Dog Community

Pushy Dog

Posted : 11/12/2006 10:17:50 PM

Hey! I have a 1 and a half year old Bernese Mountain Dog, who is a big SUCK. His goal in life is to get as much cuddles, love, kisses and 'nice talk', from people as he can. It even comes above food for him. However, he is VERY pushy about getting this love. He will very often come up to you when you are one the couch, or sitting at the table, and vigorously nudge your hands or arm. I (and the rest of my family) always ignore him....and he usually stops after a while. But the main problem is, that when guests come over, he is SO eager to get them to pet him, and he learned very quickly that guests are very easily persauded into petting him. He just comes to them, stands very close and wags his tail at them. He is a beautiful dog, and very cute, so most people are only too willing to give him rubs and cuddles. Once people start petting him, he happily sits beside them, and joyfully takes in the love. However, the problem comes when they stop....to talk to us, or sit down....he dosen't give up. He nudges them. We tell people to please just ignore him, but it seams to be a nearly impossible feat for many people. They eventually pet him again, obviously only rewarding him for nudging them. Then, the people who get it, and ignore him completely, he has started to get more and more persitant, to the point where he mounths them. It is very annoying, and he is very big (100lb) so ignoring him doing this is very hard. Once he starts to be mouthy, and wont leave people alone, we tell him "ah ah"....sometimes he stops, but usually he just goes on to the next "victim"...lol. He does it all in love of course, but dosen't know when to stop, and just go lie down. He is always into EVERYTHING....checking this, that, this person, that person....watching if anything falls on the floor for him, or if anyone looks like they might just give him a little pat. We excersize him alot (two 45 min. walks a day, plus plays times, and training sessions with both meals.....and he is a low-excersise-requierment dog), so I don't think it's because he is bored. How can we get him to be more polite, and just relax sometimes??(that is, when guests are over - when it is just our family, he is SUPER lazy.) Sorry this is so long, and thanks in adavance for the replies I know are coming

-jethrosmom

p.s. his name is Jethro

glenmar

Posted : 11/13/2006 5:25:32 AM

If Jethro can't behave with guests, Jethro shouldn't be allowed to see the guests. That's the rule in our house, and my shepherds aren't QUITE that big! The nose nudge is annoying and it IS hard for the average person to ignore. I don't like to subject my guests to 6 german shepherds.....the very sight of them is enough to scar the tar out of most people, so they play outside or go to their crates with premium bones when we have guests.

Leave it is a command that is very versatile......works for people as well as the chicken bones they find on walks. It sounds to me like Jethro could use a refresher obedience course maybe.

jethrosmom

Posted : 11/13/2006 8:52:28 AM

Thanks glenmar. So you always put your dogs "away" when guests come over??
I don't think this is what I want to do...I want to teach him how to be polite around guests, rather than just avoiding the situations all together.
He knows 'leave it', but I never thought to use it in relation to his nosing....

Have any of you taught your dogs 'go lie down', or something similar? If so, how did you do it? We would love to be able to just tell him to 'go lie down', and he'll go to a mat or bed. (right now all we have bed-wise is his crate...which he goes to of his own accord often, but never when people are over, and I heard it was not good to have this as his 'go lie down' spot). Any other suggestions?

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/13/2006 9:10:30 AM

What you can do is have him present only with guests who "get it". They will ignore his bossy and demanding behavior, even when he gets mouthy. Escalating into mouthiness is the dog's way of saying, "Hey, this worked before, so I need to get even more pushy so I get my pats."
Unfortunately, your guests who ignored you should have been ignoring your dog, and this behavior, too, would go away. Dogs do what works - if it doesn't work ever then they eventually get it and don't do it anymore. So, put him away when the "weenie" guests come, and have him meet & (someday) politely greet the "get it" guests. It should always be the human's idea to initiate greetings with a pushy dog.
And, if you think your guests will accidentally forget, then take Glenda's advice and segregate him - even one mistake is "intermittent reinforcement" for the negative behaviors of nudging and mouthing, and it keeps the dog doing it.

espencer

Posted : 11/13/2006 11:32:07 AM

Glenmar is right, you should just have him away since all the "training" you do goes to the toilet when you have guests, just like having your kid on a diet but when he goes with grandma she gaves all the chocolate he wants

That does not mean you will have to put him away forever every time you have guests, training him first, after a while, once he listens to 100% of the things you ask him then you can bring him back to meet guests

Dont train him if there is people who will spoil the training because then it will take you double of the time you were suppose to

jethrosmom

Posted : 11/13/2006 12:57:51 PM

Thanks everyone.....
Spiritdogs, that sounds like a good plan....
What about for quick visits, like when someone comes to the door, and maybe steps inside for a few minutes....how can I teach him to come see them maybe, then just leave us alone. Would using a leash at this time be useful? He knows 'stay' very well, maybe I could put him in a sit-stay, and praise/treat after..?..thanks again everyone!

-jethrosmom

glenmar

Posted : 11/13/2006 1:20:56 PM

No, I don't always put ALL the dogs in crates or outside when we have guests...it depends on who is coming and the excitment level of the dogs. Tyler is excellent with any and everyone. Thor is as well. Some of the others need a bit of time to get over the excitment of someone coming to the door before I let them join polite company. And, if my guests are not dog savy and willing to cooperate then none of the dogs come out.

Ruth

Posted : 11/13/2006 6:44:28 PM

A "go to your bed" type command would help you for sure. I would also suggest teaching him an "enough" command. Patricia McConnell describes this in one of her books. It roughly translates to "go away and play by yourself" and it has been very sucessful with my dog, who is similarly pushy about getting people to play fetch with him.

I taught "enough" starting when I was sitting on the couch and Ace would bring me his toy for throwing. I would say "enough" and give him two little pats on the head (not hard, just a light staccato tap). At first, of course, he didn't know what this meant so he would ignore me and keep soliciting my attention. I would immediately "body block" him out of the area by standing up, crossing my arms and looking up and away, kind of looming over him, and walking forward -- the dog is going to respond to this show of authority by backing up. As soon as he was out of the couch area and doing anything other than pestering me I would praise him and sit back down, and once he settled down a bit he would get a great treat. The first night we had to repeat this procedure several times over and over, but if you are consistent they will get it pretty quickly.

Since my dog is very toy driven, once he understood the basic idea, I also introduced a three-strikes rule where if he ignored my "enough" and immediately came back for more, the third time I would take away his toy. You could maybe do a similar thing by giving your dog a brief time-out alone in a crate or separate room if he ignores you. Something that calmly lets him know that by ignoring the "enough" and keeping pestering you, he won't even be able to hang out with you at all.

Ace learned this surprizingly quickly and now I can pat him and say "enough" and he will just go play by himself. You will need to get the command well-learned before you introduce guests into the picture, but once he learns it well, anyone should be able to give the command and get him to back off.

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/13/2006 6:51:59 PM

ORIGINAL: jethrosmom

Thanks everyone.....
Spiritdogs, that sounds like a good plan....
What about for quick visits, like when someone comes to the door, and maybe steps inside for a few minutes....how can I teach him to come see them maybe, then just leave us alone. Would using a leash at this time be useful? He knows 'stay' very well, maybe I could put him in a sit-stay, and praise/treat after..?..thanks again everyone!

-jethrosmom

You have to walk before you can run. So, I would train first when you know someone is coming and can plan ahead. For impromptu visits, just crate him with a stuffed Kong (keep a few in your freezer for such occasions - then crate time equals happy time). Of course, you can always ask all your friends to call before coming over so that you can plan ahead.

Deb

Posted : 11/13/2006 7:00:21 PM

Yeah, I would actually practice this routine for all guests, something like this worked with my last dog, after a few practice rounds:

1. Tether him by his bed.
2. Doorbell rings, he gets a really really yummy kong.
3. As long as he's sitting on his bed, enjoying his kong for a few minutes, THEN guests are allowed to approach.
4. Any freaky, overly excited behavior earns penalty yards--guests move away.

The trick is don't try with real guests at first, and build up to these "visits" taking actual time. Eventually, with practice, you get a dog that lays on his bed enjoying something yummy while folks have the option of engaging with him. Everything about the guests who "get it" applies for a long time, but you are building a foundation for having him out and teaching him what to do when guests are over.

jethrosmom

Posted : 11/14/2006 11:00:52 AM

Ok, I think we'll deffinatley try the 'enough' comand. He is very uninterested in his wide variety of toys most of the time, so I guess it would just be for when is is being pushy about getting attention. Should I give him his stuffed kong when he does go lie by himself? or just P/T? You guys are great, thanks for the help!

Holly

Posted : 11/14/2006 12:44:52 PM

All my dogs know the "enough" command. Its very useful with new people. Although, my black lab has a command that was an accident that is kinda funny and gets the same results.

In my parents house, my Mom had a nice area rug and a dog rug. The dogs were always supposed to lay on their own rug, but would sneak onto Mom's every now and then. Mom would always say "PEW! Stinky dogs get off my rug!" The dogs knew better and would go to their own rug. Well, one night, my Dad was a little gassy while they were watching TV (gross, I know, but it leads to the end of the story) My Mom just said "PEW!" My lab stood up and went onto her rug. Still, in any situation, someone just has to say "PEW" and the lab gets up, hangs her head, and leaves the room.