You have already received great advice from people ... I just have a different take on this.



When I read that part, especially the bolded words, I immediately thought of Pavlov's Dog.

From the Noble Prize website page on Pavlov:



So, if 90% or more of the time Saber sits at the top of the stairs she gets to go out and play fetch (which she LOVES), she's been conditioned to expect that action and her reflexes (reactions) are based on her conditioning.

Here's what I would do. I would start having her sit at the top of the stairs for about 5 seconds, then release and reward and DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.

My pack learned that if we were sitting on the couch and turned off the tv right around 6 pm that they were going to get fed. They would jump up and race to the kitchen. To minimize the craziness we started turning the tv off and on and back off and on and off and on and ... well, you get the idea. Now the dog don't instantly react to the tv being turned off.

Thank you for all the descriptions and also Lies for the video. I made a point of having her calm (didn't ask for a sit, just waited her out until she stopped spinning and "watched" for a few seconds which is her default behavior when she doesn't know what else to do) and then released. she caught on quickly because I also wait for a "watch" without command when feeding her or offering her anything she wants like a tug or treat. So now she *does* either not spin/scream or stops very quickly for ME. However she still is going nutso when my boys take her out. She does not offer watch to them, ever. So I just need to have them be consistent about not releasing her while she is screaming and spinning. I will also go up and downstairs with her throughout the day but not go outside. Great idea.

This screaming/spinning has already bled over into other things. Actually before she started doing it at the top of the stairs, she started spinning when I was trying to do OB work with her. I would call to front and she would get to me and spin. Or I would have her finish and she would spin to heel position... or while heeling, she'd randomly spin. I fixed this by moving to lower value treats. I got a ton of spinning of she knew I had steak or fish stashed somewhere as her reward. So maybe that was her food drive leaking? It is resolved now that I use kibble or cheese.

The other time she screams is just recently she has started screaming if I leave her in her crate and go out the door. OMG you'd think someone was stabbing her, the sounds she makes!! She has been crate trained since I got her, always has loved her crate and still does, goes in on her own etc, and does not make a peep when I crate her to eat, or at bedtime, or even if I crate her while I am in the house. But suddenly, if I crate her and walk out the door she just shreiks to high heaven like she is being tortured. Just this morning I went out in the yard to cleanup poo, and I could hear her inside screaming bloody murder the whole 15 minutes I was out there!! She sounded very distressed. I don't know if she was spinning or not but I have never seen her spin in her crate. Anyway as soon as I walked in the door she stopped and was quiet. I didn't let her out for about 5 more minutes but she was perfectly behaved.

Not sure what gives and why she is suddenly doing this stuff!

i bet that the first time she screamed bloody murder you immeadiatly ran back in to check on her (i dont blame you as i would have to). maybe even siad OMG are you ok opened the crate to examine from where she was bleeding... she probably remembers that time and thinks if she continues screaming you WILL come back....

Shawn, has she ever been left alone in the house at all? Just wondering if she's not getting anxiety attack from being left alone.

Also, is it possible to just let her go downstairs without making her sit and wait for a release? What is the point of this routine?

Oksana, yes, she is left alone for an hour or two most days, sometimes twice a day, but she is crated. She never seemed to have an issue before with it. This crying is new behavior.

The point of making her wait for me to go down stairs first is to avoid being knocked over or tripping on her as I go down. I have bad arthritis and need knee replacements, so I taught her to wait at the top of the stairs and let me go first when she was a puppy. It also came in SUPER handy at dock diving, when other people were getting knocked/yanked down the wet stairs from the dock by their dogs, but Saber did her usual thing waiting for me to go first.

Ok, then it seems like she thought you were playing in the yard without her, and she wanted to come and join. Kinda the same behavior as described in "barking in vehicles' thread.

I see now why wait and release on the stairs, makes sense. What about if you modify it a bit and let her go ahead of you? She will go downstairs and sniff or pee and wait for you to come down slowly.

She definitely wanted to come and join me!

Maybe all the noise is part of her growing up. She is almost 15 months old. The nice thing is she is so smart and wants to please, so generally she is good about stopping something she knows I don't like. It's just perplexing when something new like this crops up!

I used to think she had zero ball drive. she would not chase a ball, or fetch, or show any interest until she was probably 8 months old. Now it is crazy ball drive. She is definitely maturing and changing.

Shawn here's an even better video of Pan screaming when he gets the bring/retrieve command http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCfz8ES3Qbg

Lies, that's just how Saber sounds except she goes onnnnnn and onnnnnn! Pan is looking great, to me

Sounds like Havoc too, to include the yip bark as he takes off. Havoc squeals as I get the dumbbell off the holder too. I touch it and back up, touch it and back up, repeat til he is quiet.