# Craziness kennel to the door...



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I'm trying to work on my dogs not acting so insane. Kenya and Coke were good until we got Nikon, now it seems his puppy insanity has rubbed off and they all just feed off each other. When I get home from work they start barking, so the rule is they don't come out of their kennels until they sit or lie down and shut up. They also know that they may not barge through the door, so I say "sit" or just wait for them to quiet down and sit at the door before we go out. The problem is between the kennel and the door I have no control. Take Nikon for example. I walk in the house and he's barking, I give him the evil eye and pretty quickly he will platz and be perfectly still and quiet. I let him out (sometimes I do a few fake-outs b/c he is not allowed to come out until I release him, he can't stand up and push out of the kennel when I reach for the latch). Once he's out though, he runs around barking and going nuts. Do I send him back in? I hate using the crate as a punishment especially after they've been in it for a longer period.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

What I would do is do Obedience drills with Nikon the minute he comes out of the Kennel, have him heel to the door. Put him on leash if you have to. Heel to the door, then back, back in the kennel. Get him in and out of the kennel like this, and use a happy voice with food rewards so that getting back in is not a punishment, but just part of OB training. If he starts running around crazy, I'd just platz him, give him a few minutes, get back into OB mode. Going crazy is for when he is outside, and got the release from you. As he gets better with this, you will need to do less and less formal OB, and he should (hopefully!), start to offer the new behaviour instead. 

I know it is a long day for them in their crates - I often have to leave Falkor in the house crated for up to 10 hours during the day. 

But even then, my expectations are the same - come out quiet (he is a quiet dog coming out of the kennel, so that is not a problem), nice quiet greeting, I put the leash on him, and must sit about three feet away from the door. He may whine and pace, but the door does not get openend until he is sitting quietly - and must stay sitting until released. Takes a long time to instill that kind of self-control in these young teens, but they will get it!


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

Liss, I hear you, I caught my husband checking out bark collars on a dog supply site yesterday LOL








Im a going crazy- 3 and half yr old Rescue, Im convinced they let him bark anytme he wanted, have to work on it. 
the other night, he barked every 10 mins,(seemed like it) thought Id lose it. I got NO sleep, had to keep yelling at him. 
Ive got the prong collar on him, hes going to get a good yank today everytime he barks. He barks at people walking down the road, barks at ???, I look out and dont see anything, squirrels *I feed them* I keep telling him: nice squirrels theyre just squirrels. 
Last night I had the radio on all night, all was quiet. whew what PEACE. 
Good luck


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Lucia, that was really my only idea. I think opening the crate and waiting to be leashed is a good exercise of it's own. Yesterday was so crazy I ended up having to leash him. He doesn't really know heel yet so it was basically a drill of a fast sit every few steps to the door, then a sit waiting for the leash to come off and the door to open. Nikon is definitely the instigator. He tends to get let out second (Coke first b/c he is the first to sit still) and when he gets out he's already doing his play growl and mouthing all over Coke b/c the routine is that we go out to potty and play. I can't really stop them from playing and I don't care if they play rough, but the new rule is no barking or general loudness in the house (tenants moved in on the other side).


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## kcox82 (Nov 5, 2008)

Liesje, how did you teach them the down and quiet before letting them out? My new girl Ellie has some serious problems with barking to bet let out. She is fine until she has you in her sights and then she wont hush. I've always been told to ignore her until she is quiet? Is that how you did it, wait until they were quiet and then make them go into a down before letting them out (which is hard because she will go on forever and ever)? Just want to make sure I do it correctly, the barking insanely at 7 in the morning has got to stop. Thankfully my boy hasn't learned the habit yet.

Thanks!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: kcox82Liesje, how did you teach them the down and quiet before letting them out? My new girl Ellie has some serious problems with barking to bet let out.


Easy, I just don't let them out. I don't even command them to down I just wait. Sometimes when I reach for the latch they stand and paw at the door, then they must wait some more. I don't care if it takes 20 minutes, they are the ones that want to go out!


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## jencarr (Apr 21, 2009)

My boy does the same thing. You can hear him barking outside the house! It is a high pitched awful bark. When I go into his room I stand with my back to him until he is sitting and quiet. Then I will turn around and open the door. He is not allowed to come out until I tell him. That part is working well. Then all **** breaks loose. The jumping & barking! All the way to the door. I tell him to sit and he can't go out until I tell him. He will sit there barking at me. So, I am trying something new & it seems to be working. Instead of going straight to the door to let him out I go into the bathroom and close the door. I wait a few minutes and come out. He is much calmer after that.


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## gsdcentral (May 21, 2003)

I've got a 15 mo old rescue that is a whirlwind. She's a total spaz coming out of her crate which unfortunately for me is in a small space so I get pounced on. I'm trying to teach her to sit and then sit to be let out but she's not catching on real fast! She's also very velcro to me. She's quiet if i'm in the same room or same vicinity but as soon as I walk out of her "bubble" she has a fit and barks and barks and barks, etc. Kcox82 you have it good if you get the crazy barking at 7 am, mine start at 5. Mary will not take more than two steps w/o turning around and pouncing on me. Of course Bravo the velcro puppy tries to follow me to let her out so I have two velcro beasties in a small space. I don't know how many times I've accidentally shut the baby gate (walk thru) on bravo's head because he's right behind me. Mary has to almost hop over him to get out the door way but then comes right back if I haven't made it out yet. She also needs a potty escort! I've got a houseful of barkers and screamers, it's something I never have been able to fix. I have one that has a spinning fit when one of the other dogs is in her bubble but if I tell her "AAhh", you know that magic sound that all dogs understand, she will flatten into a down so I can open her crate. Bravo hates to be crated for any length of time but if he is he knows he has to be quiet and sit and not paw at the gate if he wants to be let out. Pretty smart for 6 mos. He just has panic attacks in the crate or pen or behind the baby gate. Hard to teach "stay" to velcros.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

It's been a while since this thread and Nikon is doing a lot better! What actually has helped is that I come in through the front door. I don't know why it makes a difference, but he doesn't bark. I let the adults out first and he is platz-ing in his crate. Maybe he starts to whine but when I open the crate he goes outside where I encourage him to be roudy. I don't care if they bark and run outside.


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## PipiK (May 25, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Liesje
> 
> 
> kcox82 said:
> ...


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