# Options for Excited Greeter



## Moonbridge (Aug 26, 2014)

Oh yes please!! We have an excited greeter here too and no matter how calm he is, AS SOON as someone acknowledges him he just loses his mind. AND HE PEES everywhere. He's so happy he just can't contain himself. lol.

We do the "ignore the dog please" with everyone and it's to the point where the dog ignores everyone coming into the house. BUT if they after 20-30 minutes try to acknowledge him, even the slightest little thing he just goes nuts.

Treats don't work, ignoring doesn't work. My trainer has said now lets do the opposite. Take him somewhere extremely busy, ie the farmers market and let him meet EVERYONE. He can't possibly pee on a hundred people.........Hmmm. Not sure I want to try.
Several friends/neighbours have had their socks and shoes decorated 

I know just try to meet everyone outside and tell them to watch their shoes!!


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

So, I had a consult with a World Famous Trainer about this. What I learned:

Make very, very sure that you do not introduce any negativity, punishments, etc. in your training. Not so much as an "eh, eh". If the dog associates people greetings with any negativity, it will increase the the doggie appeasement behaviors (wiggling, jumping, etc.).
Find a behavior that your dog offers and train that as a greeting behavior. I wasted a lot of time trying to get a Sit, when my dog does not offer that on his own. When the dog is excited, you have very limited teaching ability, so getting something new is not going to happen. I also now realize that when my dog sits, his head is exactly where people's hands are, and they, of course, reach for his head. Which just gets him more excited. And leads to eye contact.

We observed Casper for a bit and noticed that when he greets people, he chooses a position where he is not looking at them, and if they reach down, they get his back, not his head. How long he'd been trying to show us what he wanted!

I am really surprised, at this point, how little dog trainers understand about this behavior.


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## AngelCoopersMom (Oct 15, 2015)

I'll be following. Tanner gets so excited when he dad comes home from work that he wiggles and pee drips here and there and everywhere. It's not like straight pee but he just can't quite hold it in when he's so happy. This will happen even if he's just been potty. 

I'd love to have him sit and wait until I release him to say hello with a wave or something. I need to start working on it I suppose.


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## tessmk (Aug 30, 2015)

When Dakota (our bridge baby) was a pup, she was the same. I stopped acknowledging her when I walked through the door (no eye contact, no touch…nothing). When she got excited, I would simply say "wait for Mommy" without even looking at her. Then, finally, when my purse was down and coat/shoes were put away, I’d say "up-up" and point at the landing. There she went, where I’d wait until she was sitting nicely, then I would reach down to kiss and pet her and ask her how her day was, she would wrap her paw around my arm, then I’d sit with her for a couple of minutes (she was quite the talker…lol). Eventually, I noticed I stopped having to say anything to her and she would just sit on the landing, waiting patiently for her calm and collected greeting from me. This was our routine every single day for 10 years.

Fast forward to today. Quinsy has also been the excitable greeter and sometimes pee'er. For the past month or so, however, she only jumps all over the hubby. Without realizing it, I unconsciously did what I used to do with Dakota and now when I come home, I find her doing the same and I don’t even remember the beginning stages. Now the husband is trying it. DH can’t seem to refrain from petting her when she jumps. He says he excited to see her too and he can’t help it. I tell him he’s rewarding bad behavior. I’ll let you know how it goes with him. We’re asking visitors to try and do the same.

It could be as simple as me paying no mind to her, until I’m ready for her. Who knows? All I know is that it worked on both of them.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

As a datapoint, Casper is now 4 years old and sometimes he doesn't even bother to get up off the floor when I get home! But often he waits near the door for me and then I get a snuggly wiggle (hard to describe) and sometimes if he's a bit more animated, he'll go grab a toy. Other people though - endless excitement.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

*Moonbridge*, yes! Same here! It is like he is thinking, stay calm, stay calm, oooooooooh, SOMEONE NOTICED ME!!!! I think the socializing idea could really work. That has been our plan, too. Eventually "new" will stop being so new. We don't have the pee issue but I think it could do the trick-- and if you are outside, who cares!!!

*Quilter, *this is fascinating! I love this idea of looking to our dog (which is what we should be doing, right?) to guide us with the position that works for them! I need to pull out my camera and record my dog with willing people so that I can step back and really see what is going on. Like Casper, our dog also does not do this to us when we get home-- only new people. He is very excited with us but jumping is rare.

*AngelCoopersMom,* just an idea since it is predictable with Tanner's dad coming home . . .what if he (dad) had a toy in his pocket. Then he could throw the toy to redirect away from him . . .and a way to interact that is controlled yet not requiring him to sit/be still. We trained our dog to get a toy when we come home (to prevent mouthing) so he always does this now. Finds something and picks it up, walking and wagging. It gives him a "task."

*tessmk, *I agree, it is often about training the humans more than the dogs!


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## bixx (Sep 8, 2015)

I think we had a breakthrough in the woods today. The woods is one of two places where I can let her off leash.

Amber was about 100 meters away when she suddenly went still and in full attention/alert mode. This only means one thing. She's spotted a walker! And as I blew on my whistle to call her back...I saw the walker. My dreaded scenario -- a walker with other dogs!!! Not just one! But three dogs! I always fear that she would run up and jump-greet someone who doesn't like dogs, or worse, someone with dogs who don't like other dogs. One of the more depressing news in the netherlands today is about a dog who got stabbed to death when it ran up to strangers. So anyway, my second whistle blow was much more panicky (i know, i should stay calm no matter what but Amber has a history of selective hearing)....and I could see that Amber was truly thinking of running to them. Lucky for me, the man chose to ignore her because once he acknowledges her presence, I've lost the dog. So, in that seeming long few seconds, she finally made a choice! She chose me! Needless to say, that earned her bonus treats. Her recall is definitely improving despite the temptation of all her favorites: people and dogs!! We still do have a long way to go though. And the man waved at me with a grin and shouted across the trail, "Congratulations! She listened to you!". I had a laugh over that one. Oh and may I say, despite the fact that she did run back to me and I leashed her, she pulled on the leash to try to get to them. Recall worked, leash manners forgotten. Oh well, can't have everything. We are working on it!!


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## AngelCoopersMom (Oct 15, 2015)

Anele - You know what, I didn't even realize it but most of the time he DOES grab a toy in his mouth in excitement. Ha, smart guy. His tail wags so hard he can't help but wiggle his bootie. It's so funny. 

Update: We went in to our old vet for a 2nd opinion on Tanner's issues and they listened to me about his sprinkle peeing. He has a UTI! Poor baby is now on medicine for that. Who knows how long he's had it. :-(


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Miss Lucy is a nibbler. She's 3 now. But she can't stop getting ahold of sleeves, edges of jackets, or scarves. It's aweful. She's like a staple gun, we have to pry her jaws open. Lucy comes to work every day. She greets everyone at the door. If I have a known appointment, I lock her up. I have her on a leash in the office to get control of her. By the way we compete in obedience. Her breeder said its in her father's line that they grab sleeves. I don't think she will ever change.


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