Interactions With Strangers

[Guest hankodie]

Just after some quick insight.

My 5 month old GR puppy Hank has been doing very well with his training and socialisation. We do a lot of distraction work (is that the right terminology?) where we go to different environments and we proof his training using a clicker. He's been great at this and great at focusing on me around other dogs/people.

As he is so adorable (:D) we get strangers coming up all the time wanting to pat him. If we aren't busy I usually ask them to please wait and stand back until he is sitting and staying sitting before they approach (sometimes people approach without asking first... but that's an entirely different story altogether ) again, he's generally been very good about this up until now.

Lately, he sees a stranger approaching and he gets excited (not overly, but his tail starts to do the happy swishy wag). The stranger approaches, asks me if they can have a pat, I say "sure, just hang on and let me make sure he stays sitting". He sits, I click +reward then they approach for a pat. It's then that he gets excited and jumps up. I usually ask the stranger to please stop patting him and generally they oblige but some of them only stop half-heartedly and continue to coo/baby talk him which he obviously loves.

My question is - what should be my appropriate response to help break this habit? Should I not let strangers approach him altogether? (It would be hard to do but I have ordered him an "IN TRAINING" badge which might deter some people from coming up to us). Should we say sorry and walk away as soon as he starts jumping up?

The good thing is he does settle quite quickly and doesn't carry on which is good and I can generally call his attention back to me but not after he's already jumped up if that makes sense. I would really love to nip this in the bud if I could.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you :)

[DakotaJ]

I will be following this thread because I need all the advice I can get with this one too. My GR also has this "problem" . I have seen it referred to as "excessive greeting disorder" in another Golden blog - and I think a lot of Goldens suffer from it. We have tried to be as consistent as we can with making her sit and greet politely but usually the excitement overwhelms her and she goes nuts, wiggling, wagging and trying to jump up.

She is 18 months now, and neutered, and she is finally beginning to settle. We do obedience training and for the first time in the past 2 weeks she has finally managed to "stand for inspection" without doing the complete - "wow it's a human coming for a pat" thing.

[minimax]

Sounds likes perfect timing to work on his jumping up, since the opportunity is there.

[sheena]

Great that you are using the clicker What I would do is a lot of proofing first by setting up the scene, by getting someone you know to walk up to him, you tell the "stranger" that you want him to sit first, like you are doing...click & treat. Also explain to the stranger (who is someone you know & knows how to play the game) that when they start to pat him if he lifts his bum off the ground, they are to move away & wait till he sits again...immediately click & treat or you could use a pat from the stranger as a reward instead of the treat. But this is best done first in a constructed environment where both people involved know what's expected & to start with, as the instant his bum touches the ground, click & treat, or pat, whatever he finds more rewarding. After a couple of these, ask for a little more duration before you click. but don't set him up to fail, by having complete strangers patting him who do not know what is required should he start to jump up. It doesn't matter if his bum is off the ground when you deliver the treat, it is the click that marks the behaviour & that happened when his bum touched the ground. Good luck, you are certainly on the right track, & don't make your sessions too long. Three to five minutes at a time, then finish on a good note...like a party, party, when he sits. When you come back to it later, he will remember what he has learnt & will get straight back into it. :)

[Guest hankodie]

Great that you are using the clicker What I would do is a lot of proofing first by setting up the scene, by getting someone you know to walk up to him, you tell the "stranger" that you want him to sit first, like you are doing...click & treat. Also explain to the stranger (who is someone you know & knows how to play the game) that when they start to pat him if he lifts his bum off the ground, they are to move away & wait till he sits again...immediately click & treat or you could use a pat from the stranger as a reward instead of the treat. But this is best done first in a constructed environment where both people involved know what's expected & to start with, as the instant his bum touches the ground, click & treat, or pat, whatever he finds more rewarding. After a couple of these, ask for a little more duration before you click. but don't set him up to fail, by having complete strangers patting him who do not know what is required should he start to jump up. It doesn't matter if his bum is off the ground when you deliver the treat, it is the click that marks the behaviour & that happened when his bum touched the ground. Good luck, you are certainly on the right track, & don't make your sessions too long. Three to five minutes at a time, then finish on a good note...like a party, party, when he sits. When you come back to it later, he will remember what he has learnt & will get straight back into it. :)

Excellent advice Sheena, thank you!

I must admit I haven't ever tried setting up a constructed environment for very much of his training but I'm sure I could get a few people over and work something out.

I didn't even think about using the pat from the stranger as a reward - it does make sense though because he obviously loves attention (when he can get it!).

He's also A LOT better if I put him into a drop position before pats - I usually do this with very little kids who want to come up and pat him, the parents obviously give us some time for him to get into the drop position before letting their kids approach. He will roll over instantly and wag his tail happily while they give him pats/belly rubs. Lately due to him being excited it's been harder to get him to drop when strangers are approaching but like you said, I obviously need to set him up for success so we will practice this before proofing it out and about.

Thanks again! He is so sweet but being a golden he's definitely turning into a big happy doofus and I'd hate to not let strangers approach him because I can't control his excitement!

[Guest hankodie]

I will be following this thread because I need all the advice I can get with this one too. My GR also has this "problem" . I have seen it referred to as "excessive greeting disorder" in another Golden blog - and I think a lot of Goldens suffer from it. We have tried to be as consistent as we can with making her sit and greet politely but usually the excitement overwhelms her and she goes nuts, wiggling, wagging and trying to jump up.

She is 18 months now, and neutered, and she is finally beginning to settle. We do obedience training and for the first time in the past 2 weeks she has finally managed to "stand for inspection" without doing the complete - "wow it's a human coming for a pat" thing.

Ah yes, the golden retriever happy bum syndrome :laugh: My puppy is terrible at the moment! He perks up if someone so much coughs in his direction, he's such a sook :laugh: