Hi,

I detailed in another post how erratic my dog can be on walks.

He can display the same behavior in the house when we got people over. I cannot put him in his crate because he'll endlessly bark his frustration (this can last all day long). I cannot let him unleashed because he'll jump at/rub his back on them for attention, so I'm forced to keep him tethered to me which is not always interesting when you got guests to attend to (on top of a 3months old baby and a 17months old toddler).

From the most part he just wants attention. Ironically, when I allow people to pet him, as soon as they kneel/bow down he'll jump on them and start licking their hands frantically... which obviously spells "no more petting" for him.

How exactly am I supposed to make him aloof to strangers ? He has this issue even when *I* pet him. I'm the only one who can somewhat control him however (by "petting" him firmly on the neck). He seems to understand that he won't get anything from me if he doesn't calm down, but he's still always overexcited at first. That said, he acts retarded with everyone else (including my girlfriend which lives with him 24/7).

So far the only solution that have shown moderate success (and it only works for people he already knows) is keeping him tethered to me until he settles down. This can take between 5 and 15 minutes. But for total strangers, it's generally hopeless. He HAS to go smell them, which I would gladly let him do were not for the fact that I know he'll act stupid and jump at them and lick their hands like they brought him filet mignon. So the only thing that gives everyone relative peace is if I keep him tethered to me, and give him a leash correction (prong collar) whenever he barks.

Ideally I'd want a dog that barks to warn me people are at door, then go mind his own business when I let them in. I'm really doubting this is possible with this one.

How old is this dog?

Francis,
You seem to still have the same problem as you did with this first post from 08?
http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/201829/page/0/fpart/1

You got alot of good information in that thread. Have you tried applying any of the suggestions you got in the that thread.

Can we get details about what kind/how much daily exercise the dog gets?

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How old is this dog?

A bit over 2 years and a half.

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Have you tried applying any of the suggestions you got in the that thread.

Yes. Most suggestions have been around building up my dog's bond. Although it is now better that it was back then, it is still obviously not perfect.

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Can we get details about what kind/how much daily exercise the dog gets?

I don't have a daily routine honestly. Since taking him out of the backyard is basically out of question, the exercise we got is playing fetch or running after each other. I also recently made him a spring pole after reading a post on these forums. He can play with that for a while before getting bored.

Oh and I still have to sporadically use treats now and then to make him give me the fetch toy. Otherwise he wants to tug it out. He gives it on demand if I toss in a treat every other 2-3 throws

I can play fetch with him till he lays down in exhaustion, at which point I'll take the opportunity to finally bring him for a walk... but he'll still be upset at anything he sees, and very persistent at wanting to go there.

OK, gotcha. There is another thread about the walk, so let's keep this one on exercise in general, but per day. Are you able to play fetch/run every single day? And do you do brain-tiring work with this mini-Mal every day too? This is not a breed (in general) to curl up on the couch and be happy with exercise-to-tiredness every third or fourth day.

Are you able to get the dog tired before you expect guests?

In what way is your GF rewarding his jumping, etc.? (She is, since the dog continues it with her and not with you.)

Do you have a friend who can come on a weekend, say, and do visitor-work with the dog? Marking and rewarding for what you DO want at the door is far more useful and successful than correcting for what you don't want. So the doorbell routine needs to be worked into a command or commands, and then practiced with high-value rewards and praise.

P.S. Negative attention is rewarding, too. Ignoring, turning around, walking away -- these do not reward the unwanted behavior.

This can all be fixed. I "fix" it every time I adopt an adult dog, and so do many others.



Edited by Connie Sutherland (08/10/2009 11:35 AM)
Edit reason: p.s.

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This is not a breed (in general) to curl up on the couch and be happy with exercise-to-tiredness every third or fourth day.

I must confess that "exercise-to-tiredness every third or fourth day" is pretty much what he's getting right now.

While we both enjoy backyard games, we both are pansies when it comes down to rain/cold. He dislikes rain so much that I have to take him out for potty myself because he'll let himself go on the floor before asking for the door on a rainy day...

Perhaps I could focus more on indoor mind games but it still will not burn his excess energy...

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Are you able to get the dog tired before you expect guests?

Like for walks I id try that, but the switch just turns on as soon as he hears something at the door or sees anyone walking in the street for that matter.

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In what way is your GF rewarding his jumping, etc.?

She reaches out to pet him and when he jumps or tries to lick her she quickly pull her hands back. This obviously excites him.

When he jumps at us when we come through the door (yes he does it on us too, much less with me however) we just ignore him.

So, while she can ignore him if he jumps on her for no apparent reason besides greeting her, what should she do on recalls ? He doesn't mind all the time when she recalls and when he does she rewards him with praise to encourage him to come to her more consistently. Should she use treats instead of play ?

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Do you have a friend who can come on a weekend, say, and do visitor-work with the dog?

I probably could, but I think that I should set up the foundation of this first with me and my girlfriend since he also gets hyper when either of us arrive from work, grocery etc.

I've started to teach him to go on his "place" after barking, but unfortunately my 17months/old girl started to like this "place" too and I had to put his cushion in the basement because she kept laying on it.

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P.S. Negative attention is rewarding, too. Ignoring, turning around, walking away -- these do not reward the unwanted behavior.

I basically tell him "Okay enough, Place!" when he starts barking. But this is rather unpractical with his cushion in the basement. Most of the time I have to escort him there and block the way because he'll circle around me to go back to the door. And that's when he actually has access to the basement because I of course have a gate closing the access to prevent my toddler from falling down...

Recently I've been putting him on the "basement-side" of the gate. So he has access to his "place". However it cuts him off of the rest of the family which is not really the plan either. I also have to open the gate to escort him down (and stay down with him staying "Stay" or he will promptly run back upstairs) while my girlfriend attends the door. That's when we're both in the house... It gets complicated when there's only one of us home, who have to deal with the dog, the toddler, holding the 3months old baby in his arms.

 Quote: Francis Daigle

While we both enjoy backyard games, we both are pansies when it comes down to rain/cold. He dislikes rain so much that I have to take him out for potty myself because he'll let himself go on the floor before asking for the door on a rainy day... Perhaps I could focus more on indoor mind games but it still will not burn his excess energy...

Anything with thinking will indeed burn some pent-up frustration. As far as rain goes, we all have to deal with that. That's a case of put-the-gear-by-the-door and just do it.

 Quote: Francis Daigle

Like for walks I id try that, but the switch just turns on as soon as he hears something at the door or sees anyone walking in the street for that matter.

It's not the one-step cure. The idea is that the less pent-up he is, the easier (by far) it is to actually implement the pre-practiced commands that you will have worked on with a volunteer or even your GF.

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She reaches out to pet him and when he jumps or tries to lick her she quickly pull her hands back. This obviously excites him.

And therefore .... Does she not understand that she is teaching him that this behavior works with her and results in a fun game and attention?

 Quote: francis daigle

I've started to teach him to go on his "place" after barking, but unfortunately my 17months/old girl started to like this "place" too and I had to put his cushion in the basement because she kept laying on it.

New place, off-limits to toddler. Inside small x-pen (that he can get in and out) or up a step that the toddler cannot reach or whatever.

Un-complicate this all way before you have the dog barking and the toddler and baby in your arms. Teach a new "place" and practice this stuff. None of this is complicated or even difficult, but it all takes some time and commitment. MHO is that it's well worth it, but you can also choose to keep the behavior you have now from the dog if you want.

The dog needs daily exercise and training, and it all fits in with the fact that you want different behavior (which requires the dog to be exercised and you to do your foundation work).

This can be done. Or more actively: You can do this. A month from today you could have in place a new door behavior that might not be perfect yet but that is 90% better than what you have.

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New place, off-limits to toddler. Inside small x-pen (that he can get in and out) or up a step that the toddler cannot reach or whatever.

Un-complicate this all way before you have the dog barking and the toddler and baby in your arms. Teach a new "place" and practice this stuff.

X-pen is out of question because it would basically be the same thing as his crate (which is actually a cage). You didn't forget the part where he can bark all day if we put it in his cage when he's excited right?

There is also no place with steps that my dog could reach that my toddler couldn't. Babies are good climbers!

Maybe I could dispose some furniture around in order to just allow the dog to go through since he's a little bit smaller than the baby... but she's at least as tenacious than a JRT when it comes down to getting into places she doesn't have to.

Alternatively maybe my daughter wouldn't be so encouraged to lie on the "place" if it wasn't so comfortable. I used a rather stuffy cushion. Maybe some kind of mat would be more in order.