My puppy, Pippi, is always overly excited when meeting new people and other dogs. She's been socialized. As she often joins us out and about, has been hiking and camping with us and plus her daily walks, yet every person we pass, she loses her mind. She shakes her tail so feverishly her whole body wags, and she jumps and lunges, when I hold her back and shes very intrusive into other people/dogs spaces. I've tried to teach her to sit in Oder to greet. Which she will for a moment, until they reach to pet her and she goes back to jumping. I tell people to wait until she calms, but most people don't. As she doesn't calm. Which reinforces the behavior, I'm sure. She's great around me and the kids, she rarely, if ever, jumps on our family. We like having people over, but she is just soooo excited, she won't leave them be. Plus other dogs don't seem to be too keen on her enthusiasm. She was attacked by a pit at petco. While I think that was mainly the other dog, I think her enthusiasm and intrusive greeting didn't help. She's 17 weeks and getting bigger and harder to contain so I want this nipped in the bud asap. Thank you!
Hi there. It sounds like by the time you're right at the people, she's too close to be able to cope with it, so you need to start farther away. You can use family members to help out - get them to "meet" you while you're on a walk (far more exciting than if they come with you). This could even be them coming our of the front door when you're on your way back - I know how hard it can be to have people help out with "boring" training. Make them stand still and only walk towards Pippi when she's quiet and calm. As soon as she stands up, have them take a step back. You can also do it so she is only allowed to walk towards them when she's walking nicely - no pulling at all; as soon as she does, you stop and wait for her to be calm, exactly as you would when teaching loose lead walking. It's easier to practice this will set-ups than in the real world, but you can still do it with random people, as long as you're prepared to turn and walk away from them to increase your distance. Just shout out, "Sorry, I can't meet you, we're training" if someone comes towards you to say hi. Once you're standing with someone right there, I find it can be helpful to stand on the lead to stop the pup jumping up. You want the lead so that it goes from her collar to the floor and then up to your hand, so you need a long enough lead. If you normally have her on a harness, then just clip the lead onto her collar while you're stopped. You don't want there to be tension on the lead pulling her down, just have it short enough that she can't jump up at all. She'll soon learn that trying to jump doesn't work I'd also recommend having plenty of occasions where she doesn't get to meet the other person. Not all people are dog people and they won't always want to talk to her, so she has to learn that it's not all about her. Have very short conversations where there is no interaction with her at all. Not even any eye contact. And plenty of people who just walk straight past you without saying anything.
Hi! I am dealing with this majorly with my puppy Duncan now too. We go to puppy training with a professional trainer and other puppies his age 1-2 times per week & he has offered me a few suggestions which I have consistently tried for weeks and weeks and things just do not get better with this. Duncan is now 5 months this week & he is getting too big for me to continue trying to wrangle him and get him off of people and their dogs. I make him sit as people and their dogs are approaching on the sidewalk, which he will do for me, I make him keep his attention on me and look up at me to see if it is okay to say hi and when the other person approaches and coos at him or says their dog is friendly as soon as he hears them talk to him/as soon as they get close enough Duncan goes mad jumping up and dog basically doggy paddling in the air trying to jump up on the person/other dog and pawing the other dogs in the face, which most do not appreciate and I have to pull him off the other dog. I do not let him say hi to every dog or every person and haven't since we got him when he was 8 weeks old so that he did not think he got to pull me up to every person and every dog, but still when I do let him say hi to someone or their dog or someone comes up and wants to pet him he goes nuts jumping up all over them. I have tried asking people to please wait for him to calm and crouch down/try and keep the paws on the ground while they pet him because we are in training and this sometimes works but a lot of ppl instinctively pat their lap and coo at him when they are approaching basically encouraging him to jump up to where he can reach their lap and then they insist to me that they don't mind him jumping and I have to tell them I know but I do mind and I am trying to train him not to do it before he is full grown especially but I can't help but think that so many people doing this and saying "oh I am fine with him jumping up! he's so cute" is just erasing all the training I try to do The trainer also held his collar down somewhat in a couple classes to keep all feet on the ground and rewarded him with treats/praise whenever he was keeping all feet on the ground and not pawing the other puppies, but even when I have tried this on the sidewalk with other puppies / always reward him when he has been good with another dog /person not jumping up, etc. this still keeps happening and he has been basically trying to drag me over to other dogs the past week and every time he pulls I stand still like a tree and stop and make him sit but as soon as I start walking again he is trying to yank me over to the other puppy again and again With so many training tips from the trainer not working with this does anyone else have any good advice for us on what worked with your puppies and the constant jumping up on people and other dogs?!
You have to be hard on people. I got quite abrupt with them. I would put out my hand and say, very firmly, "PLEASE DON'T TOUCH MY PUPPY". They would normally look shocked and stop. Bingo. If I wanted to, I would then explain what I'm doing. Anyone saying "I don't mind", the answer is, "Well I DO", and explain that you don't want that behaviour when they're fully grown so you have to train it out now. Don't be afraid to come across as a bit rude - rather that than having a 30kg dog that's pulling you everywhere. If your dog is continuing to pull when you try to move forwards, it's because you're too close. Sitting/standing and walking forward are two very different things, so will have to be proofed at different distances. I found the same, that I could have a puppy that was sat quite calmly, but as soon as I started to move forwards, they'd pull. So, you simply make it easier for them by increasing the distance. I would start by practicing with a great lateral distance, so you're walking past the other person (maybe 10m apart, maybe farther), rather than towards them. Lots of C&T for a nice relaxed walk. If the pup can't do it, increase the distance and try again. When they're really happy at that spacing, decrease it so you're passing the other person closer. Gradually make it so you're passing by closer and closer, until you're walking in a direct line towards them. If he struggles again, go back to passing at some distance and start decreasing the distance again slowly. Then, you can go back to a big distance and increase the distractions. So, maybe have the person talk to you as you pass, maybe have them say the pup's name, eventually maybe have them trying to encourage the pup to them. Just remember that each time you increase the distraction, make everything else (distance, in this instance) easier, so you're not making it too challenging. Set him up for success
We are also having the same problems! She just loves everyone, especially other dogs. I can manage this at home. I let her meet people when they come over and stop her jumping and any silly behaviour and she is back in her crate for some time out. If I do this enough she seems to calm. Out the house it is another matter. i am trying to train attention on me and use better treats. But people and other dogs override everything she has been trained. Other dogs have been particularly problematic. Some friends have said she needs to play with other dogs more. But she gets so crazy, I think this just reinforces the bad behaviour. My trainer agrees and says she needs to see me as the most entertaining thing, and doesn't really need to play with other dogs..... I don't know what to do from here really. I just hope if I keep going consistently she will improve!
