Out of control with visitors

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

We are having difficulty getting Harley under control when people come to our house.  Family have been very understanding, but he is getting so big (55lbs at 5 months) that he can hurt without realizing it and I am finding it more difficulty to control him when he is at his highest level of excitement.  DH is becoming frustrated with this particular behavior, concerned that he is going to really hurt some one.  Well last night came very close to that.  We had pizza delivered and it was an elderly driver, Harley got past DH at door and took off to great him, jumped up on him and knocked him off balance and scared him to death.   Of course his desire to mouth, mouth, mouth with a greeting didn't help any either.  I would appreciate any suggestions.  I am wondering if an e-collar (once he is old enough) would be good.  DH is not in favor of this, but due to Harley's size I know this behavior must be gotten under control now.  Thank you DK'ers in advance. Love this site and the wealth of information and advice I get.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I would be inclined to leash him and put him in a sit before you answer the door, that way you have more control to keep him from jumping. Just keep a leash next to the door so it is easy to slip on when you need it.

[Cathy w/Shiloh~Cody]

I use to have my dog go into his crate when pizza is being delivered. When guests are coming over-I take him outside for bathroom break before they arrive and leave him on a leash inside my home. When they come to door-I have him on the leash so he cannot jump on them using a Gentle Leader head halter. The halter mellows him out tremendously and he knows he must behave. I do not let guests or anyone give him attention until he is CALM. I even put a note on my front

door-from Dog Whisperer tv show-no touch, no talk, no eye contact until dog is calm please.

The halter really mentally changes his high level of excitement into "I need to listen mode." Good luck-hope you

find the answer that works for you

[Judy Wheeler]

I also have just purchased a gentle leader head collar for my 6 mo old.  We'd been to obed and had some private training, but she is absolutely so full of energy, I knew she was either going to pull my arm out of socket, or pull me down.  I had heard good things about the gentle leader.  I agree, it does mentally change their level of excitement around others.  We are still in training and she does balk, but I've been trying to be consistent, because a high energy BIG dog, spells disaster around others.  How long did it take your dog to get used to the collar and how old is he now?  I do the same thing when someone comes to door....have them wait until I leash her.  Otherwise she jumps on anyone.

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

good suggestions.  We have noticed that Harley is different with his gentle leader head harness on also.  Just hadn't thought to use it in that scenario.  Will give it a try.  Also having him on leash before answering the door will be a new habit.  He learns soooo quickly, but this excited greeting has stumped me. 

[Judy Wheeler]

As you can see from my reply to Cathy and Shiloh, I have the same problem with my Sammi.  It's the worst thing about her, but has had us really thinking maybe we've made a big mistake.  I'm really hoping the new purchase of Gentle Leader head collar continues to help solve the problem.  Good luck to you.

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

Thank you.  With Shiloh and Harley being very close in age I'm sure some of it is age related.  Just need to nip it in the bud.

[Dori & Rua]

I had a trainer come for to our house to help out on a couple of items.  One was barking at people or people w/dogs walking by, the other was her barking and running to the door when someone came over.  Granted, Rua is close to a year old and weighs a whopping 17.4lbs and certainly wouldn't scare nor knock an adult over, but I didn't want that to be an acceptable greeting. 

 

She asked me what I wanted to see when someone came to the door.  This is what I want...Rua may bark once, but that is it.  Rua has to "go to her place" and sit.  Right off of the entry is my office.  It is on the hinged side of the fron door.  Rua needs to go there and sit/stay until released.  Then she can come over and sit for a petting.

 

I actually have to order Jimmy John's every Tuesday so we can practice!  :-)  Since I know he is coming over, I put her leash on her (she just drags it around).  I can see when he pulls into the driveway, and I start by saying "No Bark" and using my shake can.  I'll say "go to your place"...I still have to show her, but she immediately sits.  She gets praise and a treat.  I tell her to Stay and go open the door.  I have side lights on either side of the door and the upper 1/2 of the door has glass...so he knows what we are doing and is patient until I come to the door.

 

Last time I actually got the door open and food in hand before she broke her stay.  She just comes to the door, but doesn't bark or jump.  It is a slow process.  I think that I really should, for the next few weeks at least, do delivery every night, don't you?

 

You'll get lot's of good advice and can pick and choose the parts that make the most sense for you!  I, too, love this site.

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

lol, I could use the pizza delivery every night as a training session, but my scales would not like me very much. ;-)

[Dori & Rua]

I think perhaps that Thursday nights should be pizza night!

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

I would continue Jimmy John's for a year..but that is just me so I could eat and not have to cook:)

 

[Dori & Rua]

Tuesday nights would be Jimmy John's.  2 down, 5 to go!  LOL

[Adina P]

Hi Kathy,

 

I'm NOT opposed to ecollars, but this is not the situation for one.  Not for a 5 month old pup who isn't far in training.  The best answer, is training for the long haul and not allowing him to practice the naughty behavior in the meantime.  Greeting visitors is the age old dilemma for owners of friendly dogs...especially when those dogs are young.  But you have to look at it in the big picture of obedience training rather than focusing solely on 'how Harley behaves at the door.' 

 

So what I mean is that Harley needs a real obedience training plan (where you are led by a professional trainer in a class setting -- or one-to-one if your budget allows and you prefer that).  But a  training plan that includes a plan on how to get reliable obedience to: Sit, Down, Stay, Heel, Come on and off leash.  He may know these commands on a basic level where he'll obey when NOTHING interesting is going on in the house...but forgets them when anything interesting happens like (visitors arrive).

IF Harley were trained to be reliable with the sit, down, stay, come, heel command you could then use those commands (the whole purpose of training is so you CAN give commands and trust that they will be followed reliably) when visitors come over.  So then when visitors come over you can give the 'sit stay' command or the 'down stay' command or 'heel' your dog to the door and then give a 'stay' and be able to answer the door without Harley going berserk, jumping, etc.  Because if a dog is trained to sit and stay reliably he WON'T do those other things.  But this training has to happen first and it takes time.

 

In the meantime to keep Harley from doing the stuff you do NOT want him to do keep him on leash or gate him off or crate him when you have to answer the door.  And work on the training in between until he's stronger and better at it so you CAN have successful practices at the door.  Work him in parks, work him on sidewalks, work him ANYWHERE you can take a dog so he gets lots of practice in his obedience. 

 

Also, with him on leash, practice door exits so he learns he can NOT rush out the door without permission.  A good training class can teach you the 'HOW' for all of this because it's in the "HOW" that most owners get stuck.