On one of the instructional videos, Ed says to never ever let the puppy out of his kennel when he whines. If I did that, I could never let my puppy out. Anytime he thinks I'm going to let him out, he whines or jumps on the cage door to say "LET ME OUT!". I feel bad letting him out when he's whining, and I feel bad if I don't let him out when he's whining. He doesn't like his kennel much, and I can't walk or tether him just yet because he won't accept his leash with marker training and redirection. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you are going to feel bad either way, lets go with feeling bad while training him to do the RIGHT thing.

Don't do this when you know he needs to potty so that you don't have that pressure. In fact, begin the next time he has come IN from going potty.

Put him in his crate and close the door. Then STAND THERE WITHOUT MOVING. Let him whine, cry, scream, roll on his back and give you sad puppy faces. It might take 10 minutes. The It might take 20 minutes. MOMENT he stops say YES and reward.

Keep in mind you want to ONLY reinforce the behavior you want. When you let him out when he is whining, what you are TRAINING him to do is to jump and whine to get out. REALLY. You are TRAINING him to jump and whine to get out.

Play with him around his crate. Toss his toy in his crate and let him run it and bring it back. There is another thread on this from today... Make a GAME out of it. Toss something he wants IN the crate and shut the door, making him WANT to get in the crate to get the toy, etc...

You have to have more willpower than the puppy. You can do this.

Agree^^^

I think the way I'd start in with something like this is right after you've come in from a good exercise session. Throw a couple treats in his crate and put him in. He'll most like eat them, then look up at you. The second he gives you eye contact, mark it ("yes") and open up the crate. Give him a treat, pet him calmly then put a couple treats in the crate and repeat.

And work with him giving you calm eye contact in other areas, too - make calm eye contact highly rewarding and he'll be more ready to offer it where ever you are.

Thanks for the tips! I'll try those things.

My concern is that he won't calm down if I stand there. I have sat in the floor near him in his crate while I was playing with the baby, and he never calmed down one time. He just kept trying to claw through the crate to get to my feet. I'll have to see what I can do to wear him out if this becomes a hinderance to the methods you two advised. I've been running laps with him in the back yard each time we go out to potty and even that doesn't wear him out. lol All it really does is causes the puppy to sleep more in the case when he eventually calms down. Something's gotta' work eventually to get that energy out. I think I'll start spending more time in the floor near his crate so I can catch him at calm points.

What do I do when my wife or babysitting mother need to let him out to potty? I don't know if they'll bend to my wishes on this. lol I may have to lay down the law. hahaha Wish me luck and pray that I don't lose an arm.

 Quote: brian carman

My concern is that he won't calm down if I stand there.

He will eventually. But you must pretend he's invisible. You're not standing there saying "hush up, quiet down and I'll let you out." You are IGNORING him. Don't even look at him. Just stand there as if you are in a coma. But the moment he pauses throwing a fit (he will, eventually)--mark that with a word or click and open the door and let him out and then praise, treat, go outside whatever.

It takes practice. Even with an adult dog that knows the routine, self-calming is difficult. It is completely counter-intuitive to the dog that to get praise/response/energy from you, what he has to give is none of those things. In order to come out of the crate I have to pretend I want to stay in?

Playing on the floor with the baby near the pup in the crate seems like way too much stimulation for the pup to ignore. I think I know what you were doing (trying to make him feel like the crate is okay) but it seems like a tease to be having fun right outside his closed crate. For now, I'd put him in the crate and walk away so that he doesn't have any visual stimulation to distract him from getting comfortable in there.

Brian: Tracey is right. What I do is turn my back to my dog Cody. He is a real wild man and after a few minutes of trying to get my attention he calms down, at that time I pay attention to him. And it has worked. Whether its having them sit at the door or get ready for their leashes to be put on.
I think your playing with the baby is too stimulating. After all your dog is a pack animal, it sees you playing, naturally it would want to join you. sharon

So, when my dog is excited to come out of the cage and he sits down to try to get me to let him out, I should reward him with a mark and treat and let him out even though he's still in an excited state of mind? That seems opposite of what Cesar teaches about only rewarding actual calm behavior. Maybe I'm misunderstanding. Are you saying that I should wait until my puppy is actually calmed down and no longer excited? (He's 4 months old)

Oh, by the way, when I mark his behavior and give him a treat, as soon as he sees my body move in any way toward opening the cage or to do anything else, he gets excited. So, if I'm using treats to calm him down, it seems like it's going to foster excitement.

A dog whisperer friend of mine taught me how to calm my 6 yr old dog who passed away. He said that when he's on his dog bed and extremely calm or asleep, just drop treats on it as inconspicuously as possible so the dog thinks calmness on his bed means treats magically appear in his bed. It worked pretty well. We used a calm dog collar to break his will in a matter of a couple of minutes and he submitted. That was huge. He was immediately compliant with most things after that. Puppies are different, though, I understand, so I am not sure how to approach this. Thanks again for your help and patience with all of my tedious questions.

 Quote: brian carman

Oh, by the way, when I mark his behavior and give him a treat, as soon as he sees my body move in any way toward opening the cage or to do anything else, he gets excited. So, if I'm using treats to calm him down, it seems like it's going to foster excitement.

Your arm shouldn't be moving to produce the treat until after you mark it. Say "yes" then reach for the treat. The calm behavior earned the yes wich produces the treat. So even though he gets excited about the treat, he should realize that the calm behavior is what is being rewarded.

 Quote:

So, when my dog is excited to come out of the cage and he sits down to try to get me to let him out, I should reward him with a mark and treat and let him out even though he's still in an excited state of mind?

If he sits down, yes, I'd mark and reward. You're headed in the right direction. Sure he's excited but he's also demonstrating just a bit of self control and that is a good thing!! If he plops his little butt down but is still quivering in excitement, he is still sitting. You mark and reward and he'll be ready to do it again. As he gets used to it you can up your criteria for reward. IE, have him sit for 5 seconds before you reward and soon. You can eventually shape this into a calm sit.

 Quote: Brian Carman

A dog whisperer friend of mine taught me how to calm my 6 yr old dog who passed away. He said that when he's on his dog bed and extremely calm or asleep, just drop treats on it as inconspicuously as possible so the dog thinks calmness on his bed means treats magically appear in his bed.

Or you could use the food to lure the puppy into a relaxed down position and use duration marker, for example GOOD, and feed him calmly while he is maintaining it.

 Quote: Brian Carman

We used a calm dog collar to break his will in a matter of a couple of minutes and he submitted.

What kind of a collar is that???

eta: You must be kidding!

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