Help! How to stop puppy whining/jumping at the door outside?

[jesslangley2]

Hi, I have a 6 month old puppy and we've been doing lots of obedience training with him. For the most part he's doing really well, but he is SO discontent when left alone and jumps/whines at the doors outside.

My husband and I both work from home, and during work hours we need to keep him outside because he is still destructive and distracting when inside (unless we watch him every second). He has everything he needs outside - big fenced yard, large covered porch if it's raining, bed, food, water, toys - and we always give him lots of attention and playtime before and after leaving him alone for a few hours. It's never longer than that. But he hurls himself against our doors and whines and cries and barks - for two hours sometimes - and it's driving us CRAZY! We have never let him inside when he does this because we don't want to reinforce it. We have tried ignoring him and using a spray bottle out the window with a firm "No" right when he jumps.

When it's time to come inside we command him to "sit" and "speak", which he does, and then he gets a treat and can come in. But when he has to stay out...he doesn't stop jumping and whining.

I know it's important to be consistent, but nothing seems to work: I don't know what to be consistent with! We've been working on this for about 2 months with no progress. One of the doors is a glass sliding door, and as he gets bigger I'm genuinely concerned he's going to smash through it one of these days.

Any advice? Your help appreciated!!

 

[Kaiser2016]

Ah, you've discovered the Velcro feature. But the whining, that's just the worst. How can such a regal and dignified dog produce such guttural sounds?

The solution: Bring him inside...and teach him to settle.

Half the 'problem' you're seeing is because the breed is designed to be close to you. You both work from home? That makes you the ideal owners of this dog. The other half of the problem is what I call psycho puppy mode. It will take time and patience to get through this phase.

 

[Ddski5]

Exactly what Kaiser2016 said.

1. He is 6months and still puppy/teenager personality of not really listening and doing what he wants.
2. Velcro and wants to be inside with you no matter how well he is set up outside.

Mine was the same exact way at 6months, busting through our French doors, wanting to get in. Big back yard, cool toys, beautiful day/weather, etc..... but I was not out there, I was inside.

Kaiser2016 again- Want to save the door, let him inside...and teach him to settle.

Mine is 14months now, and after the months of training him how to let us know that he wants in, he will do this correctly but it does not make him want to stay outside. He will sit outside of the door and wait for me to let him in and I can’t leave him out there if I know he wants in.

 

[Dogs4Life]

How can such a regal and dignified dog produce such guttural sounds?

LMAO

 

[Tropicalbri's]

This breed was bred to be with their person. They are definitely not an outdoor living type dog.
They are sensitive to weather changes and other fearful things in large areas. Having too much space can be overwhelming for them.
You would be wise to invest in a good dog crate and start crate training him. (With the crate inside the house)
They can be near you (which they need) and will feel safer in a den like area since dogs are den creatures by nature.
A crate also provides a safe environment when you don’t want them loose in the house where they can destroy things or possibly ingest something and get a blockage. You can use baby gates to block off a safe area for them to be in where they can’t destroy anything while your attention is on your work.
The behavior you are describing can develope into separation anxiety which is a hard behavior to break a dog out of as they age.

Their security is in being able to see you and know you are close by, that’s why they are called a Velcro dog. They need to be around you for their emotional well being.

Regardless of being bred as a person protection breed, they need the interaction with you inside the home and always be supervised when outside. Being left outside creates a lot of behavioral problems.
He will soon learn to settle in his crate when put in there and to settle in his gated areas inside. That is where the consistent training comes in.
He is in his doberteens and it is a challenging time for you but that’s where your training comes in. Placing him outside does not teach him rules, boundaries and limitations. This is done by consistent, assertive but calm training.

 

[Viemarangelrock]

He wants to be with you. It’s in his blood to naturally ‘check in’ on you and know that you are safe.
They are definitely inside dogs that need to be with their families. He shouldn’t feel isolated outside. Remember, they are highly intelligent and very very curious. If he stays outside, alone I’m pretty sure it’ll lead to more unwanted, destructive behaviour, like digging.
He’ll be an outside dog, when you are outside and an inside dog when your are inside.
Lastly, because their coats are short, they are unable to tolerant extreme weather/climate conditions.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Also developing a trust and respect bond with your Dobie can only occur when they are with you.
They need to be able to trust you and with that trust and intensive training they learn respect for you as their leader. They need to know they can trust and count on us to be a true pack leader otherwise they will not trust you to lead and will attempt to assume that role themselves which will make your training of them even more difficult.
These dogs uh...Dobermans are extremely intelligent and given the opportunity, love to please their leaders.
They love to learn new things but grow bored easily with repetition of things they already know so variety is key to keeping their attention.

 

[JanS]

I agree, he needs to be inside with you or you're going to have problems from here on out. As stated, crate train and keep the crate where he can be near you during those times you keep him outside now. They might sound off at first, but if he's left outside by himself he'll never be happy. They do learn to settle in the crate and find it their own little safe haven in a fairly short time.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I will preface this with: You want to be sure your Dobe is bonded to its family. You don't want your Dobe to decide that your home is not where it wants to be. At six months, I would be hesitant to do the following, but:

I've always found it pretty effective to, when a dog is barking/scratching at the door, go to that door and open it and make it clear that I am not happy with that dog. Seems to me this sends the message to the dog that what they are craving – to get into the house – is not as appealing at they thought.