# Not excited to see me????



## first golden (May 19, 2013)

I was just at my 3rd puppy class with my puppy who is 11 weeks old, after class the trainer and I were talking and she is concerned that my puppy is not excited to see me. She said that we are spending too much time together so there is no excitement when she is with me. 

She is my first puppy and I want to have that close bond with her, so I am not sure what to do. The trainer said I should crate her more when I am home and when she comes out make it an fun and exciting time for her to see me, and play games and train ect..then place her back in the crate. 

What I am currently doing is when I am home and hanging out she with me in the kitchen (puppy proof) so we play a little and she hangs near me while I am on the computer or doing work, I only use the crate when I am gone from the house or can not watch her.

I was wondering what you all thought? and I am curious if anyone else had a similar issue..


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I'd say your trainer is nuts. 

My dogs are with me every moment that I'm home - nobody ever said that's affected their bonding with me. 

Puppies are not going to be as bondy as a 6 month old who will not be as bonded as an 9 month old who will not be as bonded as a 2 year old.... you know what I'm saying here? It takes time, training, fun times, love.... bonding time.... to build a close bond with your dog.

You do not have to deprive your puppy of attention and love just to make him excited to see you. That's crazy.


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## janababy (Jan 2, 2012)

I could not have said it better Megora. I think your pup is just fine!!!!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Your trainer is clueless! There are varying degrees of excitement to see their people. Does she really want your puppy to give you an excessive greeting that we all try to train against or a tail wag or what exactly? Sheesh!


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## USAFWife74 (Jan 13, 2013)

What?!?!?! That is THE craziest thing I have ever heard!!!!


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

I disagree with the trainer. You cannot expect a tiny puppy to be excited to see their owner at class with so many different things to look at. 


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## Bellazmum (Oct 22, 2012)

I totally agree! This trainer is speaking nonsense! 


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

I think your trainer should find another career.


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## ashleylp (Jul 23, 2011)

... I would DEFINITELY NOT listen to the trainer. Spend all the time that you can with your puppy. The stronger that your bond is, the better she will respect you!


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## first golden (May 19, 2013)

Thank you so much for your reassurance, I know that bonding takes time, but she is so young, I did not want to do anything wrong :--dumbfounded:


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have to also say that I completely disagree with your trainer. Bonding takes time and commitment on both your parts and to deny you & your puppy time together speaks of a clueless trainer.

I would suggest finding a new trainer as well - if your choices are limited or you are so inclined, Agility-U is starting a new set of their puppy training series  My Brady grew up with these classes and I really cannot speak highly enough of them. FenziDogSportsAcademy.com is also starting up a new series for puppies.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Seriously. What everyone here said. 

My brand new puppy is already much more excited meeting new people at this point, but five days in, I know I am her source of comfort and security, and that means more to me than an over-the-top greeting. In fact, my old girl, Tesia never went nuts when I got home, for the entire 12 years of her life. I trained low key hellos and goodbyes to minimize any anxiety over being left alone. It worked. But when she was in the hospital at the end of her life and I went to visit her, she roooed and jumped into my arms. I am low key when I greet my new puppy and take her from her crate, too - mostly because I don't actually WANT her to be over-excited and pee!! But she is a total snuggler with me and her burrowing into my arms in giving sweet kisses on my chin in the morning is much better than a crazy over the top greeting right now. 

Your puppy knows you are her person.


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## Ylan's Mom (May 14, 2013)

Pups have different personalities just like people...You and your puppy will be fine. Enjoy her


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## Millie'sMom (Sep 7, 2012)

Agree with all of the above. Maybe it is time to find a different trainer.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I would also get another trainer or get a good book about dog training and follow that and practice.

When I got my first pup, I got a couple of good books about dog training and followed that, never had a problem and I trained all my dogs accordingly because I did not like what I saw out there that called themselves trainers, that did more harm than good. And I mean no offense to trainers here on the forum, I am just talking about trainers I encountered personally that were no good. 

Of course, reading a book and following that, it is not for everybody and for showing etc, you need to find a good trainer. 

But this guy isn't it! You can do better.


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

Find another trainer.
She is looking for the puppy to exhibit behaviours that won't be cute or fun when she's 50 lbs and jumping on you as you walk in the door with an armful of groceries. You want a calm puppy who can accept that you will leave and come back with no major drama. Such over excited greetings precede separation anxiety behaviours.
You want a dog to know you've come come, will greet you and wag tail, but doesn't have a fit the instant you walk in.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Something else I have been thinking about all day is Bear didn't even greet me at the door until about 6 months of age and I actually had to train that. I started by calling him over to me for rubs and we'd sit down and play fetch for a while. It took him months to get a classic "happy" excitement when I get home. Now at 11 months, when I get up, when I walk through any door (even if its only been a minute), Bear will get up and greet me. No anxiety. Just "oh hey!!!! Come scratch my butt"

Something that our puppy trainer did want us to work on, was Bear's attention on us during training. When were putting him through his paces, she wanted to see that Bear was watching us for instructions. That came from the time we spent training and by working with him over 6 weeks (and he was almost 5 months old to boot!!) 

Just thought, maybe she was talking about keeping the puppies attention during training and it might have sounded like she was talking about something else entirely. 


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## Deelny (Jul 5, 2013)

Hi all, 
First time puppy owner - I have the exact same feeling as first golden!! And so any advice would be appreciated - 
We feel that our 13 week old Dex considers us as a 'necessary evil'. And here's why - he sees us as the ones feeding him, cleaning up after him (and hence the necessary), we groom him, discipline him (and hence the evil). On the other hand, when our friends/strangers are near him, they always play with him and praise him for being beautiful/cute. And so, I feel that he likes other people more than he likes us. He's so much more excited to see others, more eager to please/impress around others! 
He's with one of us 24/7 and we've barely left him for 6 hours (all in) the entire of last week.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

I can't imagine I'd want my dog to be any more excited to see me than he already is.  I do like him to come to the door and see me, though. That's one of the main reasons I got a dog. And I'll second the thing about not really wanting uncontrolled exuberance from a 65-pound dog.

That said, one of my previous dogs, a collie, was kind of cool. When I came home, she'd look at me. What was in her head was, "Oh good thing you are home. All is right with the world and I can stop destroying stuff." Because she was either cool and collected because I was home, or losing her mind because I was gone.


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