Gareth and I looked ruefully at each other. Both of us were covered in muddy paw prints and slobber from the dog we’d just met. It was a very clear introduction to the problem we’d come to solve.
Max was a large, loveable, slightly scatty, very friendly, year old Labrador cross. He just loved people – and showed it by whining, barking and jumping all over visitors and anyone else he met when out and about. He was typical of many dogs we see who get over-excited by visitors.
Why do dogs get so excited by visitors?
Because they’ve been taught to show this behaviour.
I can hear your snort of derision. You’ve never taught your dog to whine at or jump all over visitors, have you? Well not deliberately, maybe, but that’s exactly what your dog has learnt.
Remember: Dogs do what gets rewarded.
So how did Max learn to get exited around visitors? There were several steps:
1) When Max was a cute puppy, some family members thought it was fun when he jumped up and licked their faces. Their laughter and fuss rewarded his jumping and licking behaviour.
2) As he grew, it wasn’t as funny. So the family started to tell him off. When he jumped up he heard “Get down Max”. When he whined he heard “Stop it Max” or “Shut up Max”. They pushed him away whenever he jumped up and stared at him when he whined. Max was rewarded by them talking to him, touching him and looking at him.
3) Visitors and people he greeted when out and about did the same thing – in spades. Either they joined in the admonishments, or, even more exciting and rewarding to Max, they squealed and shrieked.
So how did we help Max? We simply rewarded calm behaviour instead. We used his lead outside and barriers inside to keep him at a sensible distance where he wasn’t getting too over-excited then we heavily rewarded all quiet behaviour. And we pre-empted any jumping up by teaching him that keeping four paws on the floor and staying calm was much more rewarding.
Think about how you respond to your dog when he misbehaves – are you encouraging his unwanted behaviour or are you helping him to be calm instead?
Ask if you need help with your over-excited mutt. Check out the website to see what options there are.
Keep training
Carol