Hi, I'd love some advice regarding Tess, now 9 months. I taught her not to jump up at me by clicking and treating on the ground but, in all honesty, she doesn't need to jump up to me because when I say hi I get down to her level. She doesn't jump up on our children but she does get excited and jump up at my husband when he comes home from work or downstairs in the mornings. I generally keep Tess under threshold when we're out walking and it's getting so much easier for us to walk past others without any problems (treat streaming but that's still amazing progress!). Because her self-control and focus are improving she's getting more opportunities to play with other dogs lately but when she's had a little play she'll sometimes go to say hello to the owner (I try to pre-empt it but not always successfully!) - she's very excited so she'll both jump up and/or flail around with her mouth opening and closing. I know she's not biting but I must admit it looks that way. So obviously I haven't proofed the not jumping up exercise but when I do it with her she never jumps up at me anyway! I thought maybe I could give my hubby a pot of treats to take to work with him so that when he walks through the gate at the end of the day he can leave his bags in the car and treat her on the ground but when Tess is jumping up at other owners I'm worried about throwing treats on to the ground because there are other dogs around. Other owners also say hello to her at dog training - I manage to give her space for most of the time but there are times when we can't help but be closer to others than she can handle. I also dread taking her to the vets and likewise - not because I think she'll be scared but because I know she'll be excited (especially when I take her in to be spayed and we won't be able to use treats!). Thank you
Hi! Sorry I can't be much help as I'm having the same battle with Ella at the moment. However, I might be able to offer some reassurance about the vet visits as Ella gets extremely excited too and we recently had her spayed. She only tried to jump once or twice when we got there and then afterwards she wasn't jumping for obvious reasons so I don't think it was a huge issue. Also, whilst it's no excuse and we will continue to work on it, I think vets understand that an animal might not be on its best behaviour in their company. When we're at training I just ask others not to say hi to her if she's in a nutty mood (most of the time hehe). Most people seem to understand and I have a couple of friends there that come and say hi when she seems to have settled down so that we can practice in a more controlled environment.
You sound to have 3 different things going on here: jumping up at your husband in the home; approaching strangers and then jumping up at them; being excited in the vet's. They are three very different situations, and the management/training techniques are different. With her jumping up at strangers, I'd say she really just should not approach strangers at all. Regardless of whether they have a dog with them that is playing with her or not. In this situation my first response would be to get her to turn away from the stranger. I'd concentrate on a really strong interrupter cue, and really be on top of the situation to manage her so she gets into the habit of not approaching people when you are out and about. Not jumping up at your husband is really, really, easy. Have your dog on a lead, and when your husband comes home, click her for not pulling towards him, and if she does have your husband back away. Rinse and repeat again and again until your husband can come in the door, give you a kiss, have a brief conversation with you and your dog does not rush forward to great him. This will probably pretty much do it to calm her excitement levels down about your husbands arrival but if she is still jumping up when you take off her lead then you have to repeat the exercise with a barrier but no lead - a door with glass in it is ideal, or a baby gate. Staying calm at the vet's is something else altogether..... Best of luck with it.
When I say "again and again" I mean over several days or a week - not altogether in one session. Although you could train by your husband going out the front door and coming in again. This would be the easiest starting point, rather than when she hasn't seen him all day.
I completely agree with Julie regarding strangers. We made a mistake with this one as we let Ella say hi to anyone that showed interest in the beginning as we thought it was good for her development and socialising. In a way it was good as she LOVES everyone but it's also created a whole new training issue as we're now working on being able to go for a walk without her trying to run to everyone!
Thanks both. I've concentrated on not letting her run up to people/dogs for a long time and we've made a lot of progress recently. We heel up and down until the other people are closer, sometimes we walk on by or let them walk on by and others I wait until they're level and I've asked if she can say hello, then I ask for a hand touch and let her have a short play. It's then that she sometimes jumps at the owners. It's still so exciting for her to greet people. Today my mum was at our house and I was so pleased that Tess rolled on to her back for a tummy rub instead of jumping up but then she weed all over the floor and rolled in it at the same time! I usually manage their visits by having her on her lead and clicking and treating for continuing to sit. I'll give it a go with hubby, thank you Julie!
Julie, when you say interrupter cue, do you mean something which makes her spin around and refocus towards me? She will do this for 'yes' and also 'Tess' as I trained that after I read control unleashed. Today we walked with my sister in law and her other half and she always tries to jump on them. It occurred to me to say 'yes' as she ran up to them but before she jumped on them and she came back to me for a treat each time. In fact hubby just walked in the gate with our daughter and took me by surprise and I did the same. After a few treats she was calm enough to be directed to her mat (which we're also working on) and after that she was fine
That's it. Obviously you want to keep on working on her turning away from strangers, and refocusing on you, and on not jumping on family and friends. In the meantime, make sure you keep your interrupter very strong by maintaining it - super treats and a few tiny sessions a day should do it (because you can sort of "wear it out" a bit with use as it's a cue that calls your dog away from something it wants).
Some great posts here - thanks. I am having similar issues with 5 month old Mossy. I do call her back when we are out and about and she wants to greet every person and dog. I am finding that lots of people think I'm overbearing a strict with my dog though, as she's so cute that 95% of people do want to stroke her!
Lots of people think that of me too MossyB - this morning I forced myself to go to a busier area and there were lots of people stood around watching their dogs play. I let Tess play for a bit but she was jumping all over one owner (who kept saying he didn't mind - but I did!) then a lady known to him came along and handed treats out to all the dogs, so Tess learnt that she can go up to strangers and nibble their fingers and attempt to jump up at them and get a treat for her efforts - wonderful! I put her on her lead and we left and I think we'll stick to our quieter areas for the time being ... Also, I need to make sure I always have sausages with me! This morning I had chicken tikka which I don't think she finds much higher in value than her kibble (Millies Wolfheart which does smell like something a dog would love - bleurgh!). Last week when I cooked up some sausages and took them out she was going nuts for them - not ideal either but she would barely leave my side! My husband and I are practicing greeting nicely when he comes in and it's going well
