Whenever Radar is in the crate and I even attempt to touch the other dogs crate doors he starts frantically barking, howling, and whining high pitched.

Whenever he's on a tie out because I don't have a fully fenced yard he flips the F out and starts trying to strangle himself. This includes being tied to something while on a walk so that I can walk away a few feet. He hates being left behind or being held back from being right up my butt, and he starts bucking wildly, screaming, clawing at his face and neck. He HAS to go on the tie out because I don't have eyes in the back of my head while I'm working in the yard. It's not that he's desperate to be next to me 24/7, it's more the fact that he can't go sneaking under the house and get into the road.

He also screams and flips out whenever Clark walks away. They don't even spend that much time together, Clark mostly ignores him beyond some simple affection here and there, but he will do the exact same 'pitch a fit' as when he's on a tie out and I'm walking away.

He screams and starts trying to claw down the seats, windows, and walls in the car whenever one of us walks away, even if the other is in the car. I'm thinking about putting a crate in there and securing cardboard to it so he can't see anything.

We have FINALLY gotten to the point where he can be gated off in the living room, I can walk down the hall, and he doesn't start screaming because I left him behind.

What do I need to do to get him to stop this? I've heard about 'calming behaviors' but still can't figure out what they're talking about. For some reason all of my dogs have always understood what 'Quiet!' means from the get go.

He is crate trained (rushes in for his food, will whine and paw at it whenever the door is closed, is very quiet in there except for these outbursts of 'don't leave me'), and I haven't noticed any change in behavior from when he's exhausted and when he's hyper. It happens first thing in the morning and right after a 20 mile hike. When he's in the crate or car and he's exhausted, he self settles after about 5 minutes of freaking out. 10 minutes or so while still hyper. He'll spend the entire time outside freaking out, ignoring toys.

Placing his crate where he can not see you is a good start. A good chew toy in crate and a hefty ignore from you will do wonders.

Right now you are rewarding this behavior even if you pay attention to him when he screams in the crate, will get progressively difficult. Let him learn to relax by removing the visual and add good exercise before crate time and a chew toy in crate.

First: How old is this pup?

Is this the same pup that you posted was born on 2/16/11? If so this is a 3 1/2 month old MALINOIS PUPPY!!!

You posted previously about teaching him to 'quiet'. Did you do any of the suggesstions made from that post?

You aren't taking a 3 1/2 mo old PUPPY on 20 MILE hikes?!!!!

I can't imagine leaving ANY 3 1/2 mo old puppy loose in a car & expect them to behave. Dogs should be crated in cars for their own safety, should an accident occur.

I would NEVER tie out any dog let alone a puppy even if I am in the same yard. Get a pen or an outside kennel or crate him if you can't watch him without tieing him to something. Teather him to you with a 10 ft or 15 fot long line rather then to tie him to something.

I think that your behavioral expectations for this puppy are unrealistic!

Like Faisal suggested..crate the pup in a quiet area & even cover the crate with a sheet to help calm him & eliminate his watching what you are doing. Give him a stuffed frozen kong or a bully stick to keep him busy while in his crate.

His behavior sounds like a very frustrated PUPPY. Maybe he needs to be more engaged with YOU & not just tied out in the yard. Most pups do better with multiple short training session & lots of play time & some down time in their crates during the day. Some behaviors are better ignored.

Are you training him with markers? How are you trying to teach the quiet?

Have you owned high drive working dogs in the past or is this your first one?

As I recall, this is Samantha's first puppy .....

"Frustrated" is what leaps off the screen at me, too.

In addition to the important points that Anne is making, I'm thinking that a description of the pup's usual day might help.

Often, that "map" can show more pairs of eyes what might not be apparent to a first-puppy owner.



eta

(The 20-mile hike -- was that a typo, maybe?)

earplugs

At 3.5 months old (assuming that's right), my pup had only been home for two weeks so we were still working on a lot of base behaviors in the crate. I made sure he was EXTREMELY tired when he went in his crate for the night. During the day, more of the same...or I gave him a treat, usually a frozen kong or something like that. He also gets a handful of kibble when he goes in his crate...

At this point, he LOVES his crate. He goes in all by himself...probably to bribe me to give him so treats

As for being out in the yard, have you tried giving your pup something to do? I understand completely why you are putting him on a tie-out, and while I would prefer to tether the pup to me, I would work on teaching him that being in sight of you, but not right by you, is a good thing. This means occupying his time with something great!

Connie..Even 2 miles is alot for a 3 1/2 mo old puppy, IMO, plus many play times a day? But then I have w/l GSDs. I don't know if totally the same skelletal issues effect mals the same way as GSDs. Just seems like alot to me, mal or not. But then I tend to be more on the conservitive side.

Yes, a daily schedule would be helpful to see.

"For some reason all of my dogs have always understood what 'Quiet!' means from the get go. "

Dogs don't speak human-speak.

 Quote: anne jones

... Are you training him with markers? How are you trying to teach the
quiet? ...

I'd marker-train "quiet," too.

It would go this way with a very vocal dog (for me): I start with a fairly tired dog (just finished lots of playing outside with me, etc.) so the quiet moment I want to mark happens sooner.

Then I capture "quiet" as soon as it happens with mark/reward. There are a few ways to trigger it; the one I find pretty reliable is to stand there like a statue, looking away from the dog, and wait for the dog to stop vocalizing (usually in a "what the heck?' reaction to my unmoving presence).

BTW, this is a HV reward scenario for me. (Vocalizing is a self-rewarding behavior.)

As Faisal mentioned, rewarding the behavior with attention is the last thing you want to do. Once you have done so, there will be escalation before it's extinguished.

It's a self-rewarding behavior and the dog perceives that he can get the attention he wants with it -- double whammy. It's going to take some serious ignoring now, and well-timed M/R for quiet is going to need repetition. It's almost schizo: silent non-reaction to the vocalizing and springing into M/R for quiet.

It's related for me to how the dogs get to have the leashes put on (meaning wahoo! outside!). I stand like a statue, leash in hand, waiting for the door behavior I want and am teaching.

 Quote: anne jones

Are you training him with markers? How are you trying to teach the quiet?

This was my first question as I read through the post.

"Quiet" doesn't happen - it must be taught and rewarded.

If he is going nuts when the other dogs go out, then have one person work with the other dogs while you work on teaching the pup calm behaviors. You can google "crate games" for some fun ideas on teaching him to be calm in the crate.

If he must go on a tie out (only with you nearby) give him a training session, an appropriate exercise session and finally give him a yummy stuffed kong to work on while you are very close by working - then quit while he is still being calm. But I really, really prefer to kennel/crate my dogs if I can't be focused on them outdoors and there is no fence to contain them.