Foster puppy Xena gets so excited to see me that her brain temporarily overheats and shuts off. This results in her barking hysterically, leaping through the air, spinning in circles, and smashing into everything in the immediate vicinity until she cools off a bit. I've been patiently addressing this issue for weeks now and it has only gotten worse.
Standard Arriving Home Procedure:
1. If dogs are loose in house, wait outside until barking/flailing ceases.
2. Walk in the door and ignore dogs while putting down bag, keys, etc.
3. Continue to ignore dogs until barking/flailing ceases.
4. If Xena is crated, wait until she is quiet and offering a sit before letting her out.
It's not working. She is not getting any less hysterical when I arrive home. She still takes 30-60 minutes to chill the **** out enough for me to let her out of her crate. Sometimes I don't even have that long to wait before I need to leave again, and then I have to pick whether to release the beast or just leave her crated for a few more hours until I can try again.
I am getting very, very tired of being barked at and clawed furiously every time I get home or let her out of the crate. She's way to excited to take treats or really do much of anything in this state, so I'm running out of ideas. I don't want to walk in the door and immediately squirt bottle her into submission, but I really need her to be less of a tornado. Where am I going wrong here?
Standard Arriving Home Procedure:
1. If dogs are loose in house, wait outside until barking/flailing ceases.
2. Walk in the door and ignore dogs while putting down bag, keys, etc.
3. Continue to ignore dogs until barking/flailing ceases.
4. If Xena is crated, wait until she is quiet and offering a sit before letting her out.
It's not working. She is not getting any less hysterical when I arrive home. She still takes 30-60 minutes to chill the **** out enough for me to let her out of her crate. Sometimes I don't even have that long to wait before I need to leave again, and then I have to pick whether to release the beast or just leave her crated for a few more hours until I can try again.
I am getting very, very tired of being barked at and clawed furiously every time I get home or let her out of the crate. She's way to excited to take treats or really do much of anything in this state, so I'm running out of ideas. I don't want to walk in the door and immediately squirt bottle her into submission, but I really need her to be less of a tornado. Where am I going wrong here?