Adrienne Farricelli

Hi Ruth McCollum, If your Bruno was progressing fine when on walks, but now is struggling at training class, it's likely because, in class, you are unable to grant him the distance he needs for staying under threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Too many dogs, too close, can surely negatively impact the best plans. It's great that your trainer is using a barrier to block the visual aspect as this can turn extra helpful in keep the dog under threshold. Ideas that come to mind is arriving early in class so that he doesn't bark as soon as you let him out of the car and he sees the other dogs. If you arrive first and can place him right away behind the barrier, than that may help at least decrease that initial barking. Another idea is not luring him out when quiet. He is apparently not ready to see the other dogs this up close and letting him bark stresses him out and doesn't help ameliorate the situation. Or maybe the trainer can place the barrier farther away. Classes shouldn't be stressful to dogs, and if after a couple of classes and various adjustments, the dog still struggles to adjust, I feel it's time to think about plan B. In other words, if things don't improve, it may be important chatting with the trainer and asking if perhaps it may be best starting with private classes and then slowly introducing him to other dogs in class. Another option is working with a trainer specializing in "reactive Rover" classes where reactive dogs are gradually introduced to other dogs. It is interesting that you mention that this behavior change occurred recently after neutering. How long ago was he neutered?

Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to fearful or reactive dogs. It's a great feeling when we are proud of our doggies! You need to pat yourself on your back as well for a job well done. When you notice a bad day, try to keep track of what may have gone wrong and keep tabs on it, so that you can take steps to prevent exposure to the trigger in such intense form.

Hi there! Yes, target training can help with the fear of objects. Specifically, I like to use the clicker to reward baby steps as you have described (looking at it, walking towards it, sniffing it). If your dog is not fearful of the clicker's sound, here is the guide on clicker training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/ If your dog is fearful of the clicker sound, here's a guide for that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/your-clicker-best-friend-or-worst-enemy/ I am boarding/training right now a pup called "King" who pulls wildly on the leash and he doesn't like the harness and is scared of having it put over the head. Before investing in a step-in-harness, I am trying to get him to voluntarily investigate it and then phase 2 will be getting him to voluntarily stick his head in the harness on his own. First step is therefore creating positive associations with the harness using "click the trigger." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqy35Rbg3zo Open bar/closed bar can be helpful too for fear of luggage/suitcases etc. Like you can have a helper walk with the backpack rolling along the hallway, and keep you dog perpendicular at an entrance and feed treats every time she watches the luggage pass by. Here is a guide on open/bar closed bar: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ I would suggest bringing high-value treats on walks and keep her at a distance from anybody with a luggage so that she's under threshold ad feed treats upon watching it calmly from a distance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/\ Baby steps and high-value treats is key! With this English setter I am working on, kibble isn't enough even though he loves it. It's with the higher value treats that these days he has started volunteering putting the head through the harness. Important is also watching her comfort levels. Depending on how fearful she is, you may even have to start by recording the sound of the suitcase rolling and playing it back at low volume as you feed treats. Once the recording sound is over, no more treats. This is covered in the 'hear that" section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/pre-lat-look-behavior-modification/ Aim for a positive conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Slow and steady wins the race! Happy training! Adrienne

I don't see it as a problem as long as he's happy to be there! I have boarded dogs intermittently having them over several times a month for short stays and the owners always joked about it saying "let's go visit "aunt Adrienne!" and their dogs were always happy to visit. As long as he has a good time, and the facility monitors him carefully, it's good, especially once he knows the caretakers well. As for frequency, there may be issues at times with dogs who are taken every single day at a daycare as they play wild with other dogs and their arousal levels tend to be high for prolonged periods of time, and this can cause them to never get to relax. So in that case, too much, too often, can have a negative effect as these dogs don't get much time to "recuperate" so to say.

Kudos to you for all your patience and the hard work and now it's time to start reaping the rewards! The best part is that, as dogs mature, and prove themselves very trustworthy around the house, we can start keeping them free in the home rather than confined. Both Petra and Einstein were given partial run of the house at around 1 year old. Of course, I always made sure anything potentially harmful was out of the way (like curtain ties, wires etc). A little tip if you want to see what's going on with a recording device if you have a blind spot; that is, the use of a mirror placed strategically can help give you a little glimpse of what he may be doing during your absence. Recording just audio can also give you some hints as to his vocalizations. Once again, congrats on a job well done!

Glad to hear she is doing much better. Pheew! Big sigh or relief! Lots of medications, but you have it pat down with your nicely organized schedule. I will keep an eye for Gertie's video. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Sounds like you are doing a great job! Kudos to you for helping her stay under threshold. Keep up the great work, baby steps and lots of lots of positive associations!

Poor baby! I wonder what could have been in that water to make her so sick! I don't think you have blue algae in your area, I think that's mostly nearby the lakes in Nebraska and Michigan. Maybe giardia? However the incubation period for that is 5 days up to 2 weeks. I hope she gets better soon! I imagine how worried you may be feeling. I am glad though she's home with you being pampered. Best wishes for tomorrow's checkup. Keeping you both in my thoughts!

I second what Jennifer says that is, to record her behavior in your absence. It's important to see how she does once you are gone for some time. A dog with separation anxiety will typically not settle. You will see panting, whining, pacing, having accidents (not due to lack of bladder control but due to being anxious) and drooling. Since you have had her for only week, you are likely seeing some anxiety due to being in a new place, enclosed in a confined area, alone. These dogs need lots of baby steps and positive associations to learn to settle on their own. If she has finished all her shots and you vet gave you the green light, a walk prior to leaving home followed by some brain games may help wear her out enough to make her tired and in need for a nap. These exercises below can be a good start point to create positive associations with you leaving: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ If your recording shows that she is acting anxious for a long time and never seems to settle, you may need to invest some time in teaching her how to cope being alone starting with brief absences. You will find some more comprehensive protocols here:

Hi Angie Torres, It sounds like you need to tweak your plan to keeping her better under threshold. The freezing ,the barking, the turning around and not following you, are signs that she is too over threshold for her cognitive functions to kick in. Her body and mind is in fight or flight (and freeze) mode, so there's not much space for thinking rationally other than the instinctive fighting back or freezing. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ I would start with some PRE-LAT exercises specifically "hear that" using recording of dogs, dog tags etc. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/pre-lat-look-behavior-modification/ Aim for a solid conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Then, I would work on creating a super solid response to the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ and do Look at That exercises by the window watching dogs passing by: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Then, once you get a solid conditioned emotional response to watching dogs calmly from a window, you can move to working in front of your home, making your smacking sound every time she spots a dog at a distance. You may find it helpful to do setups if you know a friend with a calm dog who you can direct to walking at a distance doing more look at that exercises and even open bar closed bar if your location allows it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ You may have to drive to places where you can find more space and have more control over the environment so to help set her up for success. Rather than dragging her away, which exerts pressure on her neck further creating negative feelings/associations if you're using a collar, it would be best to train her to turn with you on cue. Make it fun and upbeat and train it at a fluent level away from dogs, starting at home, then in the yard, then in front of the home, then at a distance from dogs. She should be responsive to you as long as you ask for it promptly at a distance she's less likely to react and use the right treats. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ It's very important to use super-duper high value treats that are smelly (or better stink to high heavens) so to grab her attention. For behavior modification, I like to use baked calf liver that I cut into small pieces. I know it's yucky to handle, but I use what works best. You may have do some trials on what she seems to like best. If you use stinky treats, you can even toss them in front of you, so to allow her to increase distance on her own accord. The tossing also makes it a fun game. Check with your vet on the ideal treats for her if she's prone to having a sensitive tummy. Letting her be over threshold too often (other than an occasional setback which may happen occasionally even with the most systematic plans) will only cause the behavior to exacerbate as the behavior puts roots more and more and stress hormones make her jumpier and easier to startle. You can ask the veterinary behaviorist if during the wait time, you she can do a brief consult over the phone and determine if anti-anxiety supplements or meds can help her in the meanwhile if it's too difficult to get her under threshold. There are some over the counter calming aids like DAP collars, calming caps, treats with L-theanine, alpha-casozepine, but they may work only for mild cases of reactivity. When there it is great difficulty to walk a reactive dog because it's almost impossible to keep them under threshold, walking them may prove to be too stressful. For this reason, several dog behavior professionals may suggest to skip walks for these fellows (replacing them with training, lots of brain games, structured exercise in the yard) until help can be sought or to find places to walk when one can ascertain there are no dogs for the time being.

Esther's been doing really well the past week so I think I've hit the magic number on titrating the Proin combined with the Incurin. Or maybe the bladder shifted or who knows. All I know is that she's gone 2 hours between outings lately and it's been Heaven, lol. I even upped the amount I give her and she's left some in the bowl several times now. I am glad to hear that! With the added prednisone I was already imaging her drinking like a dehydrated horse in the desert and then peeing like one afterward. And eating like she's starving, based on how my dogs reacted to this drug. It's already frustrating to deal with it in normal dogs, I can't imagine how it must feel with a dog with bladder and increased drinking issues to start with. They told me some dogs do far worse with their human counterparts present and others do much better. I am inclined to say the helicopter / coddling companions would make matters worse by being nervous or aggressive towards the doctors and techs themselves. "How dare you hurt my baby," or, "do you have to do it that way," kind of mentality. I go in there with the mentality of, "okay miss ma'am, this is going to suck but it's for the greater good of your health so I'm going to help them help you." Owners who exude confidence and positivity I think would be helpful in getting their pooches through the ordeal. Yes, I agree, how the owners react may cause dogs to feed off their emotions, so that can be a good reason for taking them back. It just seems like in some places, it just becomes a habit and they don't evaluate whether the owners may help make the situation better. According to a study published on August 1, 2017 in Physiology & Behavior Volume 177 dogs appeared to be more stressed when taken away from their owners. I think a problem is that dogs who seem to "behave better" are just in a frozen state of learned helplessness. Poor dogs, one would wish so hard they could understand it's for their health! You sound a lot like me in your approach and mindset. The goal being helping our dogs get through it for their own good. The grumping at people and animals in the car is nothing new. I gave her treats every time a tech came out and caught her eye and marked it with a "yes!" The boy was simply moving far too fast for her comfort. Especially with those adorable puppies nearby. I was thinking of going to the vet's office and hanging out in the parking lot to do more conditioning as people and pets come and go. I warned them they may see me and I'm not being a creeper, lol. The doc said she wished more people trained their dogs for these situations. That's an awesome idea!

Hi there! So happy to hear that Loki is doing so well, you certainly deserve a big pat on your back as you have been so patient and determined to help Loki succeed. Your question is very reasonable, and I have good news for you. I have found that the most 'difficult" times for dogs are the first 2-3 days of boarding. This because it takes some time adjusting to a new place, its sights and sounds and dogs don't seem to know what role the person taking care of them plays. Is this person a vet who will poke him? Is this person a groomer who will give him a bath? Is this person trustworthy? The dog will also look for the owners wondering when they will come back. He may bark, pace and walk towards the door in hopes of re-uniting. When he is taken out, he may look around for the owners. After some time though, he will start relaxing, to the point of feeling comfortable enough to take a nap. If he is awakened from the nap, he may lift his head, look around a bit as if wondering where he is, but then will go back to sleep. As those first 2-3 days go by, the dog realizes that the place is not bad at all, the person is trustworthy and feeds them, he is taken on walks and even played with. The dog starts getting used to a new routine and habituates to the noises as long as they are not too intense. Now, this is what happens with dogs who have never been boarded before and are in total new place and around new people. If you have kept Loki in touch and boarded him often, it's as if he's going to visit family and several doggy friends and will be quicker to adjust. The more time he stays, the more he adjusts. Three weeks is quite the average time I have boarded/trained dogs for people who travelled overseas or for military TDY. Of course, the owners are never forgotten! The longest I have boarded a dog was for 3 months, and you had to see the big party he threw when the owners came through the door. The dog kissed me goodbye and then readily jumped in the car. Things to keep into account is that once back, dogs boarded for longer may take a bit to get back to their routine, but dogs can quickly re-adjust. I can't say really what to expect behavior-wise though in regards to things this boarding place may or may not do. For example, if they allow certain things that you don't normally allow at home (like pulling on the leash, humping other dogs) it may take some time to work on those things again and re-establish the old rules. At the same time though, the dog gets to have a variety of new experiences. He may get to meet new people and dogs, and this can enrich his social skills especially when play is carefully monitored and all experiences are ensured they stay positive (which I am pretty sure they do their best at that).

Hello and welcome to the forums! Bless your heart for rescuing a very abused dog. The things people do to dogs are sickening, makes one wonder who are the real "animals." Poor Simon, I am glad that now he is in a loving and caring home and he has learned to trust again. The problems you are facing are not unusual with young dogs. Several dogs get better as they mature and become more trustworthy anywhere between the ages of 1 and 3 years old. Some get there earlier, some get there later-and a few may never "get there" or get there when they are old. I recommend all dog owners teach their dogs both the "leave it' and "drop it" commands. The ""leave its" are for those times we notice our dogs approaching something, the "drop its" are for those times when we notice our dogs have already grabbed something in their mouth. You can find guides on training both in the below sections: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ While these commands typically work well when we are around, a whole different story is when we are not present. This causes us to assume that dogs may intently destroy stuff when left alone because they are angry/spiteful/seeking revenge for not being taken along. We are often deeply convinced of this also based on the way our dogs act upon our return... With the dog looking away, ears back and slowly slinking away with his body low, it just seems to prove to us that "the proof is in the pudding" as these dogs just seem to have the word "guilty" printed all over their face. Yet, research has shown us that there are different dynamics going on. Here's the thing: Guilt is ultimately a human emotion. It takes some complex thinking to feel guilty as guilt requires the adherence of a moral code necessary to make the act of destroying things unethical for dogs, a species that instead tends to merely act out of instincts. So that "guilty look" our beloved dogs give us when we enter the home and act disappointed/frustrated/angry about the mess doesn’t equate to actual guilt, rather they are responding instinctively to our body language. Indeed, according to research, a dogs' "guilty look" isn't therefore “an official admission of guilt,” but rather an instinctive response to what's perceived by our dogs as threatening behavior. Any time we therefore exhibit hostile/frustrated body language, dogs are going to make themselves as small and unassuming as possible to avoid our wrath. This is more an appeasing gesture than anything else. In any case, it would be helpful understanding firstly why Simon acts destructive when left alone in the first place so that we can tackle the issue correctly. I will list some common reasons why dogs tend to destroy things around the home when left alone. 1) Separation Anxiety I don't think this may be what may be impacting Simon, but it's worthy of mentioning in any case, primarily because many rescue dogs have some level of separation anxiety going on. If Simon is relatively calm when you’re around, but starts getting nervous (pacing, drooling, whining, panting) when you leave or are about to leave the house, it might be due to anxiety. In general, dogs who have separation anxiety will usually mostly target windows or doors (scratching and biting them) in a frantic attempt to be re-united with their owners. It may be worth it to record your dog's behavior the first 15-20 minutes when you leave the home and see whether he gets panicky. Watch for signs such as constant pacing, whining, barking, howling, drooling, scratching and chewing windows and doors and having accidents around the house. 2) Coping Mechanism Likewise, some dogs may be triggered by certain sights or sounds. Normally with their human around, dogs are less likely to react to the stimuli. But left to their own devices, the sights and sounds going on in the world beyond the house may be too much for them to handle. And some dogs just can’t handle the added pressure of keeping watch over the whole home in your absence. After all, no matter how big your fur baby is, the space they occupy is always going to seem much larger when they aren’t sharing it with you. In reality, dogs at their core are social animals. Being left alone, especially when they ran wild, meant danger. A larger predator could snatch up even the quickest dog if they were by their lonesome. There was safety in numbers so being left on their own still can rub dogs the wrong way. Stress can therefore play a number on dogs, and chewing can be their preferred way to cope with these unpleasant emotions. 3) Boredom Setting in Many dog breeds were domesticated and later bred for a particular purpose. Hounds were bred to track by scent or by sight, while bulldogs were selectively bred to fight bulls. With a history as working dogs, our companions have this hardwired need to find a "job" and fill up any idle moment in life. When boredom or frustration sets in, dogs will therefore engage in undesirable behaviors. "Idle paws are a devil's workshop"... This type of destructive behavior is different than separation anxiety in that, the dogs appear calm when alone and aim to destroy things like the remote control, pillows, paper towels etc more than windows and doors. I think Simon may fit this picture, along with the hardwired instincts mentioned below. 4) Ancient Instincts Even though our dogs are domesticated and fed food from bags and cans served in shiny bowls, they still retain some ancient instincts. Let's just say that they have remained still a hunters and scavengers at heart. Stuffed couch pillows are therefore super tempting as they remind him of prey animals. Just as dogs shake their toys and tear them apart to get to the squeaker, dogs will have a blast chewing through pillows so as to "de-gut" them, removing the internal "entrails" under the form of stuffing. After covering some possible culprits, let's take a look at some possible solutions. -Add food puzzles. I know you mentioned leaving him plenty of toys, but toys can get rather boring compared to a fun pillow to remove the stuffing or a book with pages that can be ripped off one-by-one. Regular toys such as balls, tug toys or rubber bones can get "old" after a while, especially when they often around and we don't rotate them. It may therefore help to leave out toys that put your dog to "work" under the form of food puzzles and long-lasting goodies such as Kongs stuffed with some tasty foods, Kong Wobblers with some tasty treats mixed with kibble to get out, and long-lasting chews. If your other dog is free in the house though, use caution and keep them separated as sometimes fights may erupt around valuable foods/toys. -Keep temptation out of reach. At the same time, you may also want to remove all of the tempting things you know your dog is tempted to chew. Put books on tall shelves, close the bathroom door, remove pillows and small Knick/knacks, remove his bed too. After all, they can’t rip anything into pieces if they can’t gain access to them or reach them! Don't forget to remove objects off of any surface your dog can reach. This is just temporary for when you are away, once back, you can place them back, as long as you always supervise your dog and use any attempts to gain access to these things in your presence as opportunities to polish your leave its and drop its. -Keep your dog in just one room if removing all things is a complicated ordeal, you can try keeping your dog in only one room that is as "dog-proofed" as possible. -Walk your dogs, provide some brain games and play with them before you have to leave. You want to tire them out as much as possible so that they won’t have as much need to expend that extra energy (although I feel that this alone won't work well enough, you will most likely need to combine this with leaving legitimate goodies around and remove items you don't want him to chew). -Consider remote monitoring to keep tabs on what your dog is doing when left alone. I feel this can be extra helpful. The Furbo camera allows you to watch your dog, talk to him and is even capable of dispensing treats to keep your dog busy at the touch of a button. With remote monitoring, you can create 'set-ups" where you step outside the house and remind your dog to "leave it" as needed, entering the home as needed and reward when he's behaving well. This can cause your dog to believe you are always supervising him, even when you are not physically around, although I know of some smarty pants dogs who seem to eventually learn the mechanism. -Go gradual. Start with brief absences and build up the time you are gone gradually. You want to establish a history where your dog looks forward to you leaving because it means that you provide him with several food puzzles that will keep him entertained and that will satiate his need to chew. -Build some anticipation. Before leaving, I like to prepare some goodies in advance and build up anticipation. For instance, I would prepare a Kong stuffed with a dog cookie stuck at the bottom, some kibble mixed with peanut butter and some other cookie to lodge things in and then I would place some treats mixed with more kibble in a Kong Wobbler and then I would open a package of bully sticks and grab one and I would place all these goodies up on a high shelf as I go prepare to leave the home. By the time I am ready to leave, the dog will be pleading me have access to all these goodies. I would then ask the dog to hold a stay while I scatter all these goodies on the floor and then I would say "go!" as I exit the door. Again, if your other dog is free in the house though, use caution and keep them separated as sometimes fights may erupt around valuable foods/toys. -If you find that your dog is becoming overly stressed or suffering from separation anxiety when left alone, please show your recording to your vet who can help confirm or rule out possible separation anxiety and can provide a referral to a veterinary behaviorist for an in-depth plan. -Lastly, I would mention the importance of practicing caution. Some dogs may never be totally trustable left alone. It may just be best to crate these dogs, especially if there are risks for the dog to chew and ingest things that may lead to complications such as an intestinal blockage. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions. Happy training!

Oh my, prednisone? Is this the same vet who is aware of her peeing problems, and diagnosed her and put her on medication to reduce her peeing? So is she now both on antibiotics and prednisone? Did they tell you why they couldn't examine her? Was she moving too much? Was it when they touched a particular body part? If they told you what she was struggling with, you could know what to work on and possibly organize some "mock" vet visits, maybe with the help of your trainer. Maybe she was in pain and guarding her bum if the area is inflamed/infected. I am glad that when you intervened, she was more collaborative. Good job in giving her a treat every time she looked at the vet! I wished more vets would let owners assist. I had a good one that let me always be present for blood draws. There's still a belief that dogs misbehave when owners are around which prompts them to bring the dogs to the back of the office. Or maybe they just restrain them and owners may not like to see that. But then again, with this whole pandemic ordeal maybe they prefer to not have people too close. Is the barking at people when in the car a new behavior? There's a guide for this here if you ever have a helper who can drive. Both Einstein and Petra at some point started barking at people approaching the car when they were adolescents, especially when it started to get dark. I would sit behind with them when hubby would drive around looking to get that positive conditioned emotional response upon spotting people walk by. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barking-strangers-car/

1) QUESTION: When your roommates leave for good (meaning they are out of the door and gone) does she become calm and acts as if she is relieved, or does she appear anxious as if waiting for them to come back? "She stops barking within 5-10 seconds or less and continues with what she was doing prior to barking- probably snoozing on the couch. She doesn’t appear anxious for them to come back but not exactly relieved that they’re gone either, just moving on. " OK, this is good. So this likely excludes separation anxiety, in particular the type where the dog gets attached to one person and can't cope with the absence. If she's moving on, that suggests she's doing OK after the departure. Dogs with separation anxiety will typically whine, bark, pant, drool, pace, scratch at windows and doors, eliminate in the home and can't seem to settle until their favorite person comes back. 2) QUESTION: How does she do when you are alone with her and YOU are about to leave? " About 95% of the time when I leave she is very calm. Sometimes doesn’t even get up from the couch. It’s rarely just us two since one of our roommates tends to be home at a time. " This is good too. If she doesn't even get up from the couch, it sounds like she's comfortable and copes well. In those rare instances, when she is completely left alone, it would be important checking on how she does with that, if that ever happens. I recommend all dog owners every now and then record how their dogs do when left alone just to keep tabs on how their dogs are doing. The recorder should be placed so that you have a clear view of the dog and the exit door. 3) QUESTION How does she do when you are not around and your roommates leave? I know you said there is silence, but for sake of clarity I would record her behavior to determine how she does once they are away for good. "She calmly watches them leave or follows them to the door and doesn’t bark at the door once they’re gone (they would be able to hear). Similar to number one, she just moves on with whatever she was doing once they’re gone. " OK, so this emphasizes and confirms that it's mostly when you are present that she barks and based on what you and your roommates hear upon leaving, she seems to at least initially cope fine with your absences and their absences. 4) QUESTION: How would you describe her relationship with your roommates? Has she deeply bonded with them? Does she see them more than you and get to do more things with them? Does she act shy, tentative, fearful or skittish towards them "She likes them quite a lot. Not clingy really, she tends to chill in the living room or in my room when I’m gone instead of following them. But she’ll snuggle them if they’re on the couch or something like that even sometimes when I’m home. " OK, so she doesn't seem to be extra clingy, constantly following them from room-to-room . You mentioned earlier that you were afraid of her being in a pen, because she wouldn't be able to follow them, so I was concerned if she was super clingy. Sometime when they’re not busy I’ll work on desensitizing her to them leaving with the keys and such on a leash. But as for the leash she does seem to behave better if she can follow them out. Like if I pick her up and treat her to calm her down she’s much calmer if I follow them and don’t have her unable to be near them when they leave. So when she is off leash and follows them out, she's not barking? Is she barking less? What is she doing that it seems like she's behaving better when off leash? When she's on leash, can she take treats tossed on the ground? Or is she too over threshold? It could be there may be some barrier frustration component going on due to not being able to rehearse what she has done for a while in the pastor it can be an extinction burst. Big question: What happens if you are in another room when your roommates leave? the only time she barks when I’m not home is briefly at outside stimuli (dog tags that she can hear, seeing someone pass if we forgot to push in the chair near the window, etc) but it’s not excessive. My roommates said sometimes if my roommate like jumps up fast or something alarming she might do some startle barking but gets over it fast. Otherwise they can leave and enter with no issues. I would ensure that she has no access to windows to prevent her from barking at outdoors triggers as this can raise stress levels. The startling when your roommates react to something sounds normal as long as she gets over it very fast. However, too often or too much startling can raise cortisol levels. The startling effect can be lowered by having them carefully re-create whatever evoked the barking in a strategically less intense form and tossing treats before she has a chance to bark. I once had a dog who reacted strongly to sneezes and coughs, and all I needed to do is make some fake sneezes and coughs in low tones followed by treats to the point where the dog thought it was a fun game! At some point, upon hearing a sneeze, the dog came rushing looking forward to a treat rather than barking! Due to the fact that dogs who startle and bark, may bite, and when done incorrectly the barking may intensify, it is best to carry out behavior modification under the direct guidance of a behavior professional.