# Polite Greeting



## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

We've basically got everything right with Walnut, except this one really annoying thing we still can't kick. 

It's a little tricky. Here's the problem. 

We still haven't been able to get rid of Walnut's Excessive Greeting Disorder. He will jump, run between legs, bite his leash, and do every nasty thing possible when greeting. 

The reason it's getting hard to kick this bad habit of his, is because he seems to only want to go all EGD crazy on people he doesn't know (never met) and start a conversation with. 

For example, if we're stopped nicely at the crosswalk (default sit on stop) and someone approaches to pet him, his brains pop out of his head and he completely forgets his manners, bites leash, jumps up, etc, etc. 

We were hoping to be able to tackle this in his 2nd level obedience class, but it wasn't a part of the schedule. We're signing him up for the final class (good neighbor) in the next month or two. He's perfect at everything else, except this one thing. 

I'm wondering what we can try in the meantime at home. Our family, friends, neighbors, etc all know to ignore him when they first meet. It's worked well, and he's more calm with us...but what about total strangers that want to pet him?

btw: treats don't seem to matter to him much when he's bring petted by a random person. I've tried real steak, home cooked liver, cheese, hotdogs, etc. It throws people off, because when they stand next to him, he's soooooo calm and relaxed. As soon as they give him any attention, he goes all crazy and scares away the person. :doh:


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

Hmmmm...my take would be you need an endless supply of complete strangers who know how to deal with this. Not an easy task and I think that's where a training class is a good solution. Not much help but other than continuing to reinforce the settle command or leave it command in the interim I think you're at somewhat of a standstill.

Pete


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

The first trainer I ever worked with told us to get mentally out ahead of the dog. You know how he's likely to respond to the situation so be alert and respond before the dog does. In your case it sounds like Walnut's already in a sit which is good but you don't want him to have a chance to jump/go crazy. You could shorten your hold on the leash or step on it, while encouraging him to hold his stay. Stepping between him and the person will also help focus his attention on you. It's also not necessary or desirable for him to greet everyone on the street. If you see someone approaching just say something like "he's still in training and learning not to jump. Please don't come any closer." It sounds like you're well on your way with training and the more you take him out and practice, the easier it should get.


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## GoldenMum (Mar 15, 2010)

Maybe if you took a private session, and only worked on that. I know the woman who gives Skyler's classes will also do privates wherever needed. She just charges her private rate plus mileage. I would think it'd bee worth it to get on top of it. Wally is adorable!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

You know a martingale collar or a pinch collar, there are several different types, might help. If you have a little bit of extra ability to get his attention, it can really help. Also exercise before going out on a walk to burn off a little energy if that's possible. And of course lots of practice. Try going to local stores in hours when not many people will be there. He gets exposed to new places but not a lot of people that way. Good luck and have fun, this stage doesn't last forever.


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

It's a problem for Kenzie as well.
Yesterday on a walk, I saw 1 guy approaching us and moved off of the sidewalk and continued to walk but having her "watch me", worked great, the guy was on his phone and smiled and said hi, but never had any attention of stopping to pet her.

A few blocks later we came upon a lady walking and the lady was still 1/2 block away but obviously planning on petting Kenzie. Kenzie lost it before we even got to the woman and went deaf to me trying to get her attention back on me. She flipped over for a belly rub, so I just gave up. I never had control from the moment the woman saw us and started smiling and cooing 1/2 block away!

I did have a trainer tell us to tell your dog (loud enough for person to hear) "you have to sit for attention". That way you are giving your dog a command, but also trying to hint to the stranger to not pay attention until the dog is sitting.


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## Barkr (Dec 23, 2011)

:wave:Funny his sister was/is the same. She is has gotten a lot better but still has her moments. I find that Roxy is set off by the way the stranger talks to her or moves. If they talk to her in a high voice and move their face closer to her she gets more excited. For the most part a NO correction will stop her but not always. Now friends and family coming in to our home that's another story. First thing they walk in Roxy never jumps but practically wags herself inside out and runs to get a toy. The only way to stop her is to have her sit and even then the tip of her tail is still wagging. 
Does Walnut make that funny purring/grunty sound that Lilly made? Roxy does when she is relaxed and happy.


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

TheZ's said:


> The first trainer I ever worked with told us to get mentally out ahead of the dog. You know how he's likely to respond to the situation so be alert and respond before the dog does. In your case it sounds like Walnut's already in a sit which is good but you don't want him to have a chance to jump/go crazy. You could shorten your hold on the leash or step on it, while encouraging him to hold his stay. Stepping between him and the person will also help focus his attention on you. It's also not necessary or desirable for him to greet everyone on the street. If you see someone approaching just say something like "he's still in training and learning not to jump. Please don't come any closer." It sounds like you're well on your way with training and the more you take him out and practice, the easier it should get.


Hi Z, 
I've also trying stepping on the leash, but he still tries to get "around" it. 

He doesn't try to say hi to everyone on the street. He will only go crazy when I begin speaking to a random stranger. I don't know what it is. 

Once I was cross stop, and this lady very quietly came up and, without a word, pet him on his head. He was sooooo calm about it. As soon as she made conversation, he went crazy and lost his mind. She wasn't even talking to him, she was talking to me. :doh:


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

GoldenMum said:


> Maybe if you took a private session, and only worked on that. I know the woman who gives Skyler's classes will also do privates wherever needed. She just charges her private rate plus mileage. I would think it'd bee worth it to get on top of it. Wally is adorable!


Hmmm..our trainer does offer private lessons, but I thought being in a class with other dogs/strangers around would be more beneficial. 



Alaska7133 said:


> You know a martingale collar or a pinch collar, there are several different types, might help. If you have a little bit of extra ability to get his attention, it can really help. Also exercise before going out on a walk to burn off a little energy if that's possible. And of course lots of practice. Try going to local stores in hours when not many people will be there. He gets exposed to new places but not a lot of people that way. Good luck and have fun, this stage doesn't last forever.


Thanks for the tip. We do have a martingale collar, but it really didn't make a difference. For some reason, he always wanted to get ahead of us with the martingale. With the harness, he walks perfectly on a loose leash with his nose at my heel.

Like FeatherRiverSale mentioned, I really think I need an endless supply of strangers.



Jennifer1 said:


> It's a problem for Kenzie as well.
> Yesterday on a walk, I saw 1 guy approaching us and moved off of the sidewalk and continued to walk but having her "watch me", worked great, the guy was on his phone and smiled and said hi, but never had any attention of stopping to pet her.
> 
> A few blocks later we came upon a lady walking and the lady was still 1/2 block away but obviously planning on petting Kenzie. Kenzie lost it before we even got to the woman and went deaf to me trying to get her attention back on me. She flipped over for a belly rub, so I just gave up. I never had control from the moment the woman saw us and started smiling and cooing 1/2 block away!
> ...


I feel your pain. I find it really frustrating, and strangers find it scary. He looks so calm and relaxed, and all of the sudden flips the switch and turns into a crazy super excited 8 week old puppy. 

He does this even after 2 hours at the off-leash trails. It gets worse when he's sleepy/tired. He also rubs his body on strangers, leaving fur all over their pants. It's funny to watch, but not so funny for the stranger who just wanted to say hi to him.


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

Barkr said:


> :wave:Funny his sister was/is the same. She is has gotten a lot better but still has her moments. I find that Roxy is set off by the way the stranger talks to her or moves. If they talk to her in a high voice and move their face closer to her she gets more excited. For the most part a NO correction will stop her but not always. Now friends and family coming in to our home that's another story. First thing they walk in Roxy never jumps but practically wags herself inside out and runs to get a toy. The only way to stop her is to have her sit and even then the tip of her tail is still wagging.
> Does Walnut make that funny purring/grunty sound that Lilly made? Roxy does when she is relaxed and happy.


He's basically identical to his sister in his behaviours. The first thing Walnut does when friends and family come home is bolt for one of his toys and runs back to greet. No jumping, just wagging to death. And we get him to sit when we get home. It's a default behaviour now. So he runs, gets his toy, comes back, sits, and tail just keeps wagging while he's sitting. :bowl:

And yes, you're absolutely right. High pitch voices and "happy" talking makes him go completely coo-coo. Also when strangers come up to him and make weird hand gestures (like they want to pet him, but don't want to at the same time), he gets all fired up and wants to play. 

And yes, Walnut makes the grunting noise - not often, but when he's super excited and also super tired, he does it. Sometimes he'll do it when he greets us with a toy in his mouth, and ends up making this really low/deep grunt.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

When you stop at a cross walk or actually meet up with anyone Walnut knows when you are out and about and they talk to you does he sit calmly?


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## Barkr (Dec 23, 2011)

* Also when strangers come up to him and make weird hand gestures (like they want to pet him, but don't want to at the same time)*This makes me insane, my son in law does this all the time even after we ask him not to. And the fur on the pants, yep Roxy does it too


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

solinvictus said:


> When you stop at a cross walk or actually meet up with anyone Walnut knows when you are out and about and they talk to you does he sit calmly?


Usually, yes. For example, if my wife, parents, friends i see often approach us and he is sitting, he will usually remain sitting with his tail wagging until I say "ok" which is his release command for everything.


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

Barkr said:


> * Also when strangers come up to him and make weird hand gestures (like they want to pet him, but don't want to at the same time)*This makes me insane, my son in law does this all the time even after we ask him not to. And the fur on the pants, yep Roxy does it too


It drives me nuts too. The weid hand gesture thing is the absolute worst thing EVER. For some reason, it also encourages him to jump up whenever a stranger does this. Our friends and family know not to do this, but strangers don't know.


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