Does anyone have any advice as to how we can train Psi around guest? Psi is an excellent puppy. He is 7 months old and sooo very intelligent. No problems in crate, housetraining and even the simple commands, sit, down, shake, stay. BUT when there are new people around our puppy seems to lose his mind. I can't control him! When I take him to the groomer or boarder he is just pulling me and trying to get at anything and everyone in sight. I try to explain that he is really a good boy but his behavior is sooo overwhelming to others. When my daughter or us have company, we have to put him up because he is jumping on them, nipping at them and some of them get scared. I don't like putting him up every time someone comes over. I want people to see what a good boy we have. I am really nervous with the holidays coming because I don't know how he will act. Can someone help me!?
Cannot control him around people
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diego's heart
Boxer Insane
Patience and Training...
I can relate and just say *persevere* with training not to jump and praise when you catch him doing something good! Diego went through this phase and I would consider him to be on the "mellow" side. He just wants to kiss everybody. It took some time and practice, practice, practice. I give the "sit" command before he gets petted, which works most of the time. He's a *big* boxer and I wish I taught him that before he got so big, however he gets the hint now. Sometimes he'll even go to a "down" position, especially when meeting kids.
By the way, have you taken him to basic obedience? If not, that's the first step in neutralizing his behavior. Also, is he neutered? (Although my boy is neutered, he didn't exhibit any behaviorial issues. I just want to avoid certain cancer risks and extend his life as much as possible).
You should be getting more insight from the *experts* and experienced soon.
Lisa
I can relate and just say *persevere* with training not to jump and praise when you catch him doing something good! Diego went through this phase and I would consider him to be on the "mellow" side. He just wants to kiss everybody. It took some time and practice, practice, practice. I give the "sit" command before he gets petted, which works most of the time. He's a *big* boxer and I wish I taught him that before he got so big, however he gets the hint now. Sometimes he'll even go to a "down" position, especially when meeting kids.
By the way, have you taken him to basic obedience? If not, that's the first step in neutralizing his behavior. Also, is he neutered? (Although my boy is neutered, he didn't exhibit any behaviorial issues. I just want to avoid certain cancer risks and extend his life as much as possible).
You should be getting more insight from the *experts* and experienced soon.
Lisa
VTbxrFan
Boxer Insane
I just wanted to encourage you to keep at it! My first boxer growing up was well trained and delightful. My parents got a little lazy with number 3 -- he's nine yrs old and still gets bannished to another room if they have company because he was never taught how to behave. I also think it's important to keep exposing him to the things that make him get out of control so they will stop being new. I think one of the problems with my parents dog is that all of us "kids" were in college when my parents got him, so his home was generally quiet. He hasn't been around company enough for the novelty to wear off! Of course my family loves him to pieces, but most family friends aren't too fond of him, and I wish they could see what a good, sweet boy he is when it's just us and he isn't getting overly excited about company. Good luck and don't give up on him!
Monica156
Boxer Booster
Obedience training really helped out a lot, but it takes patience and consistency. Jingo has really improved and will actually sit still for a bit when we have guests, however, children are a real trial because she just wants to be "one" with them immediatly! When we first brought her home we went to puppy socialization classes through our vet's office. It was a lot of fun and a great precourser for obedience training.
Psi is not neutered yet. We are going to do it next month though. Does that help? He did go through a basic puppy class through Petsmart. We have been looking into getting him training through Best Friends which is his groomer and boarding place. I just hate banishing him to another room because I know he doesn't mean any harm. The children just get so scared and they run from him and scream. This just makes him more excited and he runs faster and when he catches them in a corner, he pounces on them. We have tried the sit command and it works when I come home from work and he normally jumps on me, now he sits and the same with my husband but company is a whole other issue. He doesn't even listen to us. His little butt is wagging so much that he can't get a good sitting position. Or he will be there for a millisecond and go charging at the guest. So we go through this for an hour or so and then WE get tired and just put him upstairs away from the guest so he never gets a chance to get use to it.
Nedra's_momma
Completely Boxer Crazy
Psi,
Please don't take offense to this, because I really mean no harm, but it sounds like maybe you need to educate your guests a little. Please remember that Psi is only a puppy and some will act like this no matter how much training they have. I don't think that the solution to your problem is to put him away whenever guests come over, I think that in doing this, you are just pushing the bigger problem "under the carpet". My girl, Nedra, is 11 months old and exactly the same way, but I know that the only way that we are going to stop the behavior is to desensitize her to it by intentionally keeping her out. When she gets a little too rowdy, I grab her collar and put her in a sit/stay (make him sit and do not have the guests pet him until he stops wiggling. If they approach and he starts again, have them turn around and walk away. When he stops wiggling, then they can go up and pet him). When she sits and stays, my guests go over and pet her. If her butt leaves the floor, they stop petting her immediately, stand up, and walk away. She is catching on slowly but surely, but I do have to say that it is getting much better with age. I know that your guests that don't particularly like dogs won't be up for helping you train your dog, but guests that are dog lovers generally have no problem helping out with this.
If certain guests are afraid of him, set them up for a game (children generally love this). When there is food around, I'd be willing to bet that Psi doesn't act like a psycho-dog. Nedra suddenly turns into the perfect dog when the treats come out. Have the children work with him with treats, by doing sit, down and stay exercises. This is the best way to get them "warmed" up to each other and to show the kids that he really isn't a mean dog.
And there is never such a thing as too much training. It is especially important to keep them in obedience classes at this stage. You will find that the actual organized obedience classes give you the opportunity to work with him around 8 or 9 different dogs and their owners ( <-- strangers) in a controlled environment. I went into our class with "the more dogs the better" attitude because Nedra is a fool around other dogs. She just wants to play so bad... :rolleyes:
Good luck! Keep us posted on his progress!
Please don't take offense to this, because I really mean no harm, but it sounds like maybe you need to educate your guests a little. Please remember that Psi is only a puppy and some will act like this no matter how much training they have. I don't think that the solution to your problem is to put him away whenever guests come over, I think that in doing this, you are just pushing the bigger problem "under the carpet". My girl, Nedra, is 11 months old and exactly the same way, but I know that the only way that we are going to stop the behavior is to desensitize her to it by intentionally keeping her out. When she gets a little too rowdy, I grab her collar and put her in a sit/stay (make him sit and do not have the guests pet him until he stops wiggling. If they approach and he starts again, have them turn around and walk away. When he stops wiggling, then they can go up and pet him). When she sits and stays, my guests go over and pet her. If her butt leaves the floor, they stop petting her immediately, stand up, and walk away. She is catching on slowly but surely, but I do have to say that it is getting much better with age. I know that your guests that don't particularly like dogs won't be up for helping you train your dog, but guests that are dog lovers generally have no problem helping out with this.
If certain guests are afraid of him, set them up for a game (children generally love this). When there is food around, I'd be willing to bet that Psi doesn't act like a psycho-dog. Nedra suddenly turns into the perfect dog when the treats come out. Have the children work with him with treats, by doing sit, down and stay exercises. This is the best way to get them "warmed" up to each other and to show the kids that he really isn't a mean dog.
And there is never such a thing as too much training. It is especially important to keep them in obedience classes at this stage. You will find that the actual organized obedience classes give you the opportunity to work with him around 8 or 9 different dogs and their owners ( <-- strangers) in a controlled environment. I went into our class with "the more dogs the better" attitude because Nedra is a fool around other dogs. She just wants to play so bad... :rolleyes:
Good luck! Keep us posted on his progress!
Mommy2Cool
Completely Boxer Crazy
Just a thought ....
When company comes, I usually keep Nash on a leash, and as she is a puller, I use the Gentle Leader. It allows me to have her present when we have guests, and keep her under my control for the ititial excitement. It helps me teach her not to jump, and to sit to greet people. After our guests have entered, and she has settled down, I take it off. I hope I won't have to do this forever, but rather use it as a training tool.
It works for us, hope this helps.
When company comes, I usually keep Nash on a leash, and as she is a puller, I use the Gentle Leader. It allows me to have her present when we have guests, and keep her under my control for the ititial excitement. It helps me teach her not to jump, and to sit to greet people. After our guests have entered, and she has settled down, I take it off. I hope I won't have to do this forever, but rather use it as a training tool.
It works for us, hope this helps.
No offense taken. I love my baby and am open to any suggestions. I love the exercise for the children. I will try that tomorrow night. My daughter will have three little girls spending the night so we will do that game first to help warm them up. I will let you know what happens. We do tell our guest not to pet him when he is jumping up and down and most of them do not. It is just getting him to initially calm down is the struggle. I must admit that we probably are not diligent enough with the training. That is why it will last an hour or so and then we just separate him from the guest. I hope to start him with the training ASAP so that should help out alot. It is an overall type of thing with him. Even when we walk him, as soon as he sees someone he begins to pull me until he can get attention from the stranger. It is like he loses all self control because he HAS to get that attention. Then the attention makes him go even nuttier. It is almost like a switch the gets turned on as soon as he sees someone other then mommy, daddy or sister. I will tell him "no" firmly or "off" but he doesn't seem to hear me anymore. All he sees is his target (the stranger) and he goes for it full force. Pulling me along with him.
Obedience and Jumping
Our boxer is too around your boxer's age and we have been experiencing jumping on people as well. First of all, he is crate trained, so confining him to another room is uneccessary. His crate or Kennel is in our living room giving him full view of everyone. When visitors come to the door and he's running around the house, the first thing I do is open the door and ask the visitor to wait a second. Then I get my boxer's leash, leash him and give him the command of "down Stay" with my foot on the leash close to his shoulders. I then ask my visitor to come in while telling my dog to "down stay". Once the visitor is comfortable with him and he with them, then I unleash him, during this time though I remain on my knees to cradle his chest and allow him to be petted from them. Its taken a lot of work to perfect this and continues to be a lot of work, but he is learning to be approached first. Of course, the reward is always close by and he's learned that too. Getting your dog to respect you in all situations is a task, but when he/she masters it, look out, one awesome dog will be reveled at. Best Wishes
Mama of Asher - June 1, 2001; male, docked, natural ears, unnuetered, beatiful:D
Our boxer is too around your boxer's age and we have been experiencing jumping on people as well. First of all, he is crate trained, so confining him to another room is uneccessary. His crate or Kennel is in our living room giving him full view of everyone. When visitors come to the door and he's running around the house, the first thing I do is open the door and ask the visitor to wait a second. Then I get my boxer's leash, leash him and give him the command of "down Stay" with my foot on the leash close to his shoulders. I then ask my visitor to come in while telling my dog to "down stay". Once the visitor is comfortable with him and he with them, then I unleash him, during this time though I remain on my knees to cradle his chest and allow him to be petted from them. Its taken a lot of work to perfect this and continues to be a lot of work, but he is learning to be approached first. Of course, the reward is always close by and he's learned that too. Getting your dog to respect you in all situations is a task, but when he/she masters it, look out, one awesome dog will be reveled at. Best Wishes
Mama of Asher - June 1, 2001; male, docked, natural ears, unnuetered, beatiful:D
Good luck! I hope you can train him.
Bismarck is hyper-excited when there are guests. He was even wild but that was for 20 minutes only. Then he was fine. It was strange because he could not be controled at all, like when he sees cats. Also, he was wild only with friends/close people. If it was people working for the office etc, he just ignored them.
He started to be "quiet" (not jumping) only when he was 8 or 9. Now he is 12 and only does kidney beaning when he is around people
Dan is sad because his girls are growing up (http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16477) but I am glad Bismarck grew up! He is the perfect dog now!
Olly
Bismarck is hyper-excited when there are guests. He was even wild but that was for 20 minutes only. Then he was fine. It was strange because he could not be controled at all, like when he sees cats. Also, he was wild only with friends/close people. If it was people working for the office etc, he just ignored them.
He started to be "quiet" (not jumping) only when he was 8 or 9. Now he is 12 and only does kidney beaning when he is around people
Dan is sad because his girls are growing up (http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16477) but I am glad Bismarck grew up! He is the perfect dog now!
Olly
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