my 14 week old bull terrier loves visitors in fact so much he scares the life out of them by jumping barking and generally going completey loopy i have tried calming him down by holding him or calling him but as far as he is concerned i dont exsist ..we have many visitors as we have a big family but for everyone its the same story  but for the more timid in the family it can get very intimidating ...

Hello,

We used to get this from Sal (Stafford) and we got the visitors to tell her to sit before they fussed her. Now she automatically sits when people come. But as for excitment I can't help there EBT like Staffies love everyone. Hopefully he will calm down :D is he your first EBT?

Karen

yes he is our first ebt and puppy ..we had a staff for 10 years but he was three years old when he came from the rescue centre sadly he past away a year ago so we decided on a ebt ..so the puppy bit is very new to us

Have you spoken to your pup's breeder? I would think they would be an ideal source of info on the EBT yours in particular.

I love Bullies always have, but they grow to be "big" dogs so you don't want him to get the idea he can "bullie" anyone. He will calm down and the more visitors you get the better, at this age they soon get bored and go lie down the visitors do nothing interesting.  

I used to get Sal's fav toy(kong) when we got someone to visit she couldn't resist :D  throw it up the garden a few times, it seemed to distract her from the visitor long enough that when she came back in the house she forgot they are new, and carried on as normal.

But I always took her to the door when she was a pup and made her sit before I opened it, gently holding her collar, so she could see people were allowed to come in as long as I said alright. Worked well now she sits and stays regardless of who comes. I always encouraged her to bark at the bell/letterbox, but only a couple of times then she quiet as we get to the door.

I also let her meet the window cleaners when she was a pup, now though they are a little wary of her but she takes the fact they clean the windows for granted. Not barking at all.

What's he called?

Karen 

   

thanks i think you are so right its the first initial 2 mins he goes mad but its all wags and running about then nothing as if they had been in the house for hours ..he house trained in less than a week he comes when called and even sits when asked but get a visitor and youve lost him ...i know its down to training and perseverance and at the moment we are like new parents not wanting to get it wrong ..paranoid in fact :-) and he is called 2pac

terry

I suspect never having a pup before would be scary. Great name by the way.

Have you spoken to your vet about "puppy meeting/socilization" classes we went with Sal and she loved it running around with the other pups, puts your mind at rest to meeting other puppy owners, going through the same things as you (bit like a first time parent :D )  Also if he didn't feel so confident with you he wouldn't be so eagar to meet new people would he? thats all credit to you, that he feels secure enough to think all people are brilliant :D

See he is learning, he sits, he's housetrained, and he comes they are like little sponges at that age. He sounds great.

Have fun, Karen

thanks for your help :-)

No problem, though I expect tomorrow people with more experience than me will be along thought I'd give it a go though.

This site becomes addictive when you've got a puppy :D

Karen

i know what you mean and its great i found it ...now as the saying goes (we are not alone ) and it is very reasurring knowing that our dog is not satans child when he does the total opposite of what you expect :-) he is such a character he even knows where my favourite trainers are if he wants to get back at me :-)

Just keep moving the credit cards :D

Karen

I would put a lead on him when visitors arive.  You then have control and can make him sit for greeting.  also ensure visitors ignore him until he sits (which you can enforse on the lead).  Once he is calm and visitors are seated let him off, but ensure that they ignore him.

He can then be caled over for a stroke when he is calm.

Hi Terry,
Our Springer is just the same, though she doesn't just bark at them (only at the bell or sound of a car arriving)she  just goes bonkers wanting attention. I've recently started doing what Karen has suggested and make her sit and it she's getting better slowly. She's 6 years though so it'll take us longer, hopefully you'll nip it in the bud quicker. :)

Kath

Terry,

I've had the same issues with pups. This generally starts by the puppy (or any age dog) being trained to get excited when you come home, enter a room, backyard or re-enter the house. It is a natural instinct to enjoy an excited greeting at first. Unfortunitly this becomes the "norm" for greeting. First thing I generally do is work at calm entries for myself. I do this with reward/praise conditioning. I then ask a few friends to help out and work at keeping my pup in the sit position when they enter. There are a lot of techniques that a good behaviorist can recommend. A 14 week old is full of energy and this will taper off with time. I suggest you work on you entries first and see what follows with visitors. Good luck.

thanks for all your help i am eagerly on the case and will let you know how i get on ..:-)