# Driving me and my wife crazy



## ZeusofBillyJo (Feb 9, 2006)

Hey everyone, 

Electra our female GSD gets so super excited when she comes out of her crate it's driving us nuts. Once we open the door to the crate she comes barling out. We get her to sit in the cage before we open the door, but once that door comes open she charges right through. We have put her collar on her so we can hook up her leash. We try to correct her with the leash but she is super excited. We get her to sit, but she still bounces around while sitting. With her being so excited she sometimes when she comes out our legs and especially our feet are getting scratched up. It doesn't matter if she is in there for a few minutes to a few hrs or when we get her in the morning, she goes nuts.

She is the only one that we have in the crate and she is content with that, she knows that that is her place and she comes and goes from it and sleeps in it when it's open.

So my question is how do I get her to stop being so excited when coming out of the crate and cutting up our feet







Especially in the morning we are pressed for time to get the kids to school and get lunches etc. ready but what can we do.

Has anyone else either experience or had experience with this situation before?

Thanks, 

Mike


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

i have my crate positioned directly in the path of my back door. when tilden my 1yr old used to exhibit the same behavior as your girl, i'd put him in a down stay... slowly open the door and if he got up and got all excited i'd just close it and ignore him then try again in a few minutes opening the door a little wider. once i got him to stay while the door was open (because as soon as i released him from a down/stay he'd go nuts again) i'd grab his collar and lead him straight out the back door.

he's pretty good now, only going balistic if i've been gone for 6 or 7hrs... or if he hasnt been exercised yet.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Been there, dealt with that LOL!







Do not worry, so many of us have had this problem before, too. It is pretty common in young, reactive dogs and teenager-pups.







Actually, you and your wife could be controbuting to the problem. But, this is very good news, because it means this is fixable and under your control with some work.

Do not open the crate door until she is calm. If you go to open it and she is NOT calm, close it. Quietly. Wait. When she calms, and yes, this WILL take time-- you may need to get up earlier during this training period-- then open it. If she jumps, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING. No scolding her, no eye contact, no waving arms about to get her off of you-- all of this DOUBLES her energy because she feeds off of yours. Eye contact and scolding can be thrilling rewards for her. Ignore her until she calms. The hardest part in all this is not getting your legs scratched-- you've had that done before.. ouch!.. the hardest part will be STOPPING reacting to her shenanigans. Reactive dogs and youngsters at her age feed off of our energy, magify it.. and even if 'she started it,' well, she starts it because she may *anticipate* the thrilling struggle and battle (with bonus eye contact, too) that she enjoyed last time. Ready to put her collar on, because she is calm? Be boring. Ho-Hum. Call her in a calm voice. Slip collar on. Walk calmly outside. Got kids, dogs, hoopla happening for morning rutine? Nope.. do this EARLY for a few weeks, set the alarm earlier before the clan awakens, and set a tone of c-a-l-m for her. Remember, YOU are the smart one here-- outthink her!







Have a few pieces of kibble in hand as you lure her into a sit for that collar. She sat? Calmly give 1 kibble. Collar on? Calmly, she gets another kibble. Is she freaking out again, jumping? Be a statue. You don't see her, hear her-- the source of treats has turned off like a faucet. Gosh.. guess she had better be calm, if she wants the last treat in your hand for walking calmly to the door to go out for you! 

Good luck. This is fixable. Do not worry! You have a bouncy youngster of a dog who may be reactive... this is workable!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

our boy used to do that but from the start we corrected it. we have him sit before we open the door. i open the door but i block his exit while saying "wait". then i open the door and reach in with my hands on his forearm or chest and i say "slow"not allowing him to rush out. now when we open the crate i just say "wait" and he sits or stands there and walks out slowly. we practiced this alot. we didn't wait for him to be in his crate for a period of time. practice it 3 or 4 times a day. put your dog in there and walk out of the room for a couple of minutes then try this manneuver. i also taught my boy not to walk out of the front door when it's open. i would open the door and tell him to stay. then i would walk down the steps and and hide behind the bushes or the car and wait and see if he would come out. in the begining he would walk out but he caught on quickly not to. now i can open the door without saying anything to him and he doesn't walk out. i test him by having people call him while the door is open or i have people walk up to our door with their dogs and call him and he just sits there nose to nose with a dog or people but he won't walk out of the door. practice, practice, your dog will do it also.


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## KAKZooKpr (Jul 6, 2002)

My Lexi is wild too when she comes out of the crate. My problem was her excited nipping! So, when opening the crate door I always hand her something to have in her mouth. She will run to the door then I ask her to sit and I put the leash on her and out the door we go (minus whatever was in her mouth). If she charges back to jump on me I try to cross my arms and turn my back on her to get her to settle down. Slowly it seems to be working, Lexi is very high energy and she just gets SO EXCITED to be out and about!









Kristina
ps- I've only had Lexi for 4 months. I got her at 10 months old with zero training and she is now 14 months old.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Dante did this when he was a pup. I used the "ignore" for 5 minutes to create a calm exit. He already knew he had to wait before exiting.
So I'd open the crate, he'd wait, I'd release and then I wouldn't make anymore eye contact or say anything more. 
He learned within a week that if he came out quietly and calmly that we'd go outside, he'd potty and we'd have a party.


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

I can't be much help here....Eli does this but I just love his enthusium and wouldn't want to miss that for the world. Enjoy them while they are young and full of energy. She sounds like a wonderful dog.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

Generally I have an opinion. But my GSD does the same thing when I get ready to go outside. Once my jacket goes on the dog starts barking and whining. If I make him settle, the minute I say OK he goes nuts again.


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## csantosa (Apr 25, 2008)

My husband taught our female the knock it off command. When she is hyper and running around in circles he tells her to knock it off and she just lays down until she has calmed down.

Try undoing 1 latch on the crate. If she gets up like she's going to bolt out give her some new command that is basically stay there and calm down. Don't open the second latch until she does.

On ours as soon as the first latch would open she would be pushing with her paw to open the crate. That has since stopped.

Chris


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

Open the crate door a crack--if the dog attempts to bolt, say "nuh-uh" and shut the door. Wait a second and try again. Repeat until you can get the dog to wait for a release word before coming out of the crate. You may have to close the door on the dog a dozen times. But eventually, the dog will get it. Repeat until you no longer have to do this. It won't take long. 

I'd also recommend not releasing from the crate the instant you get home. Allow the dog to calm herself before you even approach the crate. If you release a dog that's protesting, you inadvertantly train that protesting is the WAY to get out of the crate. Instead, you want to teach that the only way to get out is to be CALM and wait for a release word.


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## gdog1985 (May 6, 2008)

Uggh what a wonderful stage this is! Gunner would do the same thing and then get so excited that he was out of the crate, he would pee on the floor.


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## gmcenroe (Oct 23, 2007)

My puppy is just the opposite. When I open the crate door she sits there for about 30 seconds looking at me. Then if I step away from the door she comes out all friendly and happy to see me. If its the morning or I come home from work she usually comes out pretty quickly. Also when she was younger she would not come out of the crate in the car. I had to move the crate out of the car then she would come out. Now she just walks out and jumps down out of the car. She's 4 months old now.


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