:)...Jumping; but not on people

[tlkng1]

Good evening

I have a new rescue; a now 11 month old black lab female called Spirit. A little insecure, she jumps on doors to, I am guessing keep me in sight, to the point that she has punched out the screen in the back door by jumping through it to get to the inside of the screened in porch. She had to jump a good 3 feet from a dead standstill in order to get through the upper section. She also puts her feet up on the outer "sill" area of the screened sections of the porch. In general, she wants in and instead of barking or whining, she jumps to see if I am there. Now, I have used the standard tricks of a squirt bottle, and, it works as long as she knows I am there. As soon as I walk away out of her sight, she jumps again and then immediately hops down if she even sees me. I take this to mean she knows she is doing something she shouldn't, but, she is smart enough to have figured out that unless I see her, she isn't going to get wet. I have tried the turning the back and even making her sit before I allow her in, but, it hasn't stopped the jumping. I am guessing it is more anxiety/insecurity related than just lab excitability.

She isn't real secure about noises just yet so I hesitate to use the shake bottle at her until she is more comfortable. Right now, a motorcycle, loud muffler and sirens makes her run for the door but once up on the deck she is OK. The first couple of weeks she would just about climb the door to get inside.

As an aside, I am her third adoption in less than 10 months; she's been with me for just a month now. She is people shy but warms up eventually; no aggression, just shrinks back. I also have a 3 year old lab mix, Shiloh, and they get along great. Shiloh has taught Spirit a few things about people and Spirit does take some of her cues from Shiloh if she is unsure of something. Spirit is getting better and really is a sweetheart and a typical lab. She just has some leftover issues from being bounced around at such a young age.

Thanks

Terese

[kuritsa18]

Hello!

Sounds like you have a few problems.

Sounds like she has some separation anxiety issues if she is jumping up on doors to find you or see you or freaks out when you are out of sight or leave. This is very hard and time consuming to change. It takes a long time to teach them to stop but it can be done through propper training. Also, it sounds as if this behaviour has become accpetable or wasn't stopped when she first did it. Maybe she started doing it and the first few times you didn't notice or think it was a big deal but now it has become a problem. I am refering to when you said she would climb over the door to get in, etc.

Another issue is dominance, obedience and leadership. Your dog is not taking you seriously and thinks she can get away with bad behaviour and do whatever she wants. this should be unacceptable. If your dog is not listening or is disobedient you have to make them listen because they are testing you to see how far they can go or get away with. If they learn they can get away with things they will do more and the behaviour will get worse; basically don't be a door mat to your dog and show her who's boss. Also, the dog doesn't decide you decide when to give attention, affection, and let her inside. Whining should only be acceptable to ask to go the bathroom.

Remember when she is good, behaving properly, obedient, etc give lots of praise so it re-enforces the good behaviour. Are you giving a lot of attention for this bad behaviour? Maybe she has learned this is a good way to get your attention. Try to pay as little attention as possible. Give the correction and walk away. Also, try setting her up for failure. If you know she will jump on the door when your are gone even though she knows its bad then set her up. Make it seem as if you have left by leaving the room but wait around the corner and spy on her. As soon as she thinks you have left she will jump on the door and run quickly with the squirt bottle and say NO. then leave. It is a training exercise and will have to be repeated. I would also recommend taking her to a trainer to work on the obedience and so you can learn how to be the "pack leader" for your dog. They can also show you how to deal with the separation anxiety.

Just remember that she is a rescue dog and will have many problems that need to be delt with. That is probably why She has been in three homes now. Dogs usually don't end up in a rescue centre for no reason and most of the time have behaviour issues. But don't give up because with the propper training, leadership and love your dog can change. It will just take a while. Dogs are very loyal and labs are supposed to be very smart so she can learn; just have patients

[HarringtonZoo]

My husband and I have 5 pets and all of them are rescues. We had a German Shepherd that had jumping problems and was very sensitive to loud sounds too. It took us a few months to get him to stop. We would invite him with us, whether inside or outside, and intentionally make loud noises. We would go into a confined area like a fenced yard or bedroom and act like we were working on a project and ignore him. We'd mow the lawn, drop pots and pan, use a skill saw, etc. for a minute then stop. He would whine and pace within the area but we ignored him. After he started to calm down a little, one of us would direct him to sit and stay and then we'd turn and do it again. After about 10 minutes, and he was calm, we'd praise him and leave the area. I think it was an anxiety issue and it has to be corrected by commands and showing him that nothing was going to happen to him. Eventually, he stopped showing signs of anxiety when he was with us but continued when we were away (ie - 4th of July). After a while, he just stopped. Good luck!