Embarrassingly over excited!

[bagpussy]

My dood Barley (7 mths) is driving us potty when she meets anyone (this can be in the house, on a walk, on the lead, off the lead) as she almost bursts with excitement. Even if she sits down she tries to paws the person (all very friendly but desparate for contact). Her claws are really strong (not sharp) and even very nearly drew blood on me the other day. Another thing she does when we are greeeted by her in the am is that she walks on the back of our heels trying to get really close to us...ouch!

I worry about little kids - e.g. a tot came running up to her today with her hand stretched out wanting to pat her. This was great but I panicked that she might paw her face or worse jump up, even though I was holding her firmly down!

It was funny/cute when she younger but now it's a problem. There is one friend of my daughter (18 yrs old) who is virtually savaged (with love) by her when she walks through the door. Apart from the usual commands of 'down' and 'no' and pulling her into a sitting/lying position I'm not quite sure of how to handle it.
Apart from a few recall problems this is really her only fault (apart from chewing all my onions up, etc, etc). She's a wonderful dog and really quite placid in the house.

I'd love to hear any stories or advice.....................

[Barneyboy]

If her claws are that sharp, they may need trimming (can you hear a clicking noise when she walks on a hard surface indoors?)

Sadly, by finding it funny when she was little, you may have encouraged it - never tolerate anything from a puppy that you wouldn't want an adult dog to do.

All is not lost however. Train her not to paw by a) teaching her to sit when ever she meets somebody (drop a loop of lead under your foot to keep her sitting, but not throttle her). Teach her not to paw by turning away from her for a second whenever her paw comes off the floor - it may need two of you to practise this at home first - one to keep her in the 'sit' and one to act as the 'stranger'. Slowly rack up the excitement potential of the 'stranger' until you are working with younger and younger children (with parents permission). A really good trainer will be able to help, and going to training classes will give the opportunity to train this. Clicker training may also be worth looking into.

[oops!]

hi there.I understand how a bouncy big dood is getting a bit of a worry but dont be dismayed!she is still very young and with consistent reprimanding you will see a difference as she matures.Mine calmed down a lot after their first birthday ,she will be fine I am sure.best of luck, Donna.

[bagpussy]

Thank you for your replies.

I don't think we encouraged her to jump up, etc, when much younger. My mother had a lab who did this which was very annoying and I positively stopped this from day one! We purposely play down her excitement by ignoring her in the am when we get up (tips from the dog whisperer!!!). We're doing lots of reprimanding so hopefully she will get the message soon.

She seems quite bright in getting the message in other areas so there's hope yet!!!

Hey ho!

[Barneyboy]

Sorry, your first post said

It was funny/cute when she younger but now it's a problem

Dogs don't need us to actually praise them or give them a food reward to find something rewarding - she will have known that you found it funny....

Just reprimanding here may eventually work, but it really is far more efficient to teach her what you DO want her to do instead - hence my comments about teaching her to sit to greet....... Just one of the ticks of the trade (now I know why Gwen Bailey used to say when training me as a Puppy School tutor don't expect people to take seriously advice you give for free, they will take a lot more notice if you charge for it)

If you are ignoring her, then she's doing this to get your attention. It will eventually stop, and some behaviours are best ignored, but then you will experience an 'extinction burst' where the behaviour gets worse before it gets better - Dog Whisperer not tell you that? Why aren't I surprised............

[Gypsysmum]

Im finding this with Bella aswell although she is only 14wks tomorrow. She is great with my oldest daughter who is only 3 1/2 but shes a nightmare with my youngest, 20mths. She runs and jumps on her which 9/10 knocks her down. This obviously results in my girls screaming and terrified of her for the rest of the day. Im very firm on her but she takes no notice and certainly doesnt think not to do it the next time. Any ideas how i could stop this? I try my hardest to always be with them, but my 3yr old had a habit of letting her out her crate as soon as my backs turned

[Barneyboy]

Put a secondary clip/fastening on the crate that the 3 year old can't open?

[daffodil]

We've had Buster since the 25th May, so it will be 8 weeks soon. As he had been locked up constantly by his previous owners he would become very excited at the doorbell ringing by barking once to let us know someone was there and then he would jump on the person coming in through the front door. Now when we leave the house for work we ask him to sit and for a paw. When we return or anyone visits we ask him to sit. If he does not respond on the first command we turn our backs on him and he will normally settle very quickly, literally seconds! and sit and then ask for a paw. For our dog loving visitors who like him to jump on them we ask the flip both hands up and touch their collarbones. This is the signal to allow him to jump up and greet people. Unless this is given he is not allowed and will be reprimanded. If he is compliant he is rewarded with a treat. This approach seems to have worked wonders on Buster since he's arrived, first few days he was an angel (trying to figure out the rules!) and then Buster's true colours appeared - naughty, cheeky but cute. He's a charmer so he thinks he can get away with anything but he has quickly realised in this house that isn't the case...

[Becky Watson]

Our pup Alfie gets very excited when we come downstairs after getting washed and ready for the day. He's always jumping up with joy and wanting attention.

The first thing that my husband taught him was to sit, so very early on we established that he wasn't going to get any attention until he sat down.

Now he sits down when we emerge from the stair gate...his little tail wags like crazy and his bum keeps bobbing off the floor, but he knows that unless he sits he's not going to get the attntion wants. Everytime he does sit he gets loads of love.

It's really worked for us. In the first few weeks he used to go mad humping my leg for attention but he seems to have gotten over that now - except when we are heading up the stairs, then he grabs on and hangs on to our legs for dear life!

Something our dog trainer tried with another dog at puppy classes the other day was to approach the dog with a treat but everytime he jumped up she turned her back on the dog. Then she tried to greet the dog again but because he jumped up she turned away. The third time the dog didn't jump so he got the treat and lots of praise. He learnt it pretty quickly...could be worth a shot but of course it's always different with kids in the house cos the dogs often regard them as equals and therefore romping mates!

[Saramel]

From the outset we have insisted Dexter sits before he gets attention and he is brilliant with me but with anybody else, he just keeps jumping. He doesn't seem interested in treats so that doesn't encourage him. I have tried making him sit and wait until the door is answered which he does until the OP steps in and then excitement takes over. He is 7 months old and I was hoping we would have cracked this by now but obviously not. Any suggestions gratefully received.

[bagpussy]

Just re-reading this post and thinking how far Barley's come (nearly 11 months old ) since writing it.

Barley is still prone to getting a wee bit excited when anyone comes to the house (a new house now) and when we come home from being out. She's learned that she has to sit in order to get any attention and does this amazingly well...she sits really still with her tail wagging for England until we go down to her. She sits very calmly as we praise and pat her (in a very relaxed non excitable manner) then the moment we stand up she goes bonkers again. We've tried really prolonged contact while she's sitting but it's as if she's a wind-up toy and until she's unwound she can't keep still!

She's also getting better with people, she's not SO in their face now and is learning to meet and greet rather than meet and flatten! We're still a long way from where I'd like to be but at least I can see the progress...............

She was spayed on Monday and had her bound back by Tuesday.....talk about ..'tie me kangaroo down...! D