Over Excited Greetings

[Guest lavendergirl]

Anyone have any ideas on how to train a dog out of going bananas when I return home? Jumping up, running around, panting etc. Yes he has separation anxiety and the behaviourists have all recommended the ignoring approach. Well have been doing this for over a year and it just does not work

He settles eventually of course but this over excited carrying on is a bit tedious. Any suggestions on something else I can try much appreciated.

[nawnim]

I don't know what sort of dog you have but we used to refer to this behaviour as a boxer welcome and we loved it, but it was embarrassing when visitors were greeted in the same way. It's difficult to ignore your dog if it is inside the house, but if it is outside don't go out until you have been home about ten minutes. This is also good for separation anxiety.

Two methods worth trying for over exuberant greetings are firstly to fold your arms and turn your back until it stops, secondly tell the dog to do something else, for example 'sit', hoping that eventually the dog will sit without being told when you come in. I have found the second method successful when dogs jump everywhere with excitement when you take their food out. Instead of jumping up on me my dogs now offer a sit and wait until I say they can eat. I don't say anything, they just offer it which is great.

[Weasels]

As an alternative option to the sit (which is a good idea), you could send them to a mat every time you come in, then go to them on the mat for pats. No pats off the mat within the 'excitement phase' of getting home. You could train the door opening as an environmental cue to go to the mat - without anyone coming in through the door first, then going out & straight back in, then go out for a couple of minutes etc. This training might have the added effect of helping to desensitise the people entering = go crazy reaction :)

[Red Fox]

Anyone have any ideas on how to train a dog out of going bananas when I return home? Jumping up, running around, panting etc. Yes he has separation anxiety and the behaviourists have all recommended the ignoring approach. Well have been doing this for over a year and it just does not work

He settles eventually of course but this over excited carrying on is a bit tedious. Any suggestions on something else I can try much appreciated.

I'd take a guess that when you are 'ignoring' him you are not completely calm and oblivious to him? It's easy to get stressed out and irritated by the bouncing and wining!! Is your dog crate trained? If so try teaching him to go to the crate when you arrive home and leave him there until he calms down (crate him in another room if it helps), when you let him out make sure it is very calm and low key, no attention until he is completely relaxed.

Teaching him to go to a mat would work in a similar way but is harder to enforce.

[Guest lavendergirl]

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. He is a bichonx and he is very highly strung - I have tried to get him to go to his crate/mat and he does try to comply but just can't seem to control himself, he gets straight out again. When he is so overwrought it is hard to get him to focus on any commands. Maybe I will just have to live with it :)

[Red Fox]

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. He is a bichonx and he is very highly strung - I have tried to get him to go to his crate/mat and he does try to comply but just can't seem to control himself, he gets straight out again. When he is so overwrought it is hard to get him to focus on any commands. Maybe I will just have to live with it :)

You need to shut the door ;-)

Does he go to his crate on command? Each time you walk in the door give him the command to go to his crate along with a treat (or a Kong if he's not too stressed to eat it). Lead him there if you have to. You can practice randomly through-out the day starting with very short periods in the crate (just long enough to eat his treat) and slowly increase. The dog will come to associate you opening the door with him going to his crate and receiving a reward.

efs

Edited May 5, 2012 by SecretKei

[persephone]

he needs a reason to go to his crate :)

His crate should be where the disgustingly yummy food happens!! it needs to be the only spot where he gets his absolute fave thing ..whether that is a teaspoon of peanut butter, or a chicken wing to chomp, or a treatball with a few cat bikkies inside (my dogs would kill for a few whiskettes )

[Weasels]

Teaching him to go to a mat would work in a similar way but is harder to enforce.

The only reason I suggested mat instead of crate was that I was worried that putting a dog in there while it was so amped up would damage the crate=calm association generally. But I haven't crate-trained yet so I'm out of my depth there :)

Lavendergirl you can just keep sending him back everytime he gets off. In the right spot=reward. Off the right spot=getting sent right back again, then reward.

[Red Fox]

I've tried both and found the crate to work best. In my dogs case having him hold position (on a mat or otherwise) only served to ramp him up like a coiled spring when released. But in that instance the crate was already associated with relaxation.

[Red Fox]

There's also the convenience factor. When you walk in the door with 3 bags full of shopping to unpack the last thing you want is to have to be putting a dog back on his mat repeatedly. It's extremely difficult to enforce calm in a dog when the owner is frustrated. ;-) JMO