Dog Peeps! Question about training

angelabbf

So, Laila is doing really good and has been trained (fairly) well. I think for the most part, we've done a good job with her behavior, etc. She's a good dog.  There are just 3 things that I can't seem to get her to learn, so I'd love to hear some techniques that you may advice for me...

1) Greeting people at the door. I don't want her jumping on people or licking them. I usually have her lay down on her bed when people come to the door and make her stay, but she has a REALLY hard time doing that. And it's hard for me to be polite and greet my guests while I'm looking over my shoulder reminding her to "stay" or whatever. Then, once the person is in and we finally release her, she wants to jump on them and say hi.

2) "Come" Command. The "come" command isn't 100% and I worry about her safety if ever she got loose by accident and went into the street. I'm afraid if I called her to come and she didn't, she could get hurt. I need "come" to be followed 100% of the time. I've tried chicken treats (her favorite) over and over and over. She is more of a "oh look - a shiny object" type dog, and she sometimes prefers the shiny object over her favorite treats.

3) Barking at other dogs on our walk.  It's only certain dogs (I have no idea what the difference is). But sometimes she get's all barky at other dogs. 99% of the time, she doesn't bark when she's home, driving in a car, or on our walks. But occasionally, certain dogs set her off and she pulls on the leash like crazy and barks her head off at them. She is friendly with other dogs (that she knows) and is a really nice dog. But I've had some other dog owners say things like "wow, she's fiesty". She's not snapping or angry looking at them. Just barking.  I prefer her not to bark when we're on our walks. How do I stop this? 

leolyns

Hi -
Here is what I would do:
1. Greeting people - work with Laila on her stay/wait. Be consistent with the amount of time you make her wait before calling her over to you or praising her. The trainer we're using said to start (w/ aleash on the dog too) with 10 seconds and then build up from there. If she moves, then correct her by saying "no" and then putting her back where she needs to be.  When she can wait/stay in the same place for 15-20 seconds then maybe you and your husband can alternate coming through the door to see if she will wait and then give her permission to greet. Or just keep her leashed when people come over and tell guests to ignore the dog by turning away from it, if she jumps up.

2. I have no suggestions on recall as we're working on this one ourselves - our dog has run out in front of our house twice (once with me, once with DH).

3. barking at other dogs - we have to correct ours as soon as I see the hairs on her back raise and her ears perk up (well her ears are cropped but they become positioned more forward), she doesn't necessarily bark but has a playful squeal and will fence fight if given the opportunity.

Can you consult with a canine trainer or behaviorist for any of these?

tonic

If I could get my dogs to do those 3, they would be perfect too. Its hard! The worst is the greeting people.. as its too easy for people to allow them to jump and do whatever they want since they are little and cute.

 I don't have advice, just wanted to make you feel like you werent alone. I feel my dogs are pretty good dogs, but they are far from perfect. 

angelabbf

Thanks, leolyns & tonic.

 

leolyns - I may look into some professional training/behaviorist classes or something. Good suggestions. I might try some of it.

Tonic - Glad to know I'm not the only one. ( btw - I think our doggies ARE 'perfect'. *grin*)

cromero49

We did 1 on 1s with a trainer because our dog was having a lot of issues with those same things!  He's still not very good about greeting people at the door.  90lbs of lab is hard to hold back and he gets SO excited when our friends come over he runs to get a toy and then tries to shove it in their crotch so they play with him.  lol 

sm23

Recall is our biggest issue with Phoebe and I have the same concerns about giving the "come" command in an emergency situation and her not listening. I've been thinking for a while that I want to take her to a refresher obedience class/training session - need to get on that!

As far as greeting people at the door - I've also heard the sit/stay thing recommended. It takes a lot of practice so one thing that I've seen suggested online is practicing with a friend - someone who can come over and knock/ring the doorbell a few times, and wait while you practice with the dog inside. The problem with trying to practice these things when a random person is at the door is, as you mentioned, that you need to actually answer the door and be polite! But you're busy trying to train your dog.

The other thing I've heard recommended is asking/encouraging people who come over to turn away and ignore the dog when she gets too excited/starts jumping. You don't want to reinforce that behavior, so people turning away and ignoring her (as opposed to responding positively to that behavior by crouching down and smiling and talking to her and petting her) might help.

leolyns

angelabbf:

Thanks, leolyns & tonic.

 

leolyns - I may look into some professional training/behaviorist classes or something. Good suggestions. I might try some of it.

Tonic - Glad to know I'm not the only one. ( btw - I think our doggies ARE 'perfect'. *grin*)

It's worth a shot to try it, we're almost done with our basic obedience with Allie (who is close to 60lb, & AmStaff so she thinks she's a lap dog, lol) and she had quite a bit of training put on her but it's up to DH and I to reinforce it and be consistent.  If you're in SF, the SPCA may have some links or names of trainers.  I think one-on-one's will be your best bet and then maybe a group class for socialization. Allie gets really excited with other dogs and just wants to play so I have to correct her because not all dogs want to play.