good manners when greeting people? - Page 1

I am looking for ways to help my 5 yr old GDS girl have better manners about greeting people when they come into our home.  i need some suggestions, please!   

she does great with people, even the smallest kids who want to come up & pet her.  the problem is when our guests first come through the door.  the main reason why we initially got her a year ago was for protection (we have some BAD neighbors) so we want her to do her job & check people out and feel like she is "taking care of us".  on the other hand, it can get annoying how she is "in your face" with our guests that have just walked in the door.  not to mention she is an 85 lb girl, so she can seem a little pushy because of her size.  we do let all our guests know that she will want to sniff them and that is her way of greeting them.  i mainly tell people this so they are not intimidated about a big dog coming right up to them.  after our company has been there awhile (like 15-20 min), then she usually calms down and will normally lay down on the floor beside us. 

are we asking too much?  is this just something that we have to deal with in return for her keeping her protective instincts?  we don't feel right about putting her up in her kennel or in a closed-door room.  besides, when we have done that a couple times, she just whines & paws like crazy! 

i would love to hear some feed-back that might work for us.  thanks!! 

The dog should be made to stay back from people as per your command.While it should not be afraid to go up and greet people ,it is you who allows it, as to when and how to greet visitors.Take charge  be the boss.You are the pack leader.Put the dog in a down when visitors come be consistent and firm.Do not give a command you are not willing  or able to enforce. Sounds easy.. LOL   Also hows that pup making out??

Put her in a sit or a down while guests are coming to the door.  Both of our GSDs let us know if someone is coming up to the house, and bark at unfamiliar people, but stay in a down when we open the door.  If a person is "properly" invited into our home, the dogs have always accepted it.  FWIW, the only person they have ever reacted badly to was a neighbor who turned out to be a registered sex offender.  Georgia growled at him every time she saw him long before I knew his history, and she hasn't ever growled at anyone else.  Just from meeting other GSDs at training, it seems like it's pretty common that they are able to distinguish a "real" threat from an innocent stranger.

Opal

I do not expect, nor allow, my dogs to greet and make friends with everybody that comes over.  My dogs are there for me, not to be your buddy.  They are either crated, kenneled, or on their pad at the side of the room.  If I chose to let them meet somebody it is under controlled circumstances.  The dog does not get to pester the person anymore then the person gets to get goofy over the dog.

thanks for the good advice.  we are going to try & put into practice what was mentioned.  i can tell already though that it will be hard, since our girl is a "people-person". 

animules - when you said that you let them meet somebody under "controlled circumstances", what does that mean?  and if we keep her away from people too much and not let her check them out, is it possible for a dog to become "unsocialized"??  i've wondered this many times .... 

We are especially apprehensive about how to handle this as our last gsd of 13 years was the total opposite.  ever since we had her as a pup, we didn't socialize her enough & for the rest of her life we had to put her up everytime someone came over.  she was an awesome family pet, but other than our family, she didn't like hardly anyone else.  so - with this dog being on the other spectrum, we're trying to learn how to do what's best. we've had this dog for less than a year.  we also have her 6 week old puppy in the house, so of course the mother kind of seems to be competing for attention with the pup.  i would assume it is too early to be teaching the pup about greeting people when they come into the house??

wow, seems like there is so much to learn & so many ways to mess it up!  just wish i knew all the secrets of a well-trained dog, so i can be sure I am doing all the right things!!! 

You mentioned you got her partly for protection, that is where I focused.  To have a dog as a companion and a deterent/protection dog, you don't really want it to make friends with anybody and everybody that comes over.

When I have people over for whatever reason, if I decide they get to meet any of the dogs we do it as a formal introduction.  As the dog is next to me, we shake hands which lets the dog know it's okay.  This does not mean the dog gets to go goofy slobber on the person, just that the person is welcome at that time.  This is something I learned from some friends and breeder.  I admit it doesn't always work as sometimes one of the dogs goes goofy and brings a toy to play with.......

Very similar when we are out and about in public.  I only go where I can control what the dogs are exposed to.  NO dog parks, no Petsmart or Petco or other places where people have out of control animals, my vets office knows how I feel and help me out when I bring my dogs in and out of the office.  My local livestock feedstore, local pet food store (after making sure idiots aren't in there with lose dogs), at the dog club, and select other locations.  It is not that my dogs are not social, it is my dogs are social when and where I chose.

The last few weeks I've been having numerous people, mostly all strangers to me, over to do work on my house.  Plumbing, floors, internet repair, old furniture removed, new furniture brought in.  No way, no how, would I allow my dogs to meet all these people.  That is what I meant by my dogs are there for me.    Often during all this my male would be lose, close by, in a platz.  He would follow room to room, inside or outside and I would put him back into a platz.  This is very comforting to have your dog close by watching when you really don't know the people you are dealing with.  That to me is having dogs as my companions and deterents/protectors.

JMO.   I'm sure others have different takes on this.

 Animules...  you brought up some great points which helped to re-affirm and remind me about "issues" that I have regularly.  Having just moved fairly recently to an area where my family lives, it has been difficult to "train" them to ignore my dog.  OMG! 

It makes me crazy when others start telling my dog to sit or down or ..     I get the "looks" from them when I tell them to please stop telling my dog what to do.   For some reason, when many people are told to ignore your dog, they take it personally.  Most people feel that any dog they see is open territory to go pet, etc.    

The Schutzhund trainer at the club I used to go to (in another state) gave me some great advice which is sometimes hard to practice, but I'm getting better at.  She basically told me that I have the investment in the dog, I have the training time & money and commitment  invested  and he is MY dog - so it's up to me to enforce the ground rules when other people try to inadvertently run interference.   I can't worry about if they think I'm an ass because I don't want them playing with him.  

The interesting thing is - I don't have the same ego issues with my son or his friends.  Before they walk in the door, I ask them to ignore the dog.  I've actually been seizing the moment and using them as a group in my living room..lol...

For the record, my dog turns into a big goofy bouncing dork when he is allowed to interact with visitors, so it is still a work in progress.  

I let my dogs greet visitors under my control, they want to sniff them of course and they know I approve these visitors.

Its ok for friends to be able to pet your dog, as long as they don't wanna roll on the floor and play tug o war.

I don't let people interact with them beyond a friendly pat.    Only my immediate family are allowed to give commands or play.

The dog greets only those who are trusted and or welcome.   When other visitors arrive the dog is held back, sit stay, or kenneled.    This tells the dogs these people are suspect and the dogs put on a good show for them.

My dogs have been socialized a lot, but they also have been shown a bad guy and what a bad guy can do.

If done right they will always question a stranger yet not try to kill every tom dick and harry that step out of a car.

Locking a dog away in a room when someone comes around tells the dog this person is suspect.  You don't want to do that to friends.   Let the dog greet them and then make the dog sit and stay in the area but out of the way.

Let them try to command your dog, if the dog responds correct the dog.   Its just another distraction for the trainer to over come.

Never give into a dog whos scratching and whining, best is to not get into that situation in the first place.   Think ahead.

Set up situations just like any other training exersize.

Explain what your doing to friends, they will understand.

Take what I say with a grain of salt because I m new at this.... but FYI, there is/was a video at Leeburg's site that you can view for free. It talks about teaching your dog the "place" command. Essentially parking your dog where you want him when folks show up.

I will train mine for this, but right now I put him in a sit before I allow anyone to approach or pet him. He loves folks, especially children and the ladies, and want's to hug them all. ;>)