# Will not settle when someone comes to pet



## Mcunnin4 (Jan 15, 2013)

Hi fellow V owners,

Problem of the week (or month). We frequently have visitors come over and he jumps and when I can finally get him to sit (which does not necessarily mean hes settled) he goes crazy when they reach out to pet him. He wants to nibble on their arm and jump at them. 

My method (which does not seem to be working) is I tell them to ignore him until hes calm. Once he does calm down though they go to pet him and he starts to do the nibbling and jumping thing again. I thought this would work since me and my boyfriend have trained him to not jump on us anymore by ignoring his excited behavior when we come in the door and only pet when hes calm. It works like a charm for us but since he does not see our visitors every day or let alone the people who ask to pet him on the street, he gets crazy excited and will not stop jumping until they walk away or pet him.

I am desperate! I need help!

anyone?


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Spot training works for my pup. 

When people knock on the door he barks like a good boy and then we tell him 'on you bed' to which he runs to his bed and lays down. We then tell him wait greet our guests and then after awhile they go in for a pet. If he gets excited it is 'on your bed again'

Just practice the on you bed command over and over and over. It is going to take months to fix. Not sure how old your pup is but it will be a constant thing until one day you will hear a knock your pup will bark and then take themselves to their bed!


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## Mcunnin4 (Jan 15, 2013)

I love that idea! Thank you!


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## DougAndKate (Sep 16, 2011)

Same as born36 said, the "bed" command has been our savior, especially with the new baby around. He still gets super excited once we give the "free" command, but at least people can walk in the door and make their way in the house without an issue.


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## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

My house is straight up chaos when someone comes over, my two go absolutely nuts with excitement and Penny will literally run full blast into my visitors and if you didn't see her coming she would definitely knock you down. It's a great way to greet people into my house - come on in and get mauled by my dogs...

I usually put the dogs out the back door before people come into the house, the dogs can see them through the door and it gives them a couple of minutes to calm down before I let them in. When I do let them in, they are still jumpy, but I tell everyone not to pet them and to tell them "sit" once the dogs are calm and sitting down then people can pet them. The dogs calm down pretty quickly and then once they are calm they generally stay that way for the rest of the visit, it's just the initial couple of minutes that are bad. My biggest problem is that I live by myself, so it's hard to duplicate having other people over - I will go and ring the doorbell to trick the dogs and then I can work with them to try and calm them down before I open the door, but this only works once and then they figure out that no one is there so they won't take the bait again for a few days. My goal is eventually to get them to bark and then settle when I tell them to and then I can let people in without putting the dogs outside.

I just keep telling myself, someday it's all going to come together.


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Sounds just like us! 

We also do 'go to bed' and sit before she is petted by visitors. She'll hover and scoot on her bum closer and closer to the person wiggling herself into oblivion. 

It is so very lovely how much these dogs adore humans but jumping and nibbling on the wrong person (or kids) could be a problem which is why it's good to enforce it. 

She doesn't jump on us, but the again it's normally me being told off for frolicking and jumping :

I met a lovely man with an older V the other day (it was like Christmas morning - we don't have many V's) and while telling her to sit to stop jumping he told me to look forward to doing that for the next 2 years! 

Repetition with go to bed and sit does help. Nelly is 5 months and very good at it.

Good luck!


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

We don't look at or pet Watson until his bum is planted on the ground. He will roorooroo his head off in complaint/anticipation while he does it, but he knows that's how he gets attention. We SHOWER him with it when he sits, and remove ourselves immediately when he starts to jump. Repetition. We also let him weave through our legs while he bum wiggles out of excitement, as long as there's no jumping. 

Dogs read body language, so have your guests fold their arms and turn away from him when he starts to jump. It has to be done over and over again, every single time. He will get it.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

I just greeted everybody my jumping up at them... that way the dog learned, they learn visually, LOL


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## Mcunnin4 (Jan 15, 2013)

Thanks everyone! Bentley picks up on tricks extremely fast and so the "go to your bed" is already in his brain. Now through repetition comes mastery...

Me and Brian take turns coming to the door and ringing the doorbell to simulate a person entering and hes fairly good for that but we had some friends come over and he stayed in his bed until I closed the door then it was all over from there. (my girl-friend didn't help while she was yelping and screaming as he jumped---it only excited him more!) 

But so far it is DEFINITELY an improvement from his waiting behind us while we open the door for an immediate attack!

This is a great obedience trick I will use forever!

Thanks!


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