What is your dog’s typical response when a guest arrives? Is your dog very excited? Does he jump on the guest? If you answered, “yes” to either one of those questions continue reading. This article and video can help.
The first thing we want to do is teach our dog the behavior we would like it to do. For this I teach a cue that I refer to as, “Go say hi.” What this cue means is that the dog walks up to the guest and sits. This is also what is referred to as teaching an incompatible behavior. It is referred to as an incompatible behavior because if the dog is sitting, it can’t jump. (Refer to video for example.)
To best manage the situation when a guest arrives, I recommend using a leash to help control your dog. The leash allows you to prevent the dog from getting what it wants when it is doing the inappropriate behavior. This is important because if the dog continues to rehearse the incorrect thing, and gets enjoyment out of it, it is very unlikely that the unwanted behavior will ever go away.
Now that we’ve talked about teaching our dog what we want it to do, and we talked about preventing the unwanted behavior, it’s time to put it all together.
Here’s a video to help!
Kevin is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT.org) and is a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator through the American Kennel Club. He currently resides in Ohio with his dog, V, a six-year-old Shepherd/Lab mix, where he operates All Dogs Go To Kevin, LLC, specializing in helping build positive relationships between humans and their canine companions using clear communication, not pain and fear. For more training tips and tricks, and to meet his amazing dog, V, follow him on Facebook by clicking here.
