My Charlotte is 1yr Yellow Lab. She is a great pup. Behaves well and listens well. My problem is when someone else comes to the house. She goes crazy! Mad barking and hair standing up. Once we have her greet the person she stops acting mad but then jumps up on them and wont calm down. She gets so over excited that twice I have had to put her in her kennel because I cant control her at all. Which then defeats the purpose of trying to get her to socialize with other people nicely. Any ideas?
Hi - I have an anxious greeter as well. He’s 15 months old. He started barking when people entered the door but after about 30 seconds of realizing they aren’t an intruder would leap up trying to lick them, not leave them alone, mouth at their hands to play etc. I honestly think it could be nervous energy, over excitement, it’s hard to know exactly what they are feeling. It’s almost like they have conflicted emotions and it results in some crazy behaviors. When we have people over, our pup goes into his ex-pen at the back of the house 5 mins before arrival. We let our guests in to say a proper hello then release our pup with a chew toy, yummy bone, Kong, etc. It’s been by far the best management tool. There is no barking, he’s happy to greet everyone, not any anxiety (at least from what I can notice) and there is less chaos and not as much jumping up since he has something to focus on (bone, Kong, etc.). We also make sure he gets plenty of exercise before having people over!
My dog is 1.5 and he still goes a bit nuts when people come into the house. He wants to greet them and smother them, but it can be a little much for people who don't know my dog or interact with him like I do. The over excitement takes about a minute to wear off and then he's fine. It's gotten a lot better in the last year or so, so just keep on training and time will take care of it.
Thanks for your input! At least I know Char is not going nuts and other pups have this issue that they have overcome.
My 8mth lab is normally calm indoors _ until the door bell rings. Good on walks until she sees another dog or jogger, then she's an embarrassment . What to do _ she suddenly doesn't listen!!
