Window licking and spinning with Charlie the Border Collie

Our Jesmond Dog Trainer has recently been to see the lovely Charlie and his family as he is displaying some odd behaviours!

Charlie is a lovely pup that is super well trained and a really calm dog, usually.

He has started displaying the behaviour in the video, where as soon as he is in the kitchen he licks the door until he’s let out, then spins, barks and watches from the corner.

Realistically, this isn’t an issue to Charlie’s mental health or danger for anyone else, it’s driven solely because it’s got him access to the outside where he has a burst of energy.

The issue here is his guardians having to constantly clean the window and not wanting to annoy the neighbours with his barking in the early mornings.

It’s definitely the first time I’ve seen this exact behaviour, so this was quite a fun session!

Here is what we did:

• Placed a bed by the door and taught him to relax there when he goes into the kitchen, even if the door is open

• Used another door with a lead on Charlie to prevent rehearsal

• Taught him to wrap a bucket (run around a bucket) which was placed in the outside corner.

This will mean that when he goes into the kitchen he goes into his bed, then when he is released outside he will run out, around the bucket, and back to his guardian without spinning and barking.

When dealing with things like this, we need to think about what we want the dog to do instead, rather than just what we want them to stop doing.

Charlie did really well and this behaviour will be replaced in no time!

Well done Charlie and Co.

If this case sounds like your dog and you are having a similar issue, or a different issue entirely, book a FREE assessment call with us by clicking HERE.