how can i stop my dog going nuts when my husband leaves the room or the house?

Question

when my husband goes out of the room or out of the house my doberman dog goes mad running round the house grabbing things he nows he cant have he jumps up at me and he also nipps at me he is only 1 year old any idea what i can do to calm him down when my husband is not here

Answer 1

This is separation anxiety. The best way for you to treat this is for you and your husband to completely ignore the dog when you home. Don't even make eye contact with it and if it jumps up, then turn away. Don't speak to it for at least 5 minutes or until it settles down. Once quiet, you can lavish attention on your dog. It is very hard, and you feel cruel doing this (I had to learn to do this myself) but it does work. The dog then sees you and your husband as pack leader and it removes the responsibility from the dog. With separation anxiety, the dog mistakenly thinks it is the pack leader therefore, it goes mad with anxiety when you are out of sight. Much like a mother would if her child was lost. The only way to deal with this is to relieve him of the responsibility by practicing what I have told you. Good luck.

Answer 2

Well for a few days make sure he's not paying attention to the dog. If it's hard for your husband tell him it's just for a few days. When your husband is leaving the house and your dogs jumping and barking at him make sure your husband's not paying attention, ignoring the dog, pretending it's not there. After a while your dog will get the point that it's not acceptable or wrong to go crazy when your husband leaves the house.

Answer 3

Change the nuts to bananas, then that way the dog can go bananas when your husband leaves.

Dogs like these you can get too spoiled. You husband has to be forceful with the dog. They crave attention, so when your husband is around try to play with the dog.

My boxer used to follow me when I first left for work. I had to tie him up. Then when I got home he JUMPED all over me. I found by paying more attention to her, I cured her of this problem. Some dogs are not be be just fed and left in the yard. They can get like kids too. Best to start now to train the dog with you, because at two years, the nips will go to bites.

Answer 4

Some people are total assholes. Well I know WHY he acts like that..your husband is the leader of the pack and your dog has an instinct to follow him wherever he goes. As to how you can stop this behavior, I can only think of behavior/training classes with him. But, if you dont want to spend the money, when he acts like that I would just grab his collar (dont hurt him, but make sure you've got a good grip) and sit down next to him and make him sit down with you. Then, calmly pet him (while still holding his collar) and talk to him, maybe even bring out a toy and give it to him. Just take his mind off of your husband leaving. And if anything you try works make sure to give him a treat everytime hes good and he'll learn that if he wants a treat he has to be good. Good Luck!

Answer 5

This is not usual behavior for a dog that was before fine with being left then staying at the kennels for only 3 day and now acting like this. I would be very very concerned on the treatment they gave your beloved pet! Don't ever take him back there. Ask your vet to recommend a good kennel next time. I think he is very scared he'll be going back to the kennels. Give your poor dog a lot of love and patience -in time he will hopefully forget his ordeal!

Answer 6

you need to bond with this dog and get the dog to respect you better. enroll in a training class together. when you husband leaves have the dog on a leash, as soon as the dog begins to act neurotic in any way, say no and tell the dog to sit. once the dog calms down give praise. each time the dog tries to get up and run around stop it before the dog gets up, place the dog back in the sit position. keep doing this. the training class will help you better bond with the dog and teach the dog you are to be respected also. good luck.

Answer 7

Try watching Dog Borstall on BBCthree, its been on tonight.

The having him on a lead sounds good, each time he is getting away with this behaviour it is reinforcing it in his brain its the right thing to do, ZERO tolerance, stones in a bottle to shake each time accompanied with a stern NO! or water squirter with the NO command.
A year old is old enough to take a rattly bottle or a water squirter. You both need to ignore bad behaviour and really praise good.

Big dog to have taking the mickey!

Answer 8

We adopted a very high drive, exciteable dog and on the advice of our vet were able to find an excellent obediance class that worked wonders (both for the dog and for us). Our guy even earned his AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate!

One of the key things we worked on was learning separation skills. Maybe your vet can help you find a training class based on positive reinforcement.

A one-year old doberman probably still has a lot of "puppy" in it, and with a good, positive reinforcement based training program (and a lot of practice and patience) you can shape that bundle of energy into a wonderful member of the family.

Answer 9

We tend to think of dog training as a series of steps for teaching particular behaviors. To teach a dog to stay in a particular position, you reward her as she remains in place for gradually longer times, at gradually greater distances, with gradually increasing degrees of distraction. Read more https://tr.im/Wxmdm

Now, this is fine, training does involve teaching dogs specific behaviors with a step-by-step approach. This week, though, I’m going to discuss three mental habits that will not only enable you train more effectively but also make life pleasant for both you and your dog.

Answer 10

Put him on a leash, then when the hubby leaves, make him lay down and stay there. If he does good, treat him. One of my dogs used to do that, and I would make him lay down or sit every time he got hyper like that. He has learned to stay calm if he wants attention.