How should your Dog Greet People at the Door? Specifically I want to know if I should let the people pet the dog during the introduction?

Currently I have them tow a line and sit until the people are done greeting people, then I introduce the dogs to the people. Then I send the dogs away and they do their thing.

One GSD is an old house pet who I have only let be pet by friends and family on intro. One is a 7 month GSD pup being trained for a service dog for me and my disabilities (not a protection dog). When the vest is off, I currently let him play with people in the home or yard when given the PLAY command.

I am unsure how to balance the service/home issue. Most of your stuff is on guard/police/attack dogs. Keep in mind that even when his vest is off and he is in the house the pup is trained to stay around me. Outside the house he is being trained to stay with me when the vest is on.

Should I put the vest on, when guests (kids playing with my son) are in the house so he knows he is still on the job (no PLAY command)? or always have the vest on, no matter what unless playing? I don't want to confuse him and the PLAY command may get confusing to him. Guidance or direction to articles or web sites specializing on this type of service dog is welcome.

For example when I take him to the lake beach, I sit with him in his vest for a while, let him settle in, then take it off, give him the PLAY command and let him swim and fetch balls in the water with me, my son, etc. He is still always on a long lead with me at the end to keep him away from non-friend/family swimmers.


Regards,
Ken

I think that dogs should greet people at the door in the manner you want.

How does the older dog behave at the door? What is the doorbell routine with him?


The remainder of the post is a different question, I think:

"One is a 7 month GSD pup being trained for a service dog for me and my disabilities (not a protection dog). When the vest is off, I currently let him play with people in the home or yard when given the PLAY command.

I am unsure how to balance the service/home issue. .... Keep in mind that even when his vest is off and he is in the house the pup is trained to stay around me. Outside the house he is being trained to stay with me when the vest is on.

Should I put the vest on, when guests (kids playing with my son) are in the house so he knows he is still on the job (no PLAY command)? or always have the vest on, no matter what unless playing? I don't want to confuse him and the PLAY command may get confusing to him. Guidance or direction to articles or web sites specializing on this type of service dog is welcome.

For example when I take him to the lake beach, I sit with him in his vest for a while, let him settle in, then take it off, give him the PLAY command and let him swim and fetch balls in the water with me, my son, etc. He is still always on a long lead with me at the end to keep him away from non-friend/family swimmers."

My dog (17 months) greets people at the door from his crate. When he settles down and is quiet I let him out and he can come and have a sniff. If he doesn't lay down and leave everyone alone, he goes back into his crate so we can visit. So far so good. Skipper, the 11 year old, is pretty much indifferent, so there are no special instructions for him.

How *should* they or how *do* they? LOL

In a perfect world, my dogs would wait calmly while people came in. My young dog, Vigo, is pretty good...a little bouncy but not too bad. My older females are a pain in the butt.

We taught Kasey, when he was very young, to sit in front of them and wait until they wanted to greet him. It just became habit and he never thinks to do anything else!

Teddy is pretty good at greeting the door, but two others need some work to do on their front door manners.

I expect my dog to aggressively bark as a greeting when someone comes to the door - mainly because I'm unable to teach Fetz to yell "SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!!"

Little LEO joke there........

Ken: we have trained our dogs (3 terriers) when someone comes to the door, and I open it they are to go to their mats. They are to remain on their mats until I call them off (when they are very calm. Then they can greet people, I do not like people to pet the dogs though, it seems to get the pups really excited. If they remain calm they can lay down in the room and be with us. If not, they are put on their mats or in their crates. I feel that the guests are my guests and not the dogs guests so they should not be bothering us.
sharon

Edited by Sharon Empson (07/20/2011 10:59 PM)
Edit reason: forgot something

The thing I specifically want to know is:

1- Does letting the guests pet him in the house after greeting contribute negatively to socialization, and ignoring other people?

2- I need this dog to help me in my house at all times. Should the dog just meet, great, not be given any attention by the guests? or let them pet him. At this age, 7 months?

3- Only certain people (extended family) allowed to pet him at door?

-Ken

IMO, some of this depends on the dog.

However, I think you're basically asking if guests being allowed to pet/play with the dog detracts from his general goal of focusing on working and not playing? For me, that would probably boil down to "when I say so." That is, "when I have released the dog to be petted."

Do you have the help of a SD trainer? Have you seen these "disadvantages" and "advantages"? http://sdog.danawheels.net/ot-adog.shtml

Important points:

Disadvantages:
1. The dog must be trained before it can be taken out into public.

2. If you're training a puppy, you must wait for it to finish growing before teaching tasks such as wheelchair pulling and bracing (Mobility Service (Assistance) Dogs Only)

A fair word of warning. It isn't easy to train your own Service (Assistance) Dog. If you never have trained a dog before, please look into a program trained dog, or the services of a dog trainer to help you. If, however, you've trained dogs before, AND know of a good dog trainer to help you, train your own dog and have fun doing it!

Advantages:
1. No waiting list. If you have your own dog, you can begin to train it immediately.

2. May be cheaper than getting a program trained dog. You won't have to pay for hotel, meals, and plane fare to the facility to receive your dog.

3. Has the same access rights as any dog from a program. END


Not at all meant to be discouraging! Clarity and steps are crucial.


All JMO!