# Overly Friendly With EVERYONE!



## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

Teach him to sit for attention-or at least "4 on the floor"
Have really good treats on hand that you save for training this. When someone approaches, start feeding him treats-fast and steady. As long as he is sitting, they can approach. No sit, the person backs away.

Jumping on people is self rewarding, so you need to physically prevent it. The worst is the people that say it's okay and want to pet him anyway. For every one of those you allow, you'll need to do that much more training.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

You have a wonderful 6 month old Golden Retriever PUPPY. Get down on your knees and thank your lucky stars that he is displaying proper Golden temperament and you don't have the opposite problem. I assure you that if you are truly diligent with your training and continue socializing him you will work through this, it's just going to take time and he will learn. Try to work on 'attention' games with him (you can use a clicker and click and treat in training for a reward when he makes eye contact with you.) Check youtube for videos on attention exercises and have high value treats to distract him with on your walks. As you approach people, tell them you're working on training him and ask them to help you by not letting him jump on them, turning their back if he tries. 

Are you all in obedience classes? If you mentioned this in your post I missed it. I would keep taking classes with him for the next year or two and really be diligent and plan on training and managing this until he's older before you worry that it's truly a problem. A good training club will have good classes for you and experienced long time trainers who can help you work through this and encourage you that he is just a normal, happy dog.

Hang in there, he really is just an exuberant puppy.


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

If you'd ever had a shy dog or a reactive dog, you'd know how jealous some of us are when we read this post!

Training classes where you can practice polite greetings are a huge help. Also if you have access to some helpful kids (I've thought about trying to rent some!), practicing with them would be perfect.

They stand still, you walk up to them and if he leaps, you turn on a dime, "Oh, too bad, you blew it." Wait until you can get him in a sit and focused on you and then approach your helper again. Repeat until he starts to get that four on the floor gets him what he wants. 

The hardest part is training the humans not to reinforce it because it's just so flattering when a gorgeous puppy thinks you're so fabulous!

I should confess that my hound found a loophole in this concept...he learned not to leap up ON people, but pretty girls were his hopeless weakness and to get around that restriction he would leap straight up in the air two feet from them, reach out and kiss them on the cheek, and then land on all fours. It was kinda amazing.


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## KellySue301 (Aug 8, 2014)

Thank you all for the reassurances! I know, I am very happy he is not nervous or scared around people, I have had dogs like this and it isn't fun! I just don't want him to think this is the way to approach people as he is constantly "rewarded" for this behavior (the people give him the attention). We will keep working on the small things and work up to the bigger accomplishments. And yes, he has completed puppy class with our local club and is already signed up for Basic Skills Obedience which is the next step up - it starts in January.


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## Wendy427 (Apr 4, 2009)

I'm glad this thread was opened, because Maxi's the same way! Just HAS to run up to each and every person she sees. Even at the dog park, where she handles herself wonderfully with all the dogs, it's the people she runs up to first! Time to break out the high-value treats and do MUCH more training.


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## KayBee (Oct 22, 2013)

Riley is eight months old and making me work HARD on this. On one hand I'm thankful that he is not shy of fearful, but on the other hand it can be enbarrassing. I got a very disapproving look from the "trainer" at Petco a couple of weeks ago because he was being overly enthusiastic (I was shopping; we take classes elsewhere). I just keep reminding myself of all the other things he does well.


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## Golden_Dax (Sep 14, 2011)

When Dax was about 6 months old we had a class where the trainer decided to try an experiment and have my husband and I go into a different room when she was playing with another puppy. We were in there for over 5 minutes and she never did notice that we were gone. Now that's she 3 I actually think if we were to try that again she would be upset to be left behind. Having said that she is still the social greeter of the century but as long as she isn't jumping on people I typically let it slide for the most part (in the right situations of course).


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

"Then we get to the park where he gets to be off leash "

No off leash.

When you go to the park you cannot control the enviroment. Put him on a long line so you can prevent him from self rewarding. He is very young, preventing him from making those wrong choices will help set good habits and you won't have to fix bad habits that he will acquire by making the wrong choices.


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

Riley is 5 and is exactly the same way. She is absolutely sure that everyone she meets is there just for her! It is great they are this way but also frustrating and exhausting. I never thought I would still be working on this at age 5. The only way I can control this behavior is to have high value treats in my pocket when we walk. Even then it is a challenge. And the bigger challenge is to get the people to wait until she has calmed down to greet her. They think it's cute. I do not. :uhoh:


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## goldy1 (Aug 5, 2012)

KellySue301 said:


> I knew I had to expect how friendly Golden Retrievers are with people when researching the breed but our Ryder takes the cake for most friendly dog I've ever seen.
> ...
> .is this just a GR thing and I should just deal with it? Will he grow out of it? He has had and passed puppy class and is going to be taking basic training in January. We asked about his jumping and all I really got was "He is still young and he is a GR, that's just the breed."


Well it is a "Golden thing" and that's what makes them so endearing. But because of their size, they need to be well-behaved and not jump on people.
Continue to take classes and use positive reinforcement for good behavior.
I agree with the advice to keep him on a long leash. I use 15 and 18 foot canvas leads (not flexi's) - the kind you would use for tracking. To be off-leash in public you need a rock-solid recall. This is for Ryder's safety too. His overly friendly nature could get him into trouble without meaning to. 

Chance is 9 now and he was my first Golden. It's still like walking with a rock star. Goldens have so many admirers - they just make people feel good!


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## KayBee (Oct 22, 2013)

What goldy1 said: "*It's still like walking with a rock star. Goldens have so many admirers - they just make people feel good!" *That about sums it up. Our last one was an adult rescue, so I've never experienced Golden puppyhood. It's a good thing he's so pretty . . . .


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Casper and I are always working on this. Here are some good links that helped me a lot. It also helped to take a Canine Good Citizen class, where we spent a lot of time on greetings in a controlled environment. Many dog classes just spend a few minutes on greetings, without much of a training plan. 

Here are some links that I like:
Overly Excited Greetings: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Karen Pryor Clicker Training
11 things humans do that dogs hate | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Casper and I have worked on Get It a lot and it really helps. He never did quite pick up on the "look behind me for a treat", but he definitely got the "there's a treat to be had on the ground" part. "On the ground" being a key skill.

I like the "11 things", because these friendly, handsome puppies have to put up with some obnoxious people behavior. Like overly excited people - "oh so cute", "squeeee, it's a puppy!". Seriously, people do this stuff to my dog from across the street. Staring is another one. Casper ignores lots and lots of people, but the ones that lock eyes with him, arg. It helps me to be aware that I'm teaching him to be calm and to ignore what he probably thinks is weird and annoying people behavior.


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## pb2b (Nov 8, 2013)

I'm just here to let you know you are not alone. It's an every. single. day. project. Every. single. day. 

If someone walks by Henry but ignores him, his initial excitement will quickly fade with a strong "leave it." But if a person even gives him a glance, smile or tiny bit of acknowledgement of any kind.... it's all over. SUPER EXCITED MANIA OF HAPPINESS AND BALLISTIC JOY!!! It doesn't help that they are a few kids in our neighborhood who will literally yell his name and run over to him, which he LOVES. Henry is convinced that all humans are on earth to play with him. 

I think someone already said this, but a trainer told us that is his favorite problem to fix. My shoulder feels otherwise  Hang in there!


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## CharlieBear80 (Oct 13, 2013)

I didn't read through all the responses so sorry if I'm repeating anything, but have you been working on reinforcing eye contact? I find that in terms of communicating with my dog while we're out and about, that's one of the most helpful behaviors to have solidified. Also work on all 4 on the floor, nothing good should be happening when your puppy is jumping up. 

Oh, another thing, I have no problem telling complete strangers that are clearly heading towards me to greet my dog that we're in training and I'd really appreciate it if they could wait just until I can get my dog into a sitting position. If anything, people are appreciative to see someone putting the time into teacher their dog good manners, you know?


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