# How to make her a good guest



## Coya (Aug 20, 2011)

Coya for the most part is well behaved at home. Besides being a typical 4.5 month old pup, ex: running like mad, grabbing socks, tissues, papers, or anything else she can get her hands on she is a good girl. She will go right into her crate as told when we think it's time for her to rest and she very rarely puts up a fuss, and if she does all it is, is a few whines and or grunts before she knocks out.

Tonight we went to my parents for dinner, and instead of keeping her home we decided to bring her with us. She was out and about in the house/back yard for awhile, but was getting into EVERYTHING! I understand it's a pretty unfamiliar area to her (she has been there before, but only a few times) but she was being over the top crazy and wasn't listening at all, completely ignoring my multiple calls to come, or demands to drop it, sit, etc. I just about lost it so I decided to put her in the crate which I brought with us. It was like I was murdering her! Screams and cries like I have never heard. I tried putting a blanket over the crate since she likes to be covered, but that only made it worse. I couldn't wait to get out of there...it was so stressful. We want to be able to bring her with us to family and friends homes, but we can't have her running wild. 

Help!


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## dfnagy (Sep 30, 2011)

Take her for a walk/run to make her tired. 

From experience I took my V at around 6 months out for a run with with the Hash House Harriers and went to a resturant. No problem, She slept. 

It does get easier the older she gets.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

I think everyone agrees a tired dog is a good dog. And at her age I would think the exploring would have worn her out. Anyhow, sometimes I simply have to "anchor" aka leash Dozer to something in the house (low to the ground) and he'll calm down as we've used this technique in our own house when he's crazy. In our house he gets no attention on the anchor until he is quite then the attention becomes less frequent and certainly He isn't let loose unless he's calm. Now he calms down as soon as he's anchored. So we can use it anywhere. But make sure they are fed, pottied, exercised and have a chewy for this training to work. Just an option.


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## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

It's probably easier to get new parents that love your dog than it is to make her behave


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Funny @kobi bec my dad tried to remove a plate of food at his house because "it wasn't fair to make him behave" instead of giving me a training opportunity!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

It can be a trial!! I like to take Jasper everywhere, and even at 10 months he's the nosiest puppy you've ever seen...even if he's been there before! He and I live alone, so when we go stay at my parents' place for a weekend or something, he's a total rascal in the morning--he has to "meet" everyone else in the house all over again, as though he's never seen them before. The thing about exploring is that it's such a self-reinforcing behavior, that a lot of puppies will get so much joy out of it that they'll ignore you.

It has gotten better as he's gotten older. He's become better about knowing what is and is not allowed in his mouth (not rock solid on that when it comes to my niece's toys, of course), and he doesn't jump as much as he used to (his big Achille's heel). One thing I realized is that because I let him on my furniture, he thinks he's allowed on all furniture. Only an issue at my parents' place, but luckily his "off" command is solid, since he gets a lot of practice.

My tricks are...to make sure whoever I'm visiting is fully prepared for the crazy. Shut the doors to rooms I don't want him in. Take him over tired (not that it helps a whole lot). Take him over just a little hungry, since he'll listen to commands better if there's some food involved. Bring some toys--maybe even new ones, or special "visit" toys he only gets if we're going to someone else's house. Bring a Kong stuffed with goodies. Bring treats to give to the other people so that they can help with the training. 

Things I've come to expect are: the crate in a different house is not the same "safe place" it normally is, especially the first couple of times. Jasper never cries in his crate at home, but he does if we're somewhere new. Also, watch out for those other people! They'll teach bad manners to your puppy when you're not looking. Jasper's biggest problem, the jumping, was reinforced by my grandmother when he was much smaller. He never did it before meeting her, but it's become this whole thing ever since then.

It takes a while, but eventually she'll settle down. Like I said, Jasper is 10 months now. He's not great on visits, but he's not the holy terror that he could be. At this point he's mostly just nosy, not disobedient. Good luck!


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## KonasPop (Aug 9, 2011)

I agree with the posts above - especially the leash/anchor..we do that in unfamiliar houses territory. Very short leash. 
Second thing is exercise before we go - and I mean the full on exercise program. Like others said, it doesnt work right off the bat, but it sure cuts the crazies down by at least 75% in our case. 
Third is the "place" or special bed...have to bring that along. Our dogs aren't furniture or bed dogs so they get their own blanket/bed at home. We take it everywhere. At 11mo she knows thats where she's supposed to lay down and be at if we're all sitting down and just haning out. 
Lastly is special treats that last a while - super frozen kong or smoked bones from askthemeatman or similar feed supply (not petstore) will last about 2-3hrs. If we combine this with the exercise, she falls asleep with the bone in her mouth. 

We go to a house with a toddler and unfamiliar cat...first thing she does is test the cat food. I correct and put cat food up. Next is kissing toddler like mad and likcing his hands...again, we correct and make sure she knows its not acceptable until toddler asks for it. Then its explore the entire place like crazy...for the most part she is very good, but she will try to sneak in the bathrooms etc. So i just close the doors. Recall is great so that stops her dead ...at 4.5mo. your recall isnt there yet so you just need to really work on that and wait it out. 

Our next hurdle is the excitedness before we even hit the door of the vist house...she knows its "special" time. So now, we are really going to wait her out - even if i have to sit outside for 15min until she looks at me like "arent you going to open that door" I have to wait out the wiggle butt before we try and go in. Sucks in the winter....coupled with the e-collar we do ok. 

Good luck!


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

Oh my gosh, this post comes in perfect timing. Recently, I took my 10.5 month old vizsla to a friend's house. Since he's great at home, I assumed he'd be the same at a friend's house, but instead-- everything that could go wrong DID GO WRONG. 

First, he made a beeline to the bowl of hummus sitting on a low table and shoved his nose in it. He proceeded to sniff something and lift his leg on a guest (this friend regularly has other dogs over). As if I wasn't mortified enough, he was wagging his tail so hard (I'm glad someone was having a good time) that he whipped one of the glasses into the air and it hit the ground and shattered. By the end, we were all in stitches about what a terror he had been. A few months ago I would've been all bent out of shape about it, but luckily, I'm slowly learning to take it all in stride and to see these as motivation to keep working on training.

I think a key point is that dogs don't generalize. They don't take their good manners from home with them when they travel. They have to be specifically trained and drilled over and over for each new circumstance in order to expect them to behave how you want them to under those conditions.


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## Coya (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice. Laurita, I'm glad I'm not alone! My parents couldn't have been more understanding and kept making jokes, so towards the end we were all laughing as well! But I just hope it gets easier as she gets a little older! Good luck to you!


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## finch (Sep 19, 2011)

We took Finch on her first long road trip to a friend's house last October (6.5 mos) and my friend snapped this pic when she caught her up on their dining room table! Luckily they are great dog-loving friends and we were able to use the weekend as a long lesson in counter-surfing.


Photo (I can't get the upload to work, so here is a link): https://img.skitch.com/20120116-8kkjj4x54hjhgpxstpw84tdnk9.jpg


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