ourwully Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 I apologize for bringing this topic up again but I am making very slow progress with Juno with regards to meeting people and dogs. She just loves to meet new people and new dogs but she gets so excited that she wants to jump on them. I have tried a few things but I am still struggling. Do you think I should be more strict with Juno or do you have any suggestions on how I might best approach these situations. So far I have tried doing the following things: 1. I have used the Look at That game with good success from a distance but when we get close it is less effective. 2. I have her target my hand with treats when we are closer and this is effective at times but not consistent. 3. I have her sit when we are about 10 feet away and calm her down using either of the two methods above. Once she is calm we move closer but only if it is at a controlled speed. If she lunges we move back and start again. This has been fairly effective but often when we get to one foot away she loses it. Often my resolve fails at this point and I let her meet the dog or person. This isn't good as she then can be jumping and squirming in excitement. 4. I get down to her level and speak to her to calm her down first. Again this works but she loses it as soon as we are really close. The one area where I am really struggling is when she is loose with her friend Kaley the black lab. They run around like crazy enjoying themselves but every once and a while she will jump on Kaley's owner before I get a chance to do anything. Kaley's owner doesn't mind as the jumping is getting less and less every day but it is still a concern to me. Any thoughts? Thanks Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 You really need to have people who are willing to work with you and your dog, to help establish good habits and self-control. We have one that is overwhelmingly-over-friendly (Dan) and nothing we did worked well until our grandson took it upon himself one week to work with Dan. He only rewarded Dan with attention when Dan sat for him, and that attention from a child was so worthwhile to Dan that he carried that behavior over (often) to adults and others. The problem we face is that when Dan is rude, so many people just go ahead and talk to him, pet him, let him jump up, and say, "That's okay." Well, it's not okay with me and I will go and get my dog and remove him when that happens. He's improved a lot and if everyone would just turn their back and say, "Sit" and only touch or talk to him otherwise when he's sitting, he would be miles ahead in his manners. He doesn't do these things with Ed or myself because he knows better and how we will respond, he is hugely improved with the grandkids (it just takes the reminder of them saying, "Sit"), and he would be good with adults *if* they would only respond appropriately. How come it's hardest to teach the grown-ups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Isn't that for sure!! I have an overly friendly one too, and he will pee on your foot for good measure. Kids will listen to directions about what they should and should not do. Adults won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Some kids certainly will but others, I have to admit, won't. I had tried for a long time to teach the kids how to respond to the dog in a manner that would teach and reinforce good manners in the dog, and be positive for the kids. This was the first of the grandkids that actually decided to take me up on it and try it, and Dan thinks he is the most special child in the world because Eph worked on this with Dan. And it spilled over into behavior with the other kids who, seeing how successful Eph was, have tried to do the same (at least to a degree). But adults? Not usually. They may just be too set in their ways. The ones who treat a dog like this the right way are the ones that understand dogs and work with their own dogs right. Anyway, it was a big positive for Dan and now the grandkids enjoy him more because he is not impolite with them in his eagerness to love them. Thanks to Eph! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RemsMom Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Nattie is also an over friendly dog. We started a puppy agility class two months ago and the instructor has really helped with getting Nattie to greet people politely. The instructor will ignore Nattie if she jumps to greet but will praise and treat her if she greets with a sit. The instructor will even call to Nattie at random times during class to give her more practice. Since starting the class we have gone from jumping when greeting 100% of the time (unless I held her down so she couldn't jump) to greeting nicely in 70% of the time. Could you get Kaley's owner to help you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Ooohh, impulse control is soooo hard for some of these guys. I have two super friendly dogs. I blame myself for not being consistent enough, but I also have a hard time finding another person to help me with training for proper greeting behavior. The most effective method I have found is to rely on the dog to develop self control himself/herself. I was less effective with supplying treats from my hand for proper behavior. The other night at agility class, I asked another handler to help me with greeting behavior for Kiefer. I acted as the post. i.e. I just held the leash. The dog could be standing or sitting next to me (preferably sitting). My friend approaches from a distance, I say nothing to the dog (i.e. I don't tell him to stay. He has to do this without direction.), and at a certain point, Kiefer just couldn't help himself and he had to get up and try to run at and jump on my friend. The leash stops him. I do not jerk the leash. I do not say a word. I am a post. The nanosecond he does get up, the helper should turn and walk away. I bring Kiefer back to my side and reward him for sitting. Other person approaches again, dog gets up, person turns & walks away. Rinse and repeat. I think that after 5 repetitions, Kiefer was doing a fairly admirable job of staying at my side while the person approached. When I learned this is at puppy obedience class about 15 years ago, the dog was supposed to sit at your side while the other person approached and shook your hand. Then you have to go out and find about 100 more people to help your dog practice the behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourwully Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Thank you for the suggestions. It looks like I have to enlist some help and really focus on this particular issue. This is truly a difficult one because you are happy the dog is friendly and other people are happy to greet a puppy in any way, yet the jumping poses such a serious problem down the line. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMP Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 I had the same problem and totally agree with Sue R in regards to "training the adults". "Oh, it's okay," is usually met by my response of:"No, actually, it's not." I resorted to my favourite method of teaching control for unwanted behaviours such as jumping by teaching them to jump ("up") and then teaching them the counter command ("off"), rewarding both. I find it helps make the dogs understand that "up" is not bad - it is just a behaviour that needs to be invited. Like getting on furniture in other people's houses. It's how I teach many things. I find if I give a name to the unwanted behavior, let it happen in appropriate circumstances, the dog makes the connection better and understands what "off" and "no up" mean - so I have a preventative command I can whisper in situations she is likely to be tempted to jump up. Works for me. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourwully Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Thank you CMP. Once again, the response is outside the box, but it makes perfect sense to me! Juno should enjoy being trained to jump! Cheers Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 It is tough to find people who will do exactly what you ask. I really wanted to teach Tessa to nose touch other people's hands on my cue (so she would send to them to nose touch) and I would have her come back to me for a treat. I could not get people to stop feeding her themselves for the touch and/or trying to pet her after a nose touch or two, and part of the point of the exercise was for her to learn that she could interact with people and they would not insist on trying to pet her!! I finally ditched the exercise and just let people feed her first as last (with Tessa this is appropriate - it would not be for all dogs) because I could find so few who would do what I was asking. Hopefully the OP will have better luck with that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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