Overly Enthusiastic Dog!

[Lisa Brencis]

I have a 2 1/2 year old pointer cross (adopted from the pound at about 4 to 6 months of age). The vet suspects that she's about 90% pointer, 10% bull-terrier or pit-bull. Needless to say, being part pointer, she has a very high energy level. The exercise thing is not an issue as I have a 1/2 acre fenced back yard. The issue is when I have company. She goes absolutely nuts! She is totally friendly and loves people but she just won't quit. Strange children are not a problem -- she does her thing for a few minutes and then pretty much ignores them. But adults! Wow! It's terrible! I don't entertain very much at all (like, 6 times a year) so it's not like I can expose her to numerous situations. It's not that she's barking at them -- she's constantly trying to get onto their laps, lick their faces, get them to play with her, etc. A non-stop bundle of tongue and energy! Other than this one issue, she's perfectly trained, knows all the tricks, walks well on a leash (with a Halti), automatically sits whenever I stop walking, retrieves, gives, blah, blah, blah. I have concluded (from reading) that obedience training probably won't help. That it's a socialization problem of some kind. She behaves much the same way in other family member's houses (although not nearly as bad) and is perfectly behaved in stores when she's leashed. It's at the point where I hate to have any adults visit at all and I have stopped taking her with me on visits to grandparents (they just can't deal with it). Once she gets going, she won't listen to me any more and, other than shutting her in a room or possibly tying her to the furniture, I just can't stop her.

Help! I'm at the end of MY leash!

Oh, and if it helps, I'm her adored one. If the other people have a dog, that's another issue. And if that dog dares to come near me... it's a snap-fest. But only if she's in a house (her own or the other dog's) -- she doesn't do the "defend the mother" thing if it's outside. In fact, her best doggy friend lives next door and often comes to visit but I've NEVER let him in the house.

[kalby]

I have a similar problem!

My 11 month old beagle goes cuckoo when he spots another dog that he can't get close enough to to sniff. He will howl and bark and even try to nip hands that are pulling his leash! We are trying to socialize him at puppy parks but we're a little nervous about letting a beagle off its leash! We freak out when he barks like a mad dog at 6:30 in the AM. And its even worse in the car!

What can we do?

[andria]

my dog siris is very similar. if someone even makes eye contact with her she wants to be in their lap within 3 seconds - she also is obsessive with her licking.. it's not like she'll give you a quick kiss and then accept a couple of pats on the head. it's lick lick lick lick lick lick.. she links faces, she licks clothing, she licks hands, you get the idea.

on a walk it used to be kids and other people that she found super exciting - i used food and a lot of praise and just talked to her a lot in a really happy and singsongy voice to keep her focus on me and not what was going on around her. if she still started pulling and trying to drag me over to whatever the distraction was, it was a quick pop on her martingale collar, and a low growl from me ("ah - ah!" i say in a very low growly voice... )she gets the picture and starts paying attention to me and then i go back to the singsongy voice (si-ris, heeeeeel!" ) and she's back on board.

i still do have to use the growly ah-ah and pop when we see another dog though - if i don't she'd be yanking me around the block after another dog. she's only so-so with most dogs - i can never be sure which ones will set her off, but for now i'm just trying to gain control of her when we pass other dogs. the key is the growl really has to be LOW - it's totally embarassing to do it in public when you first start - you definitely turn some heads.

in our dog school class our teacher uses it all the time - she calls it "talking dog" and i have seen it work with AMAZING results.
the martingale training collar (very humane) is a huge part too - and timing your pop with the growl.

hope this helps.

[beagle_baby]

I have two beagles and they are overly friendly as well. If a stranger comes in my house they go nuts running back and forth and jumping on people, they even make long dashes and jump at your legs which really hurts (even bruises sometimes). One of my beagles even whines, yelps and shakes because he is soo excited. But I don't think that this is a socialization problem because I have company over every weekend and they still do this. Sometimes when I go outside for five min. and come back they act as though I was gone for days. But I do have some advice that might help. I know that my step mother loves dogs and when she comes in she gets excited and fusses over them and they get really excited when she comes more than anyone else and I read a book one time that said to stop a dog from being overly excited is too completely ignore it. Which means if company comes over they should walk right in the house and not even greet your dog, and if your dog demands attention they should turn their backs to your dog until your dog can calm down. I've never tried this but it sounds like it might work.

[Soroush]

Originally Posted by beagle_baby

I have two beagles and they are overly friendly as well. If a stranger comes in my house they go nuts running back and forth and jumping on people, they even make long dashes and jump at your legs which really hurts (even bruises sometimes). One of my beagles even whines, yelps and shakes because he is soo excited. But I don't think that this is a socialization problem because I have company over every weekend and they still do this. Sometimes when I go outside for five min. and come back they act as though I was gone for days. But I do have some advice that might help. I know that my step mother loves dogs and when she comes in she gets excited and fusses over them and they get really excited when she comes more than anyone else and I read a book one time that said to stop a dog from being overly excited is too completely ignore it. Which means if company comes over they should walk right in the house and not even greet your dog, and if your dog demands attention they should turn their backs to your dog until your dog can calm down. I've never tried this but it sounds like it might work.

Works like a charm on my 3 months old puppy and she's not even trained.

If she even remotely feels that you're going to give her attention she'll try to enter your body through any hole that she might find! If you ignore her at first she'll jump up and down and licks your feet, but after a few seconds she'll calm down. At that point she totally understands that playtime starts and ends when you want it to.

IGNORING is the key. Ignoring means not even looking at the pop from the corner of your eyes. It's about singing and talking to other people pretending like the dog is not even there. Walk right by it and don't even look down!

[Prin]

I'd also try tiring the doggy out like crazy before the guests come over. That might give you a head start.

[domesticzookeep]

Some of my fosters have been very similar - here's a couple things that might work.
Is the dog permitted to lick/play with family members in the same manner that you have described (ie. unsuitable 'guest' behaviour?)? If so, practice 'training' with her at home to let her lick/play with you and then teach her "enough" (or whatever command u want to use) to let her know it's time to stop - then see if a friend or family member would be willing to be subjected to coming over to be 'licked' by your dog - and use the "enough" command to further the training.

Alternatively, Bitter Apple spray can be used to teach a dog not to lick/nip/mouth skin, clothing, etc. Ignoring the dog when they do this has also worked for me. (I really don't like dogs to lick my face and discourage this with my guys by ignoring them if they try it.)

Giving the dogs a really good run during the day also helps - if this fails, I've given in and bought them a really great bone or chew toy to occupy themselves with when guests are coming over. The first few minutes are always hectic when someone new comes in, but if everyone 'ignores' them, they always go back to chewing their new bone.

When guest come in, you can also try leashing the dog, and stand on the leash with just a bit of slack. When they try to jump up, there won't be enough slack, and would be equivalent to a 'pop' while walk training. They learn it's not pleasant, and eventually stop doing it.

Good luck,
C.