walking tentatively (like on eggshells) towards the owner (in what mood is my owner today? I better walk slow=appeasement signal), keeping the ears back, tail low (dog making himself as small as possible to appease), defensive behavior when in possession of something, hyperactive behaviors (the fool around response in stress, one of the 4F responses to fear), the cliché' of typical dog who appears well behaved when instead is in a state of suppression/ learned helplessness, lack of initiative (the dog is no longer an active learner as is afraid of trying new behaviors), displacement behaviors (yawning, scrolling of the fur) and several more. Our dogs can sense when we are calm, and our calmness reassures them. If we tend to be on the reactive, excitable or frustrated side, it's important for us to at least try our best to act calm in the presence of our dogs. Moving quickly, talking in frustrating tones, breathing fast, petting them quickly ruffling up the fur, fleeing from the scene, risks making them hyper, reactive or unsteady. Catching our dogs when calm indoors or outdoors and praising calm behaviors with a calm, soft tone of voice,(possibly dropping a non-too exiting treat at his feet) and preferably without making eye contact, can help capture the calm behaviors so that they repeat. Excited/hyper behaviors shouldn't get our attention-any form of that means none of the positive or negative type. Even in play with other dogs, our dogs benefit from taking breaks if their play gets too hyper. . Before we give any form of attention it's therefore important that we evaluate in what state of mind our dog is. It's amazing how many calm behaviors our dogs display during the day and they often go unnoticed, but as soon as the dog misbehaves, he gets all eyes on him. It's therefore not surprising why then we get a higher percentage of the latter. On top of capturing and rewarding calmness, controlling the circumstances (antecedent control, management) so that the dog wants to do what we want him to do is what ultimately sets them for success. In other words, we can pave the path to good behaviors by avoiding rehearsals and trying to preempt behaviors and giving something more acceptable to do praising and rewarding that so to compete with and supersede the innate reinforcement gained from acting out in ways we do not like. On top of this, getting to the root of the problem is paramount (not enough sleep, too many stress hormones, not enough outlets for instinctive behaviors, too much social pressure, etc). Therefore as difficult as it may be, it's important to take several deep breaths at critical times and become proactive rather than reactive and do some goal setting to prevent these situations from occurring in the first place and then implementing an intervention plan that is both easy for us and our dogs to adhere to (baby steps with possibly a way to track down whether the behavior is improving over the course of several days). Setbacks can always happen through the process, but these should gradually become more more far in between and and if occurring more than expected, a careful evaluation of what may trigger it and a little tweak back on the drawing board can help soon set things back on the right path. Finally, as tempting as it is to think that dogs misbehave just for the pleasure of upsetting us, it's important to remind ourselves that it's nothing to be taken personal and that they simply do so because they are in a phase of their lives and most likely it is fun, relieves pent up energy or stress, or simply grabs our attention.

Hi Angie, I am glad to hear your Chi seems to like them to the point of warming up to them and voluntarily snuggling with them. Here is a guide for attention-seeking whining/barking: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/whining/attention-seeking/ Basically, dogs who bark for attention typically do so hoping for the owner to interact/engage in some way. When your roommates look at your dog, talk to her or check what she wants, they are reinforcing this barking since attention fuels this behavior. Even if they scold your Chi for barking, it doesn't matter. Scolding still qualifies as a form of attention--even if it's of the negative type! So ignoring is the way to go, but your roommates need to be all on the same page and they need to be very consistent! Now, during the process, be aware of extinction bursts, that is, the phenomenon of the barking increasing or morphing into something else (like pawing at your roommates, nudging them with her nose) in hopes of generating a response. It's important that they ignore the extinction bursts as well. If they give attention to any of these behaviors at this crucial time, they'll have reinforced persistence. If instead they ignore the barking (and any other attention-seeking behaviors piggy-backing it), it should gradually subside. However, make a mental note and find ways to strategically prevent these episodes of barking from occurring in the first place. For instance, if your Chi barks at them in the evening when they sit on the couch to watch TV or read emails, make sure to walk your Chi first, play with her and then strategically give her something to enjoy (like a stuffed Kong) while they're busy. The goal is to have her tired enough so that her needs for interaction have been exhausted while also giving her something productive to do. The barking when entering/exiting the room can be attention seeking, but can also be a sign she's not too comfortable with people entering/exiting, which may require a different approach. Does she seem to settle once they have entered/exited? Do they give her attention when they come in and she's barking?

I think I heard something already about the witching hours. I didn't know it was also part of zoomies. For me zoomies was just when they run around franctically during several minutes until they are exhausted 🙂 Well, yes the whole running around and frenetic behaviors are known as zoomies or FRAP, but humans sometimes like to use colorful terms, and it seems the witching hour is used mostly for pups who engage in these frenetic activities particularly in the evenings, and maybe have also that sort of "crazy look in their eyes!" I also see what's sort of a"stress release" behavior in some dogs at times. Mostly have seen this with shelter dogs, the behavior looks like a bad case of zoomies, with the worse behaviors all taking place at once. Sort of like a temper tantrum. Interestingly, shortly after this, these dogs were then on their best behaviors, becoming more responsive and calm as if they just rid their bodies from accumulated stress hormones. I have looked whether this phenomenon has a name and couldn't find any literature, but one day I plan to post these observations in some groups run by those often working with recently rescued dogs to see whether there is a trend of this. That may definitely come into play, but I'm not totally sure about this one, because the evening walk is the longest one, and we are both doing it, my gf and I. We even do exercises during the walk, like recalls, hide and seek in the forest... So he would have plenty stimulation, I would rather balance on too much side, than too little Something to consider though is that there is a fine line between providing physical exercise to tire the dog out, and increasing the dog's stamina which can have the opposite effect. In other words, the dog comes to crave more and more exercise as he gets more and more fit. Another aggravating factor is the adolescent stage, which as mentioned in the article/link posted above, leads to boundless energy. I wasn't thinking about dominance training, but more the fact that he displays behavior while playing with dogs that ressemble him bossing others 🙂 He would try to mount whereas the others don't, and would always want to be on top, stuff like that... IT's like he prefer to be the "bully" than the "bullied". Not sure if that's a thing, but I was thinking, if he's acting bossy around other dogs, why wouldn't he be with us, as part of his character more expressing itself Mounting other pups can be triggered by a variety of emotional/physiological states, excess energy, overstimulation, getting cranky. It can also be a displacement behavior. Being a breed with history of herding, it could be possible he likes to play in a way that "controls" the movement of the other pups, but even if so, dogs know we're not dogs. Dogs aren't wolves, and we aren't dogs, therefore a dog is not going to act "dominant" or "bossy" towards us with the intent to raise his status in the human pack for the simple fact that he’s not part of the human pack. Part of our families? Absolutely—but not of our "pack." When we fall into the "dog acting like a bully" or "dog trying to boss us around," mindset, we automatically tend to fall into the trap of wanting to put the dog into his place and that automatically creates an adversarial relationship with us defaulting into implementing pack rules and other correction-based methods originating by the misleading belief that we are dealing with "wolves in dog clothing. " "There is no evidence that dogs are programmed to dominate their owners" or that owners must act dominant in order to have good dogs," claims board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr Ilana Reisner. Maybe we should force the nap again. I mean at least contain him, just let him some time to cool down. Is the crate ok to that ? With him being better now, the pen is off as we could start again watching tv shows and movies. (but if needed we could put it back). Even with all this time, I always feel off about containing him. Still afraid he would resent the crate, or the pen, and make it more complicated to contain him when we will really need it. Or afraid that he doesn't need the nap, and would just throw a tantrum while contained. This depends on the relationship he has with the crate. Our dogs all eagerly went in the crate because they associated being there with getting goodies they would exclusively get in there. As soon as we would open the door they came running in anticipation because they got super yummy things when closed there. If he hasn't been crated for some time, or doesn't have this strong positive conditioned emotional response to it, then the play pen may work better as long as he looks forward to it. If you haven't used the play pen or crate for some time, there are risks that he has enjoyed too much freedom and may feel frustrated being closed. Not at all. He's like the most friendly dog ever. This sitting is more like "look ! I'm having a good behavior, let me go play with him." Then he pull to say like "hey ! I was nice, I was sitting, and you didn't let me go play with him, why so ? I'll get there myself then !" Gotcha! That's a nice behavior you have built there, especially if you can get him to stay nicely sitting. I imagine he's looking at the dog and then at you in trepidation for being released. Maintaining the sit as the dog walks by is not easy to train, and I can see how he may get impatient at some point. The more it's practiced the better. If dogs are seen sporadically, that makes them too salient and the event too exciting. It helps a lot to do daily walks in areas with lots of dogs around such as the perimeter of dog parks and practice calm-er behaviors taking baby steps. He usually already over threshold when in that state. Wouldn't more brain games tire him even more, making it worse ? I thought brain games would stimulates them even more than physical games, and that wouldn't help calming them down I have listed trying several different approaches to see what works best considering that the hyper behaviors described may stem from a variety of underlying causes. Cookie-cutter approaches are set to fail when we assume there's only one reason and don't test what works best. This was one approach in the case that, with the long walks he has built physical stamina, and therefore has some extra energy to spare or maybe he may benefit from some "winding down" activities to set the tone for a more relaxed evening.

Thanks for the update, Petra, my female Rottweiler, at some point started leaking as she got older leaving little-teeny pee spots in the areas where she was sleeping. The pee spots were tiny, the only sign that got my attention is that she was waking up suddenly at times and licking her private area. I remember the vet prescribed her Proin, and I too was at some point concerned about the side effects, and was going to ask the vet about an estrogen-like product such as DES or estriol (Incurin). Fortunately, in my case I found some natural supplements that helped control her leakage. It can get frustrating when it turns out being a matter of trying things to cross them off the list of differentials. I guess they have left DI (diabetes insupidus) for last, considering it quite rare, and therefore a "zebra." However, if there is still the possibility for this condition being at play, that's when it gets risky restricting water. I think I mentioned DI at the very beginning of this thread, and how it's diagnosed through a trial of desmopressin, but the risk with restricting water in DI is that these dogs produce large amounts of very dilute urine and a dog who isn't capable of concentrating urine, can die from not getting enough water and consequent dehydration. As little as 4 to 6 hours of water deprivation may lead to dehydration, so keep in touch with your vet and ask whether limiting water intake is safe for her or not at this point. I am glad to hear that Esther is doing much better at the vet with the trazodone taking the edge off. Sounds like a nice starting point to implement behavior modification. Also nice to hear your vet vouches for a dog trainer who is member of PPG!

Oh, no! I was hoping that you would have had some relief. Taking her out every 30 minutes must be draining, like going backwards to early puppyhood. It's interesting how you say sometimes she seems to sense her bladder filling up and those stretch receptors at work, and other times she does not and her output is like spray. Certainly mention this observation to the vet tomorrow!

Loki starting to express dominant behavior towards other dogs, mainly trying to mount Sometimes he got himself put down, and I'm totally fine with that, hoping it would calm him down, and sometimes not. Can this evening behavior could be him trying to get dominant to us ? We discussed about dominance a while back, here is the thread about that: You can delve deeper on this topic by reading several other helpful resources on "dominance" and why it's been debunked: https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/on-your-best-behavior-moving-beyond-leader-of-the-pack/ https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dominance_Position_Statement_download-10-3-14.pdf I also noticed lately during walks, he gets a bit stubborn... if there is another dog in sight, or something that interest him, he would just stay here and sit, until it comes to him. I try to go, and call him, but he would just stay there... it can takes minutes, to the point I sometimes have to drag him on a few meters before he start to walk on his own again. This new-gained stubborness, could it be teenage phase kicking in hard ? Can it be related to what I exposed on the evening ? Yes, the teenager phase is now in full swing, being that he's 7 months. See the "stuck in a duh moment" section and "more independence" section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ However, we must evaluate whether his stopping and sitting may be a calming signal, or a sign that he's not too at ease in encountering another dog. Also, we're just back from holidays. During holidays, about 2 weeks, we spent all days together, doing hiking in the country side in lovely places. We would work some alone time in the evening while we were getting some drinks, but he was so tired, he would sleep during his alone time in the hotel. Perhaps us being back at home, and working during the days, he wouldn't understand why we're no more available for him during the day, and "make us pay" during the evening It has been proven that dogs don't do things out of "spite" or to revenge. According to recent research that classic guilty look we may notice on our dog's face when they misbehave is simply the dog's reaction to our altered body language. Indeed, the study revealed that, dogs who behaved well, but were scolded by their (misinformed) owners, looked more “guilty” than those who had, in fact, really misbehaved. This means that, as dog owners, we should not take the dog’s guilty look at face value, for what it looks. Rather, we should understand that it's simply a response to our behavior, and therefore it's not necessarily indicative of any proof of misdeeds. In your case, I feel there may be other motives at play. For instance, now that the weather is cooler, he may have more energy to spare.

Loki is doing usually great. 7 months now, and better recall, better settle during the day... I am glad to hear that he is doing better with his recalls and settling down during the day! That's great news and your dedication and commitment shines through. But lately, he displayed an unpleasant behavior, and I'm not sure where does it come from, and how to address it... In middle evening, he becomes unbearable, around 8PM, after the evening walk, around when we eat. It sounds like you're describing the typical "puppy witching hour." In popular folklore, the witching hour, also known as "devil's hour," consists of a time at night when supernatural events are believed to occur the most. The exact time the witching hour took place could have varied greatly based on who you asked. In modern times, the term witching hour has been transferred to include a variety of circumstances, such as times when the stock market undergoes more volatility or when infants or young children become cranky before their bedtime. Among puppy owners, the witching hour is therefore used to describe the crazy, hyper behavior observed during the evening hours. Another common term used for this is the "puppy zoomies" or more technically, FRAP (Frenetic Random Activity Period). One of the thing is since quite some time now, we do not force the nap anymore, he manages better to settle, but since a few days, in the evening it's becoming difficult. He would jump on the couch, which he stopped doing before. Jump on us... we would anticipate, and ask a sit, then he would look at us in the eyes, and then jump right at us. Any attempt to pet would result in biting, sometimes stronger than we allowed before... Even made the re-appareance of holes in clothes He has all the symptoms of over excitement, but weirdly, it's only at this specific hour. It's also more directed towards my gf, and specially when she was at the office and not home. So we may have thought he could be some "over attention seeking", but in the end he also got bitey with me too... She would flee the scene sometimes, and he would just wander around in the house During the zoomies, you'll see crazy behaviors as those cognitive functions are gone. Frenetic activity leads to loss of thresholds, so it's close to impossible getting him in that thinking state to get him to sit. Frenetic activity also leads to loss of inhibitions, so the rules are no longer followed. Getting on the couch, biting you as well, losing bite inhibition are just "side effects" associated with FRAPs. It goes without saying that touching him, asking him cues and expecting him to listen in the midst of these episodes is sort of a loss cause. As it's a bit late related to his sleeping time, we don't want to force a long nap, but given the symptoms, he may be cranky from tireness Sometimes we would ignore and it would end at some point, but it would takes minutes of him wandering around, with some little whines sometimes... I'm a bit lost here, because I don't understand the cause, and don't want to have an inadequate reaction. FRAP activity is very common in puppies and young dogs, and the trigger can be various. He may be cranky, he may be trying to get attention and if it happens after he eats, it may be a result of feeling energized, which can sometimes be exacerbated by certain ingredients in the food (like some high-glycemic index carbs). It may therefore take some experimenting to see what works best to calm him down. -You can try after the walk, sitting at the table for your meal while your pup enjoys his meal in a food puzzle so he's kept occupied. This can help if the behavior is attention-seeking. -You can try to strategically take him out to the yard for some brain games such as a fun training session using your clicker or putting his nose to work in some nosework activities. This can help if the behavior is triggered by overstimulation/ excess energy. -You can try making a routine of coming back from the walk and keeping him in a quiet, low stimulation area where he normally naps with something to chew and wind down. This can help if the behavior is triggered by crankiness and he needs a nap. After trying each of these for some time, you can see which approach works best, and based on how he responds, you may gain some clues on what may be triggering the FRAPS.

Hi there, welcome to the forums! Yup, young GSD pups need lots of brain games, food puzzles, training and exercises to improve impulse control and frustration tolerance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Also socialization is important as with all puppies: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/ As well as bite inhibition: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ Now, in regards to the barking at the cat behavior, most likely it's her way to express her playful behavior, but it can also be seen if she's seeking engagement from the cat (barking to get the cat to move/ interact with her more) and can also stem from barrier frustration if she sees the cat but can't interact with her. Here's the thing: a pup's behavior towards cats starts making sense if we take a look at their previous chapter in life when they were still in the breeder's care. In the breeder's care, puppies spent a good amount of time playing very physical wrestling games with their littermates. This play often included pinning other puppies down and biting their ears, tails and faces. Rough play often caused puppies to hurt each other and squeal in pain considering their very sharp, needle-like teeth. The sharpness of these teeth though isn't there just by chance. It played an adaptive role for compensating weak jaws and giving puppies the opportunity to learn how to inhibit their bite force before they could do more damage once their jaw muscles strengthen. Once in your home, with no more puppies to play with, the urge to play is very strong. Puppies need to play just as children do, but who will they play with? If you're not up for being nipped at turning into a human impersonation of a pin cushion, it therefore comes natural for your puppy to seek your cat as a fun playmate. Pups will therefore want to engage the cat in play as they did with their playmates. Barking at and chasing the cat therefore becomes irresistibile. Sometimes, puppies may also interact with cats in a slightly competitive manner. Even among their siblings, breeders may notice at times how a puppy may focus on a particular puppy and interfere with the other pup's wish to get out of a tight passageway or door or get attention from a human. This may look like play, but there is likely some level of competition going on. Research after all has proven that it is possible for dogs to feel" jealousy." According to a study conducted by University of California San Diego psychology professor Christine Harris and student Caroline Prouvost, dogs are capable of showing signs of a primordial form of jealousy, and in the study, they did so by getting in between, pushing or snapping at an animated stuffed dog when the owners manifested affection towards it. Suspect therefore some level of competitiveness if your puppy seems to be triggered to nip and get in between every time Joy comes towards you for attention or when you she is trying to walk into a room or in your direction. Cats, on the hand, are a whole different story. While generally most puppies and dogs are the classical impersonations of extrovert personalities, being social beings who often engage in happy, excited behaviors, cats on the other hand, tend to be associated more with introversion, preferring to lead a quiet, rather quaint lifestyle, relaxing by a fireplace rather than partying and mingling with the crowds. When a new puppy enters a cat's domain, the cat often feels overwhelmed. Gone are the days were she could just walk around the home to eat, drink and find a resting spot undisturbed. Now, she has to sneak and watch out for that crazy puppy monster who barks and tries to chase her around and pin her to the ground for unknown reasons. Cats are rather quiet beings, they are creatures of habits who thrive on routines. They like to spread their smells around to make themselves feel more comfortable. Changes in their environment stress them out and some cats may even get sick from abrupt changes in their lives. Even very slight changes such as a loud noise or a dirty litterbox can cause cats to feel stressed enough to urinate or defecate out of the litter box, vomit or eat less. How cats react to a boisterous puppy may vary. Some cats will just run away, others will hiss and try to scratch/bite the puppy to make him stop some others just freeze or become like rag dolls, allowing the dog to do whatever he wants and then trying to sneak away the moment the dog is distracted. It's unfortunate, but not all puppies get the memo of what the cat is trying to communicate. If the breeder failed to socialize their pups with cats, they may not understand well the body language. How the puppy will respond may vary from puppy to puppy and breed and individual personalities can also play a big role in this. Some puppies have learned from their mothers when to stop certain behaviors, some others though may have missed out this important lesson or they just have this strong, ingrained desire to persist no matter what. Regardless, if your puppy keeps on pestering your cat, give your cat some credit. She was there before your puppy and most likely she is feeling annoyed, stressed out, left out and overwhelmed by this recent addition. So here are some suggestions using a multi-modal approach, tackling the issue from a variety of angles: 1. Provide Your Cat With "Safe Zones" This is for your cat to prevent her from from feeling distressed every time she decides to walk around and is ambushed by Maisy. It's important for your cat's emotional wellbeing and sense of safety that she is provided with a place to retreat that is out of your pup's reach. I can see from a picture you have posted that your cat is laying on top of headrest area of the couch. I think her choice of resting area isn't coincidental and that she was likely seeking a safe zone. Most likely, in the past, in the "pre-puppy era" she was sleeping comfortably on the couch. Here are some more options for "safe zones": Use a pet baby gate equipped with a small pet door at the bottom that is large enough for your cat to go through but not big enough for your dog to pass through. Provide your cat with cat trees to climb on to stay out of reach. Consider kitty condos that are high enough for kitty to feel safe Add calming aids such as Feliway or Comfort Zone to you cat's safe zones. The calming aids emit synthetic versions of pheromones that cats are known to emit through special glands on their faces when they are feeling calm. 2. Prevent the Rehearsal of Barking/Chasing Behaviors Your cat shouldn't be destined to a future filled with days of stress just because a new puppy has been welcomed into your home. While it's important to provide kitty with a safe zone to retreat to, this doesn't mean your cat has to spend the rest of her days hiding in these places because of the threat of being barked at and chased! It's therefore imperative that your new puppy isn't allowed to rehearse chasing behaviors over and over. Left untreated, barking and chasing a cat can quickly become your pup's favorite pastime, and that for sure is not a good hobby for your kitty if she's not fond of these types of interactions. Preventing the rehearsal of chasing behavior requires strict management and entails keeping your pup away from your cat when you are not supervising and keeping him under control when you are supervising. Management Options When You Can't Supervise Crates, pet gates, exercise pens, playpens and fences are management tools that can be used when your puppy cannot be supervised. It's important to ensure your puppy has no way to escape them by chewing, digging or climbing over or under these barriers and that your cat cannot access these. Management Options When You Can Supervise When you are actively supervising, you can control your puppy and prevent her from rehearsing barking and chasing behaviors by wearing a collar and leash, the use of indoor tethering systems, and later on, with just voice control and training. 3. Train Your Puppy to Respond to a Smacking Sound In this scenario, we are teaching the puppy to "leave it" using a smacking sound. Teaching your puppy to "leave it" using a smacking sound accomplishes two things: It creates positive associations between your dog and your cat and between your puppy and you, and it gives your puppy an alternate behavior to perform that is rewarding. If you use super duper tasty treats, you will help your pup make good choices. To train Maisy to leave it using the smacking sound, put her on a leash and arm yourself with high-value training treats. Make a smacking sound with your mouth and deliver a treat right afterwards. Repeat several times, until you notice your puppy looks up at you for a treat upon hearing this sound. This exercise is explained more in depth here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ You are aiming to obtain what's known as a conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Once you have a fluent response, next, have your cat at a distance where your puppy is under threshold. You may need a helper to keep the cat at the right distance that your puppy is more responsive to you an under threshold. More on threshold levels here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Once you have found a distance where your puppy isn't too concerned/aroused about your cat, practice having your puppy respond to the smacking sound. Once you have a solid response, you can practice closer distances with your cat walking by. At some point, when you think your pup is fluent on this, have your cat nearby and have a friend/family member call your cat by calling her name or shaking a box of cat food. This should cause your cat to run. Be ready to make your smacking sound for this exercise, and be ready to deliver a jackpot of treats for complying. Practice several times. Once your pup seems reliable, it may be time to start practicing off-leash. Practice initially in an area where your cat can retreat if needed (in front of the pet gate with a cat door or near the cat tree). At some point, you may notice that your pup is well under voice control and looks forward to your kitty coming close because he has associated kitty with all the tasty treats used in this exercise. Remember: Distance is very important, considering that most dogs aren't able to cognitively function (they can't think straight) when a cat is within chasing distance, and they may even care less about treats. If at any time your pup isn't responsive, it's likely because she's too close to the cat (and, therefore, not ready for this level of distraction yet) or the treats you are using aren't high-value enough. Go back a few steps, increasing distance temporarily, and try increasing the value of the treats if your pup seems disinterested. 4. Train Your Pup to Go to a Mat All puppies can be trained to go lie on a mat at specific times when you perhaps may want your cat to be around a bit. While it may a bit of challenge to keep a young pup still on a mat with nothing to do, you can make it all much easier by giving your puppy something tasty to enjoy on the mat such as a stuffed Kong or a safe long-lasting edible. Before your pup learns to enjoy goodies on a mat, you may find it helpful providing your pup with food puzzles that keep him busy enough to ignore your cat (Kong Wobblers, stuffed Kong, Buster Cubes etc). Ensure though your cat though doesn't invade your pup's space as this may trigger some pups to resource guard food from cats. Below is a video on how to train a dog to lie on a mat. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ Some Extra Tips -Ensure to protect your kitty as much as possible, from not just potential injury from a rough puppy but also to ensure her emotional wellbeing. Just this past summer I had to work on a case with a beagle who pestered the household cat, he never really hurt the cat, but the poor cat was terrorized of moving freely around the home. She would have to check when he was around to just use her litter box or go to eat. She moved very slowly and lived most of her life walking on shelves, tables and tall chairs. Any time the beagle saw her, he would chase her and try to mount her. I really felt for the poor cat! -Train leave it. This is the formal "leave it" cue that can be used to prevent your pup from accessing things like something you have dropped or something on a walk, it can also be expanded to leaving cats and wildlife. It works like the smacking sound, only that rather than making the sound you say "leave it." I find dogs respond best to the smacking sound in the initial stages, but as they grasp the concept, you can also use "leave it." Here is the guide: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ -Consider calming aids. Many cats can become stressed when living with dogs. Separation alone can cause most cats to feel better, however some remain stressed just by seeing/hearing dogs on the other side. If your cat is stressed, you may also want to provide some calming aids. On top of pheromone--based products such as Feliway or Comfort Zone, there are also several over-the-counter supplements that can help calm down nervous kitties such as products containing L-theanine. ***Never let the guard down. A disclaimer is warranted here. Dogs and cats may seem to get along at times, but accidents can always happen at a moment's notice. Dogs may get scratched, cats may get bitten. Always supervise your pets and make safety your top priority. I hope this helps! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Oh my, what a cutie!😍

You're very welcome! Keep us posted on how things go.

Thank you for the extra details, they are very helpful! It sounds like a lot of changes have been going on (recently neutered, kids backs to school, husband back at the office) and changes can be unsettling for dogs as they like routines and they surely love having all the family around. This may cause some stress which may manifest through new behaviors or certain behaviors becoming more consistent. Based on your info provided, here are few tips/ideas: For attention seeking barking: Dogs who bark for attention typically do so while they're looking at the owner and they're usually hoping for the owner to interact. When you take your eyes off computer and look at your dog, talk to him or check what he wants, you are reinforcing this barking since attention fuels this behavior. Even if you scold your wheaten for barking, it doesn't matter. Scolding still qualifies as a form of attention--even if it's of the negative type. If your wheaten barks at you when he's bored and wants attention, try your best to ignore him. Then, when he gives up and leaves, wait a few seconds and praise and reward him. Now, during the process, be aware of extinction bursts, that is, the phenomenon of the barking increasing or morphing into something else (like pawing at you, nudging you with his nose) in hopes of generating a response. Ignore the extinction bursts as well. If you give attention to any of these behaviors at this crucial time, you'll have reinforced persistence. If you instead ignore the barking (and any other attention-seeking behaviors piggy-backing it), it should gradually subside. However, make a mental note and find ways to strategically prevent these episodes of barking from occurring in the first place. For instance, if your wheaten barks at you in the evening when you sit on the couch or read emails, make sure to walk him first, play with him and then strategically give him a long-lasting edible or stuffed Kong to enjoy while you're busy. The goal is to have him tired enough so that his needs for interaction have been exhausted while also giving him something productive to do. For Barking at Predictable Noises: If you know exactly which sounds are known to trigger a bout of barking, preempt this form of barking by using the hear that method outlined here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ For barking at night in response to noises: The traditional term used by terrier-men for barking is "giving voice." In the past, this distinctive trait of barking when aroused turned useful when terriers were sent out for hunting. Indeed, the barking was selectively strengthened over several generations due to its usefulness. It could have happened that the terrier was trapped somewhere or was difficult to locate. In such cases, barking served as a locator beacon and the louder the barking, the better. Whether barking from arousal or barking from frustration, such as when the dog is prevented from hunting (like being behind a fence or locked in the home), it comes as no surprise that barking is a rather normal affair when living with a terrier. To reduce this form of barking it may help to animal proof your yard as much as possible with the right type of fencing. Another option is to hire an exterminator using pet-friendly methods to get your home or yard free of unwanted critters. A tenacious terrier won't typically give up barking from arousal or barking to be let out to hunt. Terriers struggle giving up when they sense critters and they have very sensitive hearing that helps them detect the faintest sounds. Playing some white noise at night (fan, white noise machine) may help somewhat buffer noises. For barking at the TV: Here's a thread on that: For Barking/begging at the table: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/begging/ Many dogs get more appetite once they get a taste of raw, homemade foods. Make sure with your vet that he's getting the correct portions and that it's nutritionally balanced. For barking/lunging at cars: Wheaten terriers, as other terriers, tend to get hyper aroused when they see something that triggers them. Their tenacity combined with their hyper aroused state, often seen when their adrenaline kicks in, often causes the rest of the world (including you!) to magically vanish. Removing his focus once he's in this state of mind may feel like an arduous task, however, you can gain some leeway by learning how to keep your terrier below that critical stimulation threshold so he can pay better attention to you. Often your best bet when your wheaten is barking at something on walks is to increase distance from whatever excites him and keep moving. Putting more distance will help him stay under threshold so you can keep his focus on you. Here is a read on threshold levels: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Walking him at a distance from cars can therefore be a good starting point. Once you can have his attention, you can work on creating a solid respond to the smacking sound https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ More general tips for barking: -Keep that brain and body busy. Wheaten terriers thrive on exercise, training and mental stimulation and therefore love to be kept busy. This isn't surprising since they were bred to hunt, run, dig and bark on a daily basis. Fail to keep these dogs busy, and they may find their own forms of entertainment such as barking, digging, jumping, chewing and nipping. So make sure to provide regular exercise, socialization, training and mental stimulation (brain games, food puzzles). A tired wheaten terrier is much easier to live with and train. -Keep your voice low. Often, when dogs bark, we feel like yelling. When you yell at your dog when he's barking, he likely thinks you are barking too. Your dog won't likely understand why you are so upset. -Redirect your terrier with play. Many terriers get frustrated and bark often because they don't have a chance to chase critters as they would like. Provide your dog an outlet. For instance, when your terrier barks (or better, when he is about to bark) you can wiggle a flirt pole (stick with a stuffed animal attached) and let him play with that, occasionally rewarding by tossing some tasty treats to the ground. Train to respond to a smacking sound.https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Grab some tasty treats and practice at home in a quiet setting making a smacking sound and then feeding your terrier a treat. Repeat several times until your wheaten realizes that every time you make this sound, a tasty treat follows. Next, try doing this exercise in the yard and then once you get a solid response practice it when your wheaten sees triggers by the window or on walks. Here is an example of he exercise using a window: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Be determined to help your dog succeed. Terriers aren't the easiest dogs to train. Training a wheaten terrier requires a good level of determination. You'll need to be equally focused, persistent and tenacious as your dog is. I hope this helps, Happy training!

Since it appears that this behavior has increased now that your dog is 8 months, have there been any recent changes? Is he neutered? Are all these forms of barking new? Or were some of them there before and have just increased? If so, which ones are new and which ones have just increased? Thanks for these extra details.

Hi Kelly, Welcome to the forums! That sounds like a lot of barking, but interestingly, he's not barking at something that most dogs bark at: the doorbell! From your description it sounds like you may be dealing with a variety of forms of barking, from anxious barking, to possible territorial barking and some attention seeking barking as well. These forms of barking will need a different approach. I will be posting some tips on these various forms of barking shortly. In the meanwhile, you may find some general pointers in this section of the course: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/barking/