SO, I am back for some more wonderful advice...

My relationship with my pooch has improved, but I am having major problems when new people come to the house. The dog gets super excited and jumps on them. I have tried to discipline the dog by saying now on a prong color or E-Collar (momentary), but it continues to happen.

I know she is just excited, but it becomes very difficult to deal with if I am not home. If I am home, I am not worried, b/c I can handle the situation, but my mother and step-father have problems controlling her excitement.

She is fine 30 seconds after she says hello. I don't want to have her lose her excitement as she has been desensitized when I come home because I made mistakes when she was a puppy by putting her in puppy down on her side. I don't want to do that, but I need to learn better ways to control her when people come in the door to prevent the jumping.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
jg

What if she were left in a crate until the excitement of the doorbell and the greetings died down?

Can you teach her to sit or down (either at the door or on a mat elsewhere) when people come in? She could learn to sit nicely through introductions and then be released.

(This is actually something I've gotten lax about, so thanks!)

 Quote: jenni williams

What if she were left in a crate until the excitement of the doorbell and the greetings died down?

There is really no other way I would do it if I had to have others be there without me.

For when the handler IS there, teaching the behavior you DO want for the door is so much better than trying to enforce "No no no no" for what you do not want.

I would use marker training (barring that, I would definitely at least use reward-based positive training) and a volunteer "visitor" once the rudiments are in place to teach the door/visitor I do want.

Josh, I know from earlier threads that you want the dog to greet you (personally) happily.

I'd really rather use positive training for what I do want than an e-collar for what I don't want, in something like this that's fun to train, esp when you are feeling that you have dampened the dog's enthusiasm for you. (I don't think that you really HAVE, but why not take advantage of the opportunity for training that the dog will enjoy --- and that you will too?)

I really found what Connie said to be true - it's better to teach them what you want them to do, rather than try to get them to stop what you don't like. In other words, decide what you want your dog to do when someone comes to your house. We decided to have Kasey laying down across the room when people come. So as soon as the doorbell rings, we put Kasey on a down stay and then go answer the door. It takes 2 people - one to train the dog, one to answer the door - until the dog is reliable and understands what you want. Use lots of treats and make it a good experience for the dog! Then after the dog has been on down for 5 or 10 minutes, use the leash and let them say hi to your company - calmly. If he is still way too excited, put him back on down until he is calm.

It takes lots of practice and patience on your part!! But it's worth it when guests come. I would also suggest you practice down stays whenever you're home - we do them while we're watching tv, reading, at the computer, cooking dinner, etc. It teaches them to pay attention to you and gives them something to do!

Thanks so much for the feedback so far. Sorry for the delayed response from the last couple days.

It's really hard when I am not home. I want to use positive re-inforcement when I am home and I am good with her when she is home. It's my mother and step-father I am worried about when I am not home. They put the collar on and have no idea on how to train and reverse everything that I have done.

Connie things are working much better.. My Dog is no longer crated.. She has been out of the crate since about Late December. When I come home her tail is wagging and she grabs a toy and wants to play immediately... That just makes my day...

I am going to use Marker Training at the door with treats to see if that helps...

I need to find a few partners to help out with the door. I was training when she was a puppy to say "HI" by the person putting their hand out open palm and then the dog touches the nose to the hand.

Practice and Patience ....