Hyper Greeters Training

[Labradorks]

Thought you all might find this useful! I have a hyper greeter (or two) myself and will be trying it on my dogs. I saw this at a recent seminar (also with a Golden) and it worked really well. The Golden at the seminar was crazier than this dog and the issue was that during agility runs the dog (all 80 lbs of him!) would launch himself over the gates into people's laps. And I thought I had it bad!

[Snowshoe]

Very interesting. That GR doesn't seem very bad at all. The sound is over dubbed though, I wonder what kinds of sounds he was making. It seems a much kinder method than what I was taught for Oban though slower. Since one of the problems for us was the new person wanting to pet the dog so badly they just couldn't wait, and being afraid of holding a cookie, I know for us this would hinder training, where to find those people who act as the author does. Let us know how this works for you and how long it takes.

[Tanya]

thanks! will try with pen - though her issue isn't so much "new people" but those she "knows and loves" with full on launches and goes for their face (to give kisses but it never ends well). thankfully she rarely does it to strangers/new people. and she goes right down for kids.

Will also send to the rescue I fostered for, they have (in foster care) a bernese mountain dog that is known to knock over furniture and tackle visitors...total mayham and I bet it has to do with over arousal so this could be what he needs.

[Snowshoe]

One of Oban's favourite people was over for lunch so we tried this. It works. It's very similar to Leslie McDevitt's "Look at That" game in her book in the way it gets the dog to re-orient to the owner. At least it was for us. I think I prefer the Look at That because the other person does not have to have cookie in their hand or their hand in front of their face. This did work very well and I asked the visitor to lower his hand so his face showed and as soon as he did Oban ramped up again.

This visitor loves dogs, loves Oban but he was a wee mite worried about holding a cookie and not giving it to Oban. Then after he realized his hand and arm were not going to be bitten off he desperately wanted to give the cookie to Oban. And he also badly wanted to give Oban big hugs and pets regardless of how thrilling Oban finds that, but that's not allowed with either method, not by me, not in my sight.

Look at That works faster for us but then Oban is used to it.

[K10]

I'm definitely giving that article a look when I get home! My boy is getting so much better with every day run of the mill greetings these days, but we're learning sit and stand for exam in classes, and he just gets so wiggly that he can't contain himself as people approach, so I hope that something in the link will help me with that as well!

[Labradorks]

Very interesting. That GR doesn't seem very bad at all. The sound is over dubbed though, I wonder what kinds of sounds he was making. It seems a much kinder method than what I was taught for Oban though slower. Since one of the problems for us was the new person wanting to pet the dog so badly they just couldn't wait, and being afraid of holding a cookie, I know for us this would hinder training, where to find those people who act as the author does. Let us know how this works for you and how long it takes.

Yep, the key is someone who can help you. I'd recommend someone use whoever they take classes from (assuming everyone takes classes). The average person off the street is not going to be much help. When Denise started this pet blog and started writing her pet book that's coming out soon, I was a tad skeptical as my experience with (most, but not all) pet people is that they want a quick fix and they don't have people in their lives that are experienced enough to help, as much of the pet stuff does require a somewhat knowledgeable helper. When I said that (I'm such a Debbie Downer!) she just said those aren't the people she wants to work with. She wants to work with committed pet owners who are willing to change the way they train and invest in their dogs, much like the active pet people on this, and similar boards.

I did do something similar with Linus who has a bit more impulse control than Sam. In a nutshell, I have the dog on leash in heel position and someone he knows and loves who is also dog savvy would hold the treat in her hand and shove it in his face, close-fisted. She would not talk or show emotion, but she would sort of pressure the dog to try to get the treat. When he stopped and looked at me, she would remove the pressure and I would click and treat. Once the dog gets it, you can challenge them by putting your fisted hand on the ground in front of the dog or trying to lure him.

The first time we tried it, I think it took about five minutes for him to get the game and completely ignore her. The next time, it took him about two minutes. The next time he wanted nothing to do with her and started pushing her hand out of his face with his nose . If we haven't played the game in awhile, it might take him a minute to remember how to play, but if we do it regularly he gets it immediately. This was more to help the dog ignore judges and ring stewards. It's a similar method, just focused more on the ring. It could also work for a dog who is walked in crowded places and tries to visit with other people.

[Snowshoe]

Oops. Just in case I confused anyone here, when I said this method is kinder than what I first learned - what I first learned was to yank the jumping dog down. It was a bit rough, required good timing and it was necessary that Oban learn quickly because of my aged mother. I could not have him jumping on her. It curbed his jumping admirably but he can still get pretty hyper with favourite people.



In my second post here I compared to Leslie McDevitt and I certainly do not want anyone to think her method is unkind.

[K10]

Okay, I read through, watched the video... LOVE it! Bookmarked it, because I know there are way too many situations in my world where this solution is very needed! Thanks so much for posting!

[greenfreak]

That video speaks volumes. Thank you!

[Labradorks]

I am glad you are all finding it useful! If anyone would like to see more, I have the video of the Golden I mentioned earlier at the workshop in my YouTube account. There is more lecture material and you can see the exercise in action without editing. You can PM me and I can share the link.