5 month old freaking out when I'm in the kitchen

[Lenie]

Hi all!

I had previously asked some questions about Lottie, my almost five month old puppy, and got some great advice so I was hoping to get input on a behavior we are currently struggling with. 

When someone goes in the kitchen and touches ANYTHING (opens cabinet, drawer, fridge, a dish, silverware, putting water on to boil, etc.) Lottie just freaks out. She jumps up and bites at the counter/dish/drawer/door/etc., barking, and goes crazy! When I cook, I've been putting her in her crate so she doesn't hurt herself (she almost burned her nose by jumping up and trying to get a pot that was on the stove) but that doesn't work because she barks, jumps around in her crate, bites at the wire, hard enough to move her crate across the floor and loud enough to leave my ears ringing. I've tried putting her crate in another room but she still hears me in the kitchen and reacts the same way. The only way I can cook is to put her outside in the fenced back yard and keep an eye on her through the kitchen window which isn't the ideal solution because she hasn't been left alone in the yard much and I'm not entirely comfortable with it.

Has anyone else had a dog do this? She has done it since she was a young puppy--it probably started when she was around 8 or 9 weeks old. I'm frustrated because I cannot even open the fridge or make a cup of tea without dealing with her freaking out and I could use some advice on what to do!

Thanks you!

[jami74]

I am a very long way from being an expert in either border collies or dog training but I'm answering because no-one else has.

Do her meals come from the kitchen? I wonder if the behaviour started as excitement about food and then frustration that it didn't come quick enough. Or maybe all the smells and noises are too stimulating for her. Or could it be that it's the one place where the attention isn't all on her?

If this was my puppy I would firstly avoid letting her anywhere near the kitchen if I, or anyone else, needed to be in there cooking or doing anything which excites her. Is there a room away from the kitchen where she could wait, maybe with some noise to block out kitchen sounds like TV or radio? Maybe with a Kong or a chew? I would try to avoid whatever it was that set her off.

Then, I would try to train her a better way to behave in the kitchen. I would take a step inside the kitchen with her and if she was calm then mark (praise/click/special word) and reward (calmly of course, not by playing tug). Then if she could do that okay I would move about a bit, nowhere near the counters or doors, just about in the middle, and mark and reward for calm behaviour. I might ask her to do her tricks in there (sit, down, paw etc). I'd expect to have to do this a lot, maybe several times a day until she could calmly enter the kitchen do her tricks and calmly leave again without going crazy. Maybe the first few times we'd only get as far as one little step in, mark, reward and out again. Or maybe she could already do all of this without a problem.

Once she'd got the hang of this and was calm I would practice her down-stay in a specified place in the kitchen. I would put a mat or blanket down in a place where I'd be happy for her to lay while I was cooking. I would take her into the kitchen and ask her to lay in her place, mark and reward. Then I would take a step away, mark, return to her and reward. Then I'd take two steps away, mark, return to her and reward. Then three (you get the picture). I'd switch it up a bit, sometimes only one step, sometimes a little dance around the kitchen. I would always return to her before rewarding so she knew she had to stay in her special place until I had released her. I would do this on a number of different occasions, for a few minutes several times a day. Eventually I'd have taken enough steps away that I could touch something, mark, return to her and reward. Over time I would build it up, once I could touch something I might open a cupboard very gently, mark, return to her and reward. Maybe it wouldn't be too long before I could put her in her place and move something from one cupboard to another cupboard. I would keep building it up slowly over time, soon I'd expect her to wait in her place while I made a drink. One day, in weeks or months or years she would even lay in her place while I cooked a meal.

I would expect to get through a lot of treats and a lot of repetitions in the beginning.

[Lenie]

On 9/16/2018 at 10:19 AM, jami74 said:

I am a very long way from being an expert in either border collies or dog training but I'm answering because no-one else has.

Do her meals come from the kitchen? I wonder if the behaviour started as excitement about food and then frustration that it didn't come quick enough. Or maybe all the smells and noises are too stimulating for her. Or could it be that it's the one place where the attention isn't all on her?

If this was my puppy I would firstly avoid letting her anywhere near the kitchen if I, or anyone else, needed to be in there cooking or doing anything which excites her. Is there a room away from the kitchen where she could wait, maybe with some noise to block out kitchen sounds like TV or radio? Maybe with a Kong or a chew? I would try to avoid whatever it was that set her off.

Then, I would try to train her a better way to behave in the kitchen. I would take a step inside the kitchen with her and if she was calm then mark (praise/click/special word) and reward (calmly of course, not by playing tug). Then if she could do that okay I would move about a bit, nowhere near the counters or doors, just about in the middle, and mark and reward for calm behaviour. I might ask her to do her tricks in there (sit, down, paw etc). I'd expect to have to do this a lot, maybe several times a day until she could calmly enter the kitchen do her tricks and calmly leave again without going crazy. Maybe the first few times we'd only get as far as one little step in, mark, reward and out again. Or maybe she could already do all of this without a problem.

Once she'd got the hang of this and was calm I would practice her down-stay in a specified place in the kitchen. I would put a mat or blanket down in a place where I'd be happy for her to lay while I was cooking. I would take her into the kitchen and ask her to lay in her place, mark and reward. Then I would take a step away, mark, return to her and reward. Then I'd take two steps away, mark, return to her and reward. Then three (you get the picture). I'd switch it up a bit, sometimes only one step, sometimes a little dance around the kitchen. I would always return to her before rewarding so she knew she had to stay in her special place until I had released her. I would do this on a number of different occasions, for a few minutes several times a day. Eventually I'd have taken enough steps away that I could touch something, mark, return to her and reward. Over time I would build it up, once I could touch something I might open a cupboard very gently, mark, return to her and reward. Maybe it wouldn't be too long before I could put her in her place and move something from one cupboard to another cupboard. I would keep building it up slowly over time, soon I'd expect her to wait in her place while I made a drink. One day, in weeks or months or years she would even lay in her place while I cooked a meal.

I would expect to get through a lot of treats and a lot of repetitions in the beginning.

Thank you! I will try what you’ve suggested and hopefully it will work! 

[jami74]

1 hour ago, Lenie said:

Thank you! I will try what you’ve suggested and hopefully it will work! 

Let me know how you get on. My puppy journey just seems to be a series of desensitising to various different things. Every time I think I'm getting the hang of it, I find something else that we need to work on.

[Sue R]

One other thing you might consider is whether or not there is a noise (microwave beep, smoke alarm, etc.) that originates in the kitchen when you are working in there, that has distressed her and caused her to associate you being in the kitchen with something very anxiety-provoking to her. I have had one or more dogs that were very reactive to certain high-pitched sounds and this is one thing you might want to rule out as a source of her reactions. 

[GentleLake]

^^ That's not an unreasonable guess by any means. She was probably in a fear period at the age when it started and dogs can make all sorts of strange associations that have no real connection to whatever initially triggered the fear.

I had a young dog who was scared silly when she crashed into an oven rack I'd taken out of the oven because I needed the extra space while processing soap. She was running through the kitchen and ran into it. She not only became very noise sensitive because of it, but also associated the slick floor with the incident and became terrified of all smooth floors. That led to an association with agility because there was a slick floor leading into the building, then the bang of the teeter, then clickers, even other people's. She became so terrified of anything having to do with agility training that I had to stop with her. It was pretty awful for her.

I don't know that this is what's happening with the OP's dog, but it seems like spending some time focusing on desensitization in the kitchen when you're not cooking is probably the way to go . . . paired with putting her in the yard while you are cooking so you can focus on that with triggering whatever's going in her head.

Best wishes. Situations like this can be tough to deal with.

 

 

[Lenie]

That makes a lot of sense. She does seem to react more strongly when I use the microwave and it beeps or I get silverware and they clink together. It may be the noises that are causing her anxiety. She can be in the kitchen with me without any problem and we often do training sessions in there. It's only when I open a cabinet or drawer or get something off the counter, etc. that causes her to react. She is a very anxious dog to begin with. I've been working on trying to get her more confident. She's extremely food motivated so that's helpful. Her anxiety seems to have increased lately as well. I've taken her almost everywhere with me since she was six weeks old and she has met so many other people and animals, but she's very shy with them and lately she has begun to nip people she doesn't know when they try to pet her. This worries me of course so I'm trying to find the point where she stops being comfortable and try to increase her comfort level from there if that makes sense. For example, she's okay with people walking past her if they aren't looking at her. She gets anxious when people stop to look at her though and that's where I need to figure out how to slowly get her comfortable with that and eventually get her to the point where someone can touch her without her getting anxious. 

She may never be a sociable dog and I don't mind that. But her level of anxiety right now with everything is so high that I need to figure out how to ease her anxiety somehow. I have noticed that people looking at her bothers her and I thought maybe it's because she takes that as a challenge. The first thing people notice about her are her eyes and they always comment on them. I imagine they are looking directly into her eyes and I think she is uncomfortable with them. People who aren't looking at her don't seem to bother her at all.

She's a funny dog! It has been a rough few weeks though as I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle her. I've never had such a quirky dog and sometimes she baffles me. She does well in house training except when she is in her crate and she pees and poops in there all the time now even though she used to never do that. We've got a lot to work on!

I won't lie, I was in tears this morning because she is just so wild and she is having so many problems. It's difficult to enjoy her right now because she is constantly causing problems. Biting, peeing and pooping where she isn't suppose to, jumping up, going wild, barking, and she never settles down. She barely stops to let you pet her and forget trying to cuddle with her! I know she will be a great dog but we are going through a rough patch right now.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

[Lenie]

On 9/19/2018 at 12:22 PM, jami74 said:

Let me know how you get on. My puppy journey just seems to be a series of desensitising to various different things. Every time I think I'm getting the hang of it, I find something else that we need to work on.

We've been working on this for a couple weeks now and I've found that she has no problem with me being in the kitchen doing things if it's preparing her food or putting peanut butter in her kong, etc. She's perfectly well behaved and quiet even if I'm getting silverware out or opening cabinets. As long as what I'm doing is for her! Perhaps her behavior isn't fear related?

We are working on training sessions in the kitchen and practicing down and stay. She's doing well with that too other than her puppy impulsiveness occasionally winning and she breaks the stay. I'm working on increasing the amount of time and soon I'm hoping to try adding in doing small things in the kitchen while she's in stay. Slow progress but progress nevertheless! 

This weekend, I took her to a dog fair and she did amazing. Despite all the dogs and people who were there, she was fairly calm and relaxed. Several people wanted to pet her and I'd give them a treat and she would take it from them. It was such a relief to see some progress and have her not be anxious. Now if we can get some improvement in her potty training then I will feel a lot better!