# Help... Puppy gets too excited with kids



## Otter (Feb 23, 2011)

Lucy222 said:


> Is it possible she might just grow out of it?


Well... 
Barkley will be 8 years old in a few months. He goes nuts when people come over. Especially my in-laws.
Pebbles will be 5 years old in a few months. She goes nuts when people come over. Especially my in-laws. She is a complete couch potato otherwise. 
Sandy is 6 months old and she is just plain nuts all the time. She is especially nuts when my my in-laws stop by.
Nellie was 14 when she died and always got excited when people stopped over up to her dying day. Especially my in-laws.
Henry was 8, and very laid back, when he died and always got excited when people stopped over. Especially my in-laws.


See the pattern? Good luck.

Honestly though, I am admittedly not a good trainer.
There are a lot of good trainers here and a lot of knowledge. Hopefully they will chime in soon.
Zak George (youtube) might have some good videos that may help. I like his videos.

Welcome to the forum.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Start teaching her to go to a place, dog bed, somewhere, that she can lay down and calm. It's called mat training, or settle on a mat. Settle and stay until released. It's a great tool to control a dog when you need to open doors or great guests. Once she understands the command, you should practice sending her to the mat to lay down when the door bell rings, or the door opens, or anytime you need her to calm down. Enough practice and it will become automatic, "go settle" is usually the command people use.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

I think you are right to not expect calm but you do want to be on the right track and work toward calmER. 

My suggestion would be to have her ready to go on a short lead (sometimes called a "traffic" lead/leash) BEFORE guests arrive, or at least before you answer the door. Then you can physically hold her away from guests. Have the guests enter the house while she is in another room or maybe even outside-- so she can't see them. Then have your guests SIT DOWN. Not on a sofa but on chairs in the kitchen or dining room, maybe even facing a table. Less accessible this way! 

Have treats and toys ready. Have her put a toy/chew in her mouth while she greets them (train her to get her toy separately if she doesn't yet know this). Do little training sessions to call her away from guests-- she can go and greet them but then call her away for a few moments of training. You can have the 4 year old throw treats to her. This way she approaches the children but with a distraction. I have found this the best way-- I can't get my dog to just get into calm mood. Some of the energy has to be let out but in an acceptable way. My dog has learned to settle much more quickly now after he has learned that he does have access to people if he's at least not jumping. If she jumps gently lead her away with the lead but do some training, then focus her on getting her toy again and try again. Don't let her go to people if she is barking or growling. Time it so she is quiet even if not calm.

Concurrently, you can teach her to settle on a mat. The cue can be the door opening or doorbell ringing. Practice this with just you at home and then make it progressively harder with one more exciting person at a time.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

In addition to the suggestions given previously which are excellent and will take some work but are totally do-able, remember that keeping her on leash for the duration of the visit may be your only option in the short term. 

I also want to throw in that it is easier for a tired dog to be a good dog. Not sure how often you have child guests, but it might make working with your pup easier if you have advance knowledge of visits and can make sure she gets some hard exercise to take the edge off in the days leading up to a visit and the day of the visit as well. I'm talking about a longer than normal off leash hike or swim or play date with another pup her age. It won't fix the problem and she'll still be excited but it can really help. The benefits of exercise on behavior are cumulative, so whenever you can, increase her aerobic exercise in advance of a visit.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

We always put a baby gate up in the foyer so my niece could walk in without getting jumped on. But that only worked whole the gate was up. Chloe is 1.5 and we still sometimes struggle but most of the time she just gets excited and doesn't jump now. Something that has really worked the last few weeks is we make a sound like a snake or a hissing sound. It has worked wonders. It doesn't cure the excitement but does keep her from jumping. For the longest time we either had her behind baby gates when the kids are over or we had her on a leash. Maybe get a expen and set it up when the little ones are over. Or a baby gate to keep your pup in a small area. When the four yearold is over you can teach the child to have the dog sit and give a treat when they are behind a baby gate.


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## CnCFusion (Feb 15, 2016)

Lucy222 said:


> Hi everyone - I'm new here but from reading through some of these post it sounds like there is a lot of really great golden retriever knowledge to be shared here!
> Lucy is my first golden retriever and we absolutely LOVE her! She is just about 6 months old now and is such a sweet girl.. most of the time :wink2:
> 
> She seems to have the typical golden trait of absolutely LOVING people. All people. Because of this she gets incredibly excited and frantic when she meets new people or when we have guests over. We've been working really hard on keeping her calm when guests come over, asking them not to pay her any attention for the first few minutes until she has calmed down, then they are allowed to give her a quiet hello. She has gotten way better with this method and is more or less her calm self within 10-15 minutes.. Except with small children. My niece (1 yr) and nephew (4 yrs) came over for a visit yesterday and Lucy went absolutely nuts, frantically scrabbling the floor as I tried to hold her back and then throwing a fit of barking and growling because she just couldn't stand that I was holding her back. I think this may be because a 4 & 1 year old don't do too terribly well at ignoring her when she's excited, and that they are right at eye level for her. But also, we can't afford to give her 5 minutes to calm down - 40 pounds of puppy bouncing at my nephew sent him flying into the wall and that is not acceptable. :| With kids, she needs to be calm right away. (She does this if we see kids while we're on a walk as well)




You mean like this?? https://www.instagram.com/p/BI_TwaojicM/?taken-by=mochi_the_golden

>>>>>


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## Lucy222 (Aug 15, 2016)

CnCFusion said:


> You mean like this?? https://www.instagram.com/p/BI_TwaojicM/?taken-by=mochi_the_golden
> 
> >>>>>


Hahahaha yes! Just like that! Only with more bouncing!

Thanks everyone for your awesome tips and ideas! I'll let you all know how everything goes as she grows up! Lucy is such a sweet girl and I really want my whole family to see the Lucy we know - not the crazy "Luc Cannon" as we call her when they come over! :grin2:


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## bixx (Sep 8, 2015)

I have resigned myself that only old age will diminish her enthusiasm level to a manageable one.

It does not keep me from continuously training her to contain herself, but once she sees: dogs, kids, adults (in this particular order), it's like her Hyde personality comes out of the shadows and takes over. Then she becomes this huge cream ball of quivering excitement.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

We always tell my sister Chloe has a split personality. She is a different dog when it's just mom dad and me here. She says she doesn't believe us that she is such a different dog.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

I would be hesitant to have any children throw tteats at the dog as previously suggested. Let's face it: timing is key for reward training, and most small children can't get the timing right. The last thing you want is a dog getting over excited about kids and then get even more excited by flying treats


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Pipersmom said:


> I would be hesitant to have any children throw tteats at the dog as previously suggested. Let's face it: timing is key for reward training, and most small children can't get the timing right. The last thing you want is a dog getting over excited about kids and then get even more excited by flying treats


My suggestion is have a baby gate up with the pup behind it so there is seperation and the pup can't jump on the child. Then teach the four yearold to tell the dog to sit and then treat. With a barrier like s baby gate it keeps the child safe and teaches the pup something good happens when it sits.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

Even better: use the gate, owner tells the dog to sit, and reward comes frim the owner. Child may pet if dog is sitting. Child may not pet if dog gets up. Process starts from scratch until dog does asked behavior correctly. Too much excitement, everyone leaves dog behind gate with no attention. If I didn't want to use a correction, that's the process I would use. If the dog gets too excited before you can even get into the gate, the process starts there instead.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

Pipersmom said:


> Even better: use the gate, owner tells the dog to sit, and reward comes frim the owner. Child may pet if dog is sitting. Child may not pet if dog gets up. Process starts from scratch until dog does asked behavior correctly. Too much excitement, everyone leaves dog behind gate with no attention. If I didn't want to use a correction, that's the process I would use. If the dog gets too excited before you can even get into the gate, the process starts there instead.



If you have a super excited dog..
This might take a while


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Pipersmom said:


> I would be hesitant to have any children throw tteats at the dog as previously suggested. Let's face it: timing is key for reward training, and most small children can't get the timing right. The last thing you want is a dog getting over excited about kids and then get even more excited by flying treats


I have used this technique successfully-- the treats aren't being used as a reward. They are used as a distraction. But, an adult can also call out, "Find it!" when the treats are thrown if you do want to add in a cue. The pause to eat slows the dog down so he or she can regroup and the act of eating can also help lower the arousal level. The dog being allowed to go near the child (IME) also tremendously helps take the edge off so that the energy isn't building and is instead being channeled. (My dog can actually get MORE excited if he's not allowed near guests-- I've found that allowing safe interaction that involves MOVEMENT, not stillness, towards or near the person made all the difference.) It also helps the child to feel calmer and more connected to the dog, because he or she has a role to play that doesn't involve being jumped on. Training the dog to sit, as suggested, behind the gate, is also valuable, but some dogs do fine with the gate and then it's a process of starting over again once the barrier is removed.

To the OP: one thing I've learned, the more I've seen different kinds of dogs, is that this is one of the absolute best "problems" to have with a dog. While on one hand, you want to keep everyone safe, don't forget to smile about it!


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

Any technique you can make work for you and your dog is a good one. 

While i have extinguished bad guest behavior with positive Reinforcement, in all honesty, I use corrections for jumping on guests now. (This is praticed without guests first) IMO jumping, especially on guests and children is unsafe for the people - so 100% unacceptable in my home and is a correction worthy behavior.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Pipersmom said:


> Any technique you can make work for you and your dog is a good one.
> 
> While i have extinguished bad guest behavior with positive Reinforcement, in all honesty, I use corrections for jumping on guests now. (This is praticed without guests first) IMO jumping, especially on guests and children is unsafe for the people - so 100% unacceptable in my home and is a correction worthy behavior.


We've progressed to the point where he will jump near guests but not on them, then he settles pretty quickly. Jumping on people is rare now though I still wouldn't bet money it wouldn't happen. He looks like a horse! But, my dog lives with my 5 kids so while he loves kids they are maybe not as new to him as they would be for a dog who doesn't.


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## Lucy222 (Aug 15, 2016)

Anele said:


> To the OP: one thing I've learned, the more I've seen different kinds of dogs, is that this is one of the absolute best "problems" to have with a dog. While on one hand, you want to keep everyone safe, don't forget to smile about it!


Thanks for this! I agree and try to remind myself whenever we have an over-the-top excitement episode! We love our Lucy to bits, I just wish I could explain to her that the kids she loves so much would love her a lot more if she would just take it down a few notches! :grin2::grin2:

My last dog was a sheltie who was quite shy when it came to meeting new people (and I always thought it would be so nice to have a dog who wasn't so shy!! hahah) so this is a whole new ball game for me! But I am loving being a part of the golden family. Thanks to all who have provided tips, I think a few of them may help us out!


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

I agree it's annoying but there could be so many worse problems. Like a fearful or shy dog. It's crazy how much they love people. This morning my aunt and uncle came over. My mom made Chloe go behind the gate. Funny she stands there behind the gate making her excited growling noises wagging her tail so fast. It has gotten a little better in the last few weeks.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

Ironically my adult dog is incredibly shy. The method I used for her is the same I now would use for an excited dog or puppy. I taught her a "place" command (with the help of an excellent trainer). People come over, she us sent to her place. She is called from her place once her anxiety deminishes. She may interact if she behaves appropriate. If not, she is sent back to her "place" (a cooleroo). She feels safe and comfortable on the place, but is still near everyone. I have a 9 week old golden who isn't afraid or shy about anything....He'll still be learning a place command. My guests are unbothered by a nervous adult dog and will be unbotherrd by a happy puppy also. Both dogs can freely interact as long as they have behavior that is appropriate. Everyone wins!


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