[leah]

i need help with kimber. she's about 6 and a half months old now and at some point in the past few months she's developed this very obnoxious habit. when i let her out to potty she finishes and runs back to the door and jumps on it and barks loudly. it's not a normal dog bark. this is a bark you might hear from a dog that is being beaten with a stick or something... at least i'm sure that's what my neighbors think!
i don't know what to do. i know that letting her in when she does this just makes it worse but i don't want to leave her out there screaming and throwing herself on my back door. it's not every time she goes out but it's alot of the time and usually either really late at night or really early in the morning when my neighbors are probably still sleeping!
when i open the door to correct her, of course, she stops.
i don't know what to do! any suggestions????

 

[shilohsmom]

Sounds to me like she just doesn't want to be left outside. Is she mostly an indoor dog? At 6 1/2 months shes a bit young to be left outside in the dark (just my opinion) and I think she's trying to tell you that. Good luck
Rosa

 

[aaron.whitney]

oneshotkimber,

It is kind of hard to tell from your post, may be seperation anxiety or she just wants in and has learned that her method gets the results she wants.
How much training have you done with Kimber, basic obediance, etc? When you say you let her out do you mean you put her out or do you go out with her?
When we moved from Germany to Texas in the summer, my puppy acted up at first when he wanted in (hated the heat) but an "enough" and "sit" worked for him. He learned quickly that the door only opened when he was sitting by the door, and all the jumping and barking wouldn't work.

 

[mastercabman]

sounds to me like seperation anxiety.you can try by putting her in a room,leave the room,shut the door, and see what she does.you need to work with her for seperation.my 2 gsd's are pretty bad about it,but i'm still working on it.it takes time but it's getting a little better.what you might want to do is to stay outside until she is done.then you can slowly go in leaving the door open with eye contact.then leave her out ,for 20-30 seconds.until she feels better to be outside by herself. just a suggestion.

 

[leah]

ok here's a little more detail. i usually put her and my other dog ellie out together. they love to play and run around the yard. there are even times when i have to bribe them to come in. she could have only been out there for a few minutes or she could have been out there for as long as 30 minutes. it's like all of the sudden she will realize she's not in the house and she will just start throwing herself at the door. it's basically her way of saying she wants in. she doesn't do this in her crate or in any other rooms of the house. it's just when she's outside. like this morning i put the dogs out to potty and i make their breakfast. if she is distracted in the yard and playing she forgets that i'm inside. but if she happens to see me through the door she remembers and wants back in. does this help any?

 

[mastercabman]

Originally Posted By: oneshotkimberok here's a little more detail. i usually put her and my other dog ellie out together. they love to play and run around the yard. there are even times when i have to bribe them to come in. she could have only been out there for a few minutes or she could have been out there for as long as 30 minutes. it's like all of the sudden she will realize she's not in the house and she will just start throwing herself at the door. it's basically her way of saying she wants in. she doesn't do this in her crate or in any other rooms of the house. it's just when she's outside. like this morning i put the dogs out to potty and i make their breakfast. if she is distracted in the yard and playing she forgets that i'm inside. but if she happens to see me through the door she remembers and wants back in. does this help any?

if you were to stay outside does she stays outside?

 

[leah]

oh yeah without a problem. i think the issue is more or less she doesn't want to miss something that's going on inside while she's outside. i would have a terrible time keeping her out there for any period of time if ellie wasn't out there with her.
basically i need suggestions on how to correct this problem. i can't open the door cause then she's stopped. i'm tempted to get a shock collar....

 

[aaron.whitney]

Personally I would never use a shock collar on a puppy. With a puppy at your dog's age I like to keep all training positive.
How much training does you puppy have so far? Have you completed a basic obediance class with her yet?
I think that you are correct that opening the door will only reinfore her behavior. I have used the sit command as an off switch for all 4 of the GSD puppies that I have had over the years with great results.
Your puppy is at the age where she may be going through a fear stage. Is she skittish about other things that she was not a bit ago? Could something in your yard be causing her to run to the door and bark?
I really do not have any other suggestions on how you could correct this behavior without being outside with your dog.

 

[leah]

she's completed both puppy preschool and the basic obediance classes.
she's not going through a fear stage and she's not skiddish.
this is just a behavior that i think she's picked up because in the past when she would cry or bark at the door i would just let her in to keep her from disturbing the neighbors. now that she's bigger though, it seems to be a much worse problem.
i've been using a spray bottle with water. it has worked pretty well. now she will jump on the door, cry loudly, and then run before i can squirt her....

 

[Cooper&me]

Go out with her in the early mornings and late eve. I think if you do this for awhile you will break the cycle. When she does go out alone TRY to make the event short so you are asking her to come in before it has become an issue with her.

 

[leah]

if i go out with her then she's so much more obsessed with me being out there she won't even do her business! i think it's her age. she's getting better slowly but surely... hopefully she will just grow out of it alltogether