# Mr. Overly Friendly



## ShirleyH (Sep 13, 2009)

Hi everyone, I know I'll get good advice from some of you who have been through this with their Havs. Keeper, sweetie that he is, is WAAAAAY too rambunctious when someone comes in, whether he knows them or not. He jumps up on people and will not stop. He doesn't calm down until they are in the house about 5 minutes. He seems to be saying 'I just love you and please pay lots of attention to me and play with me'. Not that he doesn't GET lots of attention and play.

He is 14 months old and this has always been a problem. We've tried noise (smacking a paper on our hands) with the command 'off'. 'Off' is not a word he chooses to obey.

Any advice would be welcome. Other than this, he is one great guy.

Shirley H.


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

This is a great problem,one way to try and handle it is to put him on a leash when you know friends are coming around and then when they arrive tell him to sit and enforce it,when he is still and quiet let your friends pet him if he starts getting to frisky do the same again enforce the sit and ignore, as soon as he is still and quiet again, then more petting and attention, of course this takes time,but he sounds like he loves the attention so he will learn the best way to get it is by behaving the way you want him to.


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## ShirleyH (Sep 13, 2009)

*Thanks, Clare*

Thanks Clare (and Gigi). We'll try this. Sometimes, of course, people just come to the door unannounced. Yesterday we had to save the Girl Scout cookie seller!

Shirley


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

No wonder he went wild,a girl scout with cookies!! I bet he could smell them coming!Lol.


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## Narwyn (Jan 24, 2010)

ShirleyH said:


> Thanks Clare (and Gigi). We'll try this. Sometimes, of course, people just come to the door unannounced. Yesterday we had to save the Girl Scout cookie seller!
> 
> Shirley


Buy a slip-lead (like this though you can get them cheaper) and keep it buy the door with a bowl of cookies. That way you are always prepared!

Teach him that he never, ever, ever gets attention unless he is sitting quietly. This is a new rule in his life. Prep your guests that he is in training, and ask for a little patience. Ask him to sit, and have them pet him. If he pops up, they immediately back off and ask him to sit again. Yes, at first he's going to keep popping up, but keep asking. If you are 100% consistent, he'll get it.

He won't listen to "off" because he's learned you can't enforce it. So the leash is key!

Also, if you have some friends you can bribe with lunch, have them come over and ring the door bell and come in over and over again. That helps reinforce the idea.

I was training a lab puppy for a client, and I trained him to sit to be pet, and warned that if they let him get away with this here and there, he'd stop doing it. I got a call about a month after we were done saying he'd stopped sitting, so I came back over. As soon as I walked in the door, the Lab bolted up to me and slammed his butt on the ground. Clearly, they were not being consistent, but he sure knew I would be!


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## ShirleyH (Sep 13, 2009)

*So Helpful*

Thanks, Kat. He already has show leads so I think we'll try that first. You are right, I know, that the only thing that works is consistency and never giving up.

Shirley H.


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## Lilly'sMom (Jan 28, 2010)

It can be helpful to have your guests turn their backs to the excited dog until he/she calms down.


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## ShirleyH (Sep 13, 2009)

*Such good ideas*

Thanks, Lilly's Mom. That is a good idea and we're going to follow up on all good ideas. We didn't raise bratty kids, so no bratty dogs either. This gets really annoying for people who aren't dog people--as well as those who are!

Shirley H.


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

HAHA great advice from Clare - both The Fluffs are like this. Roscoe needs to get some kisses in and Stella needs her hugs, lol. We have worked with them to have them "behave" when people come over and they're pretty darn good about it. But when their Uncle Robbie or Uncle Luke come to town, they go ballistic and there's no controlling them - but they only get to see their uncles a couple of times per year


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## ShirleyH (Sep 13, 2009)

*Thanks for the Hope*

Thanks, Roscoe and Stella's Mom--we'll try it and hope for the best. Right now he is hopeless.

Shirley H.


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## jillnors2 (Apr 12, 2007)

> Buy a slip-lead (like this though you can get them cheaper) and keep it buy the door with a bowl of cookies. That way you are always prepared!
> 
> Teach him that he never, ever, ever gets attention unless he is sitting quietly. This is a new rule in his life. Prep your guests that he is in training, and ask for a little patience. Ask him to sit, and have them pet him. If he pops up, they immediately back off and ask him to sit again. Yes, at first he's going to keep popping up, but keep asking. If you are 100% consistent, he'll get it.


 This is perfect advise! And exactly what our puppy teacher said to do in the first class.


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## Pancake (Oct 20, 2010)

Thank you for posting this! We have the same problem with Luigi! He is almost 8 months and I really want to work on this. Everyone says he is just a puppy but I dont know...


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

You've already received great advice. Keep working on the sit and stay command and make your puppy work for attention from guests. A good way to do this is to practice when you come home. Help your dog learn sit and stay by the door and don't give him/her attention until you've taken off your shoes, put away your coat and even scanned the mail. Give him the "here" or "come" command and praise him for being such a patient boy. I know it sounds cruel but it's not. It teaches good manners. If you reinforce this every time you come home then he will behave the same way when guests come over.


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