Losing Control
We conquered the mouthing; a chew toy. He will sit until he has the chance to molest the visitor. Stay is a momentary thing. When commanded, very loudly, to sit he will for a couple seconds then go right back into it. The next step is to leave a pinch collar on him (since it is not quick to put on) and attach the leash anytime the door bell rings. His behavior is embarrassing and annoying; for us and for his victims. It takes him about 10 minutes to settle in to someone new. His Beginner Obedience test is next week so he has had 7 weeks of obedience as well as Puppy Kindergarten. My wife travels and I would love to greet her at the airport with him but there is no way I would expose the people at DFW to him. He needs more people exposure but how do we do that progressively? |
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| I used to have the same problem with Maggie. My trainer recommended installing eye bolts in various areas around my house where I keep a leash attached, including one near but sufficiently far away from the front door so that she cannot reach whomever is entering when she is on the leash. Ideally, they'd be near a dogbed so the dog would view it as a good resting spot. I would hook her up whenever anyone came over and we'd ignore her (even walking away) until she calmed down. For this reason, it is better than holding the leash where you have to focus on your guest and the dog simultaneously. It works great - no pinch collar needed -- although it is something I still need to do from time to time. Another option is to put him in a secure area (crate, mudroom, bedroom etc.) and let them out on a leash after they've calmed down. Too excited or pulling? Back in the space, wait a few minutes and try again. Maggie still gets too excited sometimes but she quickly corrects herself when I leash her or put her in the mudroom. |
| Dahlia also acts like this and it drives me crazy. She is also only 7 months old and young like Dexter. We do 3 different things depending on the situation. 1) We put a leash on her and either step on it or hold it and put her in the sit or down/stay position. 2) We station her away from the door and in another room or upstairs until our guest is settled. Then, we bring her in on leash to say hello under our command. Neither way works that well and she can still be super excited. In class, they had you station the dog, and then the person would go towards the dog with a treat. If the dog stood up from the sit position or sat up from the down position, then the person would have to turn around and walk back a few steps and wait for the dog to go back down into the sit or down position. Once back in the right position, the person would approach the dog again with the treat. If the dog stays in the right position, the dog will get the treat and get to say hello. This does work, however, it can take awhile and patience for it to work. |
| I had a similar issue with my dogs a long time ago. I read on here to put the dogs in another room, and once the visitor comes in and sits down let the dog come out. It does seem to calm them down, and has worked for me. If they start acting up again, back in the room they go for only few minutes and then try to bring them out again. I've had an issue for a while with Violet and Asia going barking crazy when we are going out to the garage to get into the van. All three would get so excited, but Violet would start barking and so would Asia. It became a game between Asia and Violet, I think, who could bark the loudest and longest. Most of my floors are tiled and 10 foot ceilings, so u can only imagine the noise. I have finally broke them of it...I couldn't believe that it worked. So now, when we are going some place, I tell them "to relax". I keep saying it in a nice calm voice. I can usually feel Asia getting all excited, but she has learned to control it. If we start walking and one starts barking, I stop, cross my arms on my chest and say "we're not going". They stop barking, we proceed. Violet used to like to let out a bark attack once she reached her couch in the van...well now I tell her to "get out and go back in the house." She has stopped. When she climbs in and sits down and go to close the door and she starts, I open the door and tell her to go in the house, and she stops. I can't believe i honestly have that madness under control. It just take a lot of work and being consistant. Good luck! |
| You have to train your guests not to look, talk or touch the dog when they come in. As Valerie said, just walk by....ignore. Right now the dog is OH BOY they've come to play with me!!!! Like children, dogs need to learn it isn't always about them! It's part of the learning process. I'm glad you recognize it and will correct it. So many dogs don't get the direction and the owners turn them in saying, "The dog is uncontrollable." |
| We do a "sit, stay" before we open the door and ask visitors to not acknowledge him until he sits. As soon as the door is open the "sit, stay" is broken, we repeat it which normally requires physical help. When the visitor bends to pet him he loses it again. Rinse, repeat. We have a doggy play pen in the kitchen and give him "time out" in it which settles him a little but often ramps right up again shortly after he gets out. Last night he kept at my brother in law off and on for about 2 hours. Sit-stay, off, time out, no, repeatedly. I was correcting him so much I began to feel abusive! He is wonderful when it is only the 3 of us (provided he got some exercise during the day) and when he settles in to the visitor. Our female didn't like men, other than me, so stayed away from them, she acted like she had a kinship with women, would greet them calmly then be very respectful. Our previous male didn't jump or mouth but he lost body control and shook so hard he almost vibrated and rubbed and leaned becoming a general goof. He stayed that way right up to the end (13 years) the only change was his physical inability to be so enthusiastic. Both were very vocal when the doorbell rang. We will put his regular collar and leash on when we know someone is coming and put him in the play pen if he misbehaves, cycling in and out. We found that exercise is also a big key; if he didn't get any exercise or enough exercise he behaves even worse and longer. We WILL get through this! |
| I tend to think that the sit-stay is just expecting too much at this point when the excitement of visitors is added. Is it a good thing to train with the help of an informed participant but you need something else that works when it is not a training session so the behavior is not permanently ingrained. All the corrections become noise in the frenzy of excitement. For me, restrain and ignore until they are calm is what works best. Instead of putting him in the pen when he misbehaves, anticipate that he will, put him in there, and let him out when he behaves. That way you are rewarding the good behavior and he will get there sooner. |
I have also been dealing with some door manner issues with Millie. She gets overly excited when the doorbell rings and her whole body will wiggle uncontrolably. Then when the visitor entered the house she would jump up to give kisses.  This is what I have learned: She actually jumps more when leashed. It takes longer for her to calm down if timeouts are used. Commands go out the window as soon as the guest is seen. This is what works for us: Guests do not look at or talk to Millie,....they are My guests and only acknowledge me. I claim my visitors by using body blocks and only let her near a guest if she is calm. She has learned that if she does not behave, then I will not let her visit with our guest. It has gone from taking about ten minutes to calm her to now only about one minute. I am hopeful that very soon she will not require any correction.  She started with her bad manners at about six months and is almost good now at eleven months!!! So, be very perststant and you will be able to get him under control.  Good luck!!!!! |
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