Reply To: Chris (access until November 15, 2014)

[Alana McGee]

one of the things i really want to train her away from is over excitement when meeting new people/strangers/dogs. how much of this is trainable? how much will she grow out of? when we are in a busy public space or there are many people/dogs she is very calm or panting/wanting her den. when someone is new one-on-one or in private she can get very excited and bark at them and/or jump up on them. traci seems to just ignore this as puppy behavior. do you have a technique for staging a houseguest/door knock scenario? our last big dog was the worst at jumping on people and our second to last big dog was the worst at charging and barking at people, especially on the beach. we are trying to avoid these behaviors. what does it take to get a dog so on a mission and un-distracted as the dog in this video? also, is this video for reals?:

Some of it may be puppy behavior but I think you are astute to want to address it. Some of it may dissipate, but it may not and it may actually get worse if self reinforced, so i think you?re astute not ignore it.

One of the thing I would teach- and it can take a bit of time, is a ?go to a place? or ‘go to a mat? cue/ command. This means every time Daisy goes to that mat she gets cookies. Work on sit/ stays there.

Practice with knockin/ door set ups but put the mat close to the door. someone knocks. Ask Daisy to go to the mat. Even if she doesn?t, if she gets close, click/ treat. Slowly raise the criteria for what she gets a treat form.

The idea is every time someone comes to the door she would want to run to her mat and stay there thinking TREATS ARE COMING IF I STAY HERE. And then do, reinforce that treats do come if she stays there. You can practice this at dinner times, and other times too! You can stay by just putting her in a sit/ sit/down/stay on the mat, and then work a few feet away from it and see if you can get her to go there. Aka Say ?Mat? throw a treat/ lure her on the mat- click treat again. Rinse, Repeat

The other thing is very similar but basically to teach a command that is contradictory to

The problem with this is it requires more impulse control. If she REALLY wants to jump up, it?s what she REALLY wants to do, so sitting still can be tough. It?s possible to teach- but takes a lot more will power on Daisy’s part- but she may be just perfectly capable of it. But she is a puppy still so impulse control is hard.

So when someone comes to the door. She can come to the door, but before the person can come in she must sit. If not- door closes. That?s it. No more fun for daisy. Door opens, Daisy sits, person gets to come in and giver her pets?. and progress along those lines. Daisy doesn?t get pets unless she is calm-ish? Don?t expect the world and a zen like Daisy over night. Takes time. So reward Daisy incrementally- just like you would for any other training. If she?s slightly less barky- reward when someone comes in, if she gets half way to a sit- awesome. What she likely wants, like most dogs alert barking at new people, is attention (but i?d have to see it to know). So give her that attention once some of your criteria is met- aka slightly less barky/ and calmer!

I wouldn?t ignore it.

If you?re out in public- calm is great- panting likely means she?s a little stressed- so I would reward her for times when she isn?t panting and is calm but positively interactive and build confidence. Even just verbal praise.

Example- one of my dogs is similar. She?s not a big fan of cars on the road. When a car goes past she doesn?t flinch but her body tenses, so, every time she doesn?t try to create more distance between the car and herself ( it used to be quite bad) she is verbally praised for a job well done. Don?t force Daisy into situations where she is obviously uncomfortable- but if you notice her being calm and relaxed Mark that and praise her. Good Girl. Good job just hanging out with all these weird people going by and not freaking out. Just because she doesn?t react much in those situations doesn?t mean she?s totally at ease. We?d like to build to the fact that oh yeah, being in public is the best! But mild panting doesn?t have to mean more than she is slightly stressed. But If she seems relaxed- praise that! Good marks for awesome behavior you like!

Also as for the house guest- there are lots of kinds of barking. Depends how long she goes on, what that barking looks like etc. But try the impulse control games-= mat tricks