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Jumping when greeting at door
The Texas heeler I posted a question about regarding loose leash walking a few weeks back is doing great with her loose leash walking and so we are going to start working on jumping when greeting people at the door. I have some ideas already like treat scatters, having a toy or something by the door for guests to interact with her when they come in. There is also the option of having a baby gate or something blocking her access to the front door but I would like to train her to be able to greet guests at the door with good manners. I was just curious what ideas others have found successful.
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1 Reply
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Great news about the heeler doing well with loose leash walking, @Cory !
What I’ve found with the many overenthusiastic greeters is that the dog first needs a chance to calm down and focus on the handler. So, high-value treats and distance between dog and guest really help.
The dog may also need to feel a true ‘dead end’ if on a leash so that attempts to continue straining or lunging toward the guest fade quickly. The dead end is typically created by stepping on the leash or tethering the dog to something sturdy/immovable. Yesterday, I was working with a berner who can literally pull her female pet parent off her feet, but stepping on the leash worked fabulously. They practiced this a lot in non-exciting situations at first, so Echo knows that ‘step on the leash’ is a CUE to lie down and focus on handler.
As the dog relaxes, the guest can move closer. Once in range, that person can drop treats to the dog if they keep four paws on the floor. As the dog calms further, the guest can ask for simple skills like SIT. If a jump-attempt is seen, guest should instantly back away.
If a dog is loose and very food motivated, I’ll often ‘bowl’ treats behind the dog before they have a chance to reach me and possibly jump. Then I repeat for subsequent approaches. Before long the dog gets into the rhythm of this and learns to approach without any jump attempts. Then I can begin asking for a simple cue like SIT before lobbing another treat.
Touching/petting the excitable dog is often counterproductive, reigniting the dog’s excitement, so guests may need to be forewarned to keep hands off.
Teaching the dog to hand target is also an excellent option. I wrote about this ➡ here and ➡ here.Let us know what you try and keep us posted!
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