I have a 2 1/2 year old Great Dane who is well tempered, calm, and good with obedience. The trouble I'm having with him is him giving space to myself and guests unless he is asked to approach.

He will walk up to you and just stand there, right in your face. Ignoring him is not really an option with such a big dog. I'd like to teach him to keep a comfortable distance until he is asked to approach. I'd also like to teach him to move away when asked. I'm not exactly sure how to do this.

My labrador naturally began to do this when turned about 3. I'd like to teach these manners to all my dogs. Thanks.

Does he know "place" or "sit" or "down"? Where are you in his ob training?

Do you do marker training?

"Back up" is easy and fun to train.

Good one Connie! "Go to your bed" is a simple marker trained trick too !

We have that problem with Max, he just doesn't get that we don't want him glued to us all the time.

We got frustrated with him one day and we started saying "Max away" and pointing away from us then he actually did it (probably more from confusion) so we marked it. It was only a couple of steps away and he came right back. But it's a start that we can work on. He knows what we mean now when we say it - though it's not proofed and definitly not 100%.

We found that giving him a place command - which he knows - would up his energy level and when he came back to us it was at a run and jump. But doing the 'away' command makes it a much calmer exercise.

How do you train the "back up" command? He will go to his kennel when I say "kennel". If I always tell him to sit or down when he does it, will he stop doing it in the first place? I like the back up command, but I'd like to teach him to not approach in the first place unless he's invited. How do I accomplish that?

He knows sit, down, stay, come, paw, go to your kennel, and heel.

When I've taught the back up, I've done it on leash with a treat as a lure to entice the behavior. I've also seen it taught by standing in front of the dog, "blocking" it, while saying the command, then marking and treating the behavior. Blocking is when you basically start walking toward the dog as though you were going to walk through or step on them, and they back away in response.

Do your guys dogs keep there distance until invited in after sending them away or backing up every time they get too close? I'd like my dogs to leave guests alone after maybe an initial short sniff.

My dog has a dog bed which is located in the living/entertaining area of the house (small house). Whem guests arrive he gives
the initial bark, I have him accommpany me half way to the door put him in a stay, let him watch the guests enter (no contact) then send him to his bed. From his bed he observes and if any of my visitors express an interest in meeting the dog (not the dog expressing an interest in them) I call him over to be introduced; then back to his bed. Occassionally he'll make a move to approach and I interrupt it with a verbal warning and he lays back down.

How did I train this? In very small steps and on leash. It sounds like you have taught the "stay" and "kennel" commands So you are more than halfway there . Now you just need to expand on them in a real life situation.

Put your dog on leash and have him accommpany you to the door, tether him away from the door I attached a leash to the foot of a staircase which is located a few feet from the door or have someone hold him while you practice "stay" while opening the door and marking calm behavior (holding the stay) not pulling forward or barking etc...This might take awhile but if you just keep opening and closing the door he will eventually lose interest and you can mark the wanted behavior. I am assuming he knows "stay" but it is not generalized to all situations? For instance he can stay when he is given the command but if you turn your back to do something else he isn't solid on holding the stay until released. If that is the case I would teach this motivationally without correction until he is 100% sure on what it is you are looking for. Next add people entering to the equation again marking only good behavior.

Now you can move on to "kennel" I'm not really sure why you don't want to send him to his kennel while you have guests and at your convenience bring him out to meet and greet and then back to the kennel. Me being fond of easiest solution would be all over that

If you want to proceed; again set him up on leash so that he can't break the command once it is given and practice having him stay on his bed when people enter your home. Mark all desired behavior and practice, practice, practice. It will become learned behavior if you are consistant and do not let him practice the wrong behavior of approaching on his own. This is easily handled if he is on a leash and secured away from you.

One thing I would like to point out is I would start training him to only enter your space when invited. I wouldn't allow him to stand in your face and I would not ignore this. I know you mentioned this in your original post and I'm not sure if you meant with guests only but I would not let it go on with anyone. It is rude behavior and challenges the integrity of your leadership. JMO and coming from someone who is VERY space possesive.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Thank you very much Sheila! That's great...answers a lot of my questions.