My GSD pup is a little over a year now, and he has developed a horrible new habit. When I go to leave for work in the morning (particularly on Mondays) he gets very neurotic. He jumps up on me, tries to rush the door (which under normal circumstances he doesn't do - I did the whole door slamming training with him - probably needs some reinforcement now).

Then, if I leave or start to leave he barks and whines like crazy jumping at the door and me - knocking my coffee out of my hand and even nipping at me.

If I put him in a down or a sit he breaks his down or sit as soon as I open the door.

Twice a week my wife has a class in the morning so she leaves early, and I get up early to take him to the park or hiking. Otherwise, she handles his morning walks during the week. This was not always the case because she was off for the summer (and before I changed jobs I took him on a long walk every morning), but this schedule has become consistent over the last 2 months since the semester started and this behavior has appeared.

Certain cues will set him off. If I kiss my wife he knows I'm leaving, and will immediatly starting jumping on me. Or, if I grab my keys or my lunch he will start up.

I have temporarily solved the problem by telling him to go to his crate while I leave. He barks and whines while he is in it, but "Usually" won't break it. Although, sometimes he will put up a fight about going in it - (under normal circumstances I just give him the crate command and he runs right in by himself).

The crate thing works "most of the time" - not sure why he feels he can break a sit or down but not the crate. However, I would rather he was just let me leave camly.

Any thoughts? It has become very irritating. I have spilled coffee and begun to forget things like my wallet or whatever in the morning because I am preoccupied with this hyper dog.

He is old enough that he should be able to handle himself. I would think a correction is in order. May I suggest a good face slappin? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hmm. From what I've read around here and my own experiances with my 5 month old, it seems like you may have inadvertantly reinforced all this behavior some how. In general, my dog is out of his crate until he starts to act rowdy and if he doens't calm down. Then he goes in the crate, not for long, just till he calms down again, then he comes back out and we try it again. Maybe try that?

For instance, say your dog starts freakin out 20 minutes before you leave, put him in his crate for 5 minutes, let him out again. That right there might confuse him, cause as of now, everytime you put him in his crate you leave for the day.

Other than that I would say make sure you don't acknowledge the dogs presence for about 5 minutes before you leave, and after you return. Also try switching up your morning routine. Kiss your wife way before you leave, perhaps pour your coffee early, then just grab the cup on your way out the door. Whatever you can to keep the dog from cuing on your set of procedures.

If that doesn't work I'd just say after taking him out in the morning, crate him the whole time you get ready and until you get home from work (or someone else does). Hope some of that helps, its what I do and it works for me. Good luck.

Hi Matt, I'm no expert by any means but by your dogs actions it seems to me that your boy believes he is the leader of the pack, and since he cannot leave with you he cannot protect you, I would start with some back to basics
exerting yourself as the pack leader. When you come home do you ignore him until he settles down and then call him over , as well as when you leave in the mornings I would start with putting him in his crate after his morning walk and leaving him in it until you leave,your wife can let him out when she returns. When he is in his crate ignore him completely, after he starts to accept his crate time with a calm demeanor, you can begin to leave the crate open but totally ignore him still. if this is done consistantly over a period of time as well as asserting yourself as the alpha again you should have a much calmer dog on your hands when you leave.

The problem with my dog is not his crate. He is not freaking out because he is going in his crate. My wife is home with him and once I leave she releases him from the crate - the door is open. The only reason why I have started sending him to his while I leave is because he has started acting so obnoxiously.

I really don't think it is an Alpha thing and that he feels he needs to protect me. He is obsessively attached to me and actually acts depressed after I leave at the beginning of each work week. He has no problem with my wife leaving - he is not as attached to her.

My goal is to get him to stop acting like this without sending him to his crate - I'd rather he just watched me leave calmly.

Also, I don't ignore him when I get home at night. He gets very excited and used to jump up on me but now I put him in a down until I have gotten inside and put my keys down. Then I release him and runs circles around me in excitement for abot 5 minutes and follows me everywhere I go for the next 20 minutes or so.

Do you think ignoring him upon return will affect his morning behavior???

Have you heard of or read "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell? That would be a first step.

On these days when you are going to work at the beginning of the week are you taking the dog out for a walk before going to work? Part of it could be that the dog thinks he can go to, or just wants to and gets excited.

Also, dogs can tell when we are doing something, they can learn our "signals" like the keys, lunch, coat, kissing, etc. One way to handle this is to condition him to it. Try this on a weekend when you have a lot of time. Start to make your coffee, put your jacket on as if you're leaving and COMPLETELY IGNORE him no matter what he is doing. Putting him in a sit or down does nothing, cause how are you going to release him once you're out the door? How is it good leadership and training if YOU send him to his crate, and your wife lets him out? It is confusing and all of these things sends messages to the dog.

So try to work on just getting him used to the process, maybe pick up your keys so he hears the noise, but don't go anywhere, just move them. Or get all ready to leave and do everything you would normally do, but ignore any unwanted behavior and leave, then come back in after a very short time half a minute, or one minute, and again ignoring him when you come back in. Try going out the back door...if you don't have a back door, then leave out the front and come in another window. Anything. Use your imagination.

What you're trying to teach him is that it is just normal procedure, you are going to return (the dog can't really tell the difference between 2 minutes and 2 hours), but try practicing this when YOU have the time and are not stressed out by actually having to leave. Soon the dog should just see it as normal, accept that you're coming and going, and also accept that he gets NO attention or recognition for acting stupid. Don't even say anything to him when you leave, that can actually make it worse. And the same thing when you get home. Just ignore any crazy behavior. Come in, set your keys down, put your jacket on a hanger, say hello to your wife etc. and when you see that the dog has finally calmed down, and it's better if they even go and lay down then YOU can call him over to you and YOU can ask for the attention.

Following you around the house is actually also a rank issue, pack problem and if you read that book you will understand it in a whole new way and it even describes some of the real-life problems like you have. But of course it's too much for me to go into here. But just see if you can desensitize your dog to you actually leaving. Provide plenty of excercise when you are home and good luck!

Hi Michelle, how is the dog following you around the house a rank issue, pack problem? My dogs follow me around all the time, and we have no problems, just curious,
AL

I have never read that book. I'll look for it this weekend.

Sounds like a good idea. He definitely reacts to all sorts of cues. He will get worked up if I put my shoes on, or grab the keys even if I'm not going out.

On the days that my wife goes to school, I get up early and take him on a long hike or walk and come back home. By then my wife has already left so I get ready for work and put him in his crate - end of story.

On the days she doesn't have class and will be home for the day I just wake up and let the dog out of the crate and pet him then Make breakfast or whatever for 20 minutes or so. Then, when I get ready to go he acts up.

He also acts up on weekends when I go in and out without him, but not bad like on weekday mornings just a few barks.

If I go to take out the garbage he gets all worked up though. I have always just let him come with me. I didn't see any harm in him coming with me while I took the garbage out. But, we have neighbor dogs that have the run of their yard, and bark at any and everything that moves along the shared fence. When he was younger he mostly ignored them, but now he has learned to fence bark and without a long line and his prong I find it difficult to prevent the fence barking behavior while I am carrying out the trash and the recycling (I posted about the fence barking a while back). So, I leave him inside now, and he runs from the back to the front of the house barking and wanting to come out.

A few times he escaped out while I was taking the trash out the side door. After that, I put him in a down with the door open and the dogs barking at me and he didn't break it. I remember being impressed with his down and thinking I should continue to train him like that, but I quickly forgot about it.

I have a front, back, and side door so I'll start switching it up and practicing triggering the cues without leaving, and leaving without cues on the weekends.

Thanks for the advice.