George Bailey
05-21-2009, 01:21 AM
I wrote this some time ago and wanted to share it here as it seems this is a common problem in our breed.
Many dogs are too excited to sit, so we ask them to put feet on floor and
bridge (a verbal support signal) every instance where the dog chooses to keep feet on floor.
We often teach in opposite pairs, so feet on floor would be paired with feet high, or jump up, give hug, whatever you want to call it, which is also another reinforceable behavior when you ask for it. If you like to hug your dog, as I do, you can cue it, if not, you can cue it less and less and 'feet on floor' more and more.
This exercise is outlined in detail in SATS and the Family Dog.
A few thoughts on greetings:
Don't let it happen until the dog is calm.
No physical contact until the dog is calm.
There are methods available to teach dogs to control their own emotions; with SATS methods, we call this conditioned relaxation (CR). It is taught with massage or tactile bridging, supported and reinforced with verbal bridging.
Polite introductions set the stage for future interactions. (Actual) verbal introductions are great, dogs can remember people's names, and they don't need to get in people's faces to say hi. An interesting biproduct is that they seem to enjoy showing off and indicating people by name when asked.
The very best strangers will ask both the owner and the dog if they want to be touched. Think about it--- do you want to touch or be touched by everybody you meet?
Keep the dog on a leash so they are unsuccessful at jumping on a person,
learn by failure--- you don't have to correct them, just stop them.
People by nature want to hug and stroke, this is too much for an excitable
dog. Ask the person to do one brief touch; we would name a body part
for the dog so that he could target that to person, a participatory
action rather than the constraints of a static position. Example: chin
on hand.
With an excitable dog, I don't have anybody touch them, initially. Instead, I have the person touch the dog on various body parts with a dowel, which is an extension target. The dog is not ready to be touched until it can maintain (body part) duration on the extension target for several seconds. All work is done in short, rhythmic, progressive cycles. Incidentally, I would use the exact same approach to work with a shy or fearful dog, their personal space needs to be protected until they have learned coping skills, which also
include self controlling their emotions. Here is a photograph of George targeting an extension target on the bridge of his nose:
SITBALANCELO.jpg picture by jmkinsey - Photobucket
If a dog is excitable, I do not use food as I've found it may make some dogs more excited and some dogs demanding.
Julie K
Many dogs are too excited to sit, so we ask them to put feet on floor and
bridge (a verbal support signal) every instance where the dog chooses to keep feet on floor.
We often teach in opposite pairs, so feet on floor would be paired with feet high, or jump up, give hug, whatever you want to call it, which is also another reinforceable behavior when you ask for it. If you like to hug your dog, as I do, you can cue it, if not, you can cue it less and less and 'feet on floor' more and more.
This exercise is outlined in detail in SATS and the Family Dog.
A few thoughts on greetings:
Don't let it happen until the dog is calm.
No physical contact until the dog is calm.
There are methods available to teach dogs to control their own emotions; with SATS methods, we call this conditioned relaxation (CR). It is taught with massage or tactile bridging, supported and reinforced with verbal bridging.
Polite introductions set the stage for future interactions. (Actual) verbal introductions are great, dogs can remember people's names, and they don't need to get in people's faces to say hi. An interesting biproduct is that they seem to enjoy showing off and indicating people by name when asked.
The very best strangers will ask both the owner and the dog if they want to be touched. Think about it--- do you want to touch or be touched by everybody you meet?
Keep the dog on a leash so they are unsuccessful at jumping on a person,
learn by failure--- you don't have to correct them, just stop them.
People by nature want to hug and stroke, this is too much for an excitable
dog. Ask the person to do one brief touch; we would name a body part
for the dog so that he could target that to person, a participatory
action rather than the constraints of a static position. Example: chin
on hand.
With an excitable dog, I don't have anybody touch them, initially. Instead, I have the person touch the dog on various body parts with a dowel, which is an extension target. The dog is not ready to be touched until it can maintain (body part) duration on the extension target for several seconds. All work is done in short, rhythmic, progressive cycles. Incidentally, I would use the exact same approach to work with a shy or fearful dog, their personal space needs to be protected until they have learned coping skills, which also
include self controlling their emotions. Here is a photograph of George targeting an extension target on the bridge of his nose:
SITBALANCELO.jpg picture by jmkinsey - Photobucket
If a dog is excitable, I do not use food as I've found it may make some dogs more excited and some dogs demanding.
Julie K