Hi all...I am having a little trouble dealing with my 9 month old crossbreeds complete and utter manic, exciteable behaviour when meeting new people. He is such a lovely boy and day to day he is very good around the house (as long as he has had a run and some training to tire him out) but he has such a high level of excitement I find it hard to deal with. For instance today we had my 5 year old goddaugther and her mother drop by unexpectedly...At first I got Alfie on a lead to see if he could at least get to greet them in a controlled manner... NOPE, at the mere sight of the 'new people' he went absolutely beserk, he jumps and sqeals (a sound that is often described as "earpiercing") and he tries his best to slip his collar, wriggling and squirming...but the sound, gosh if only you could hear the sound...(you maybe did if the wind was in the right direction) anyway, at the sight of all this my poor little god daughter burst into tears so I managed to put Alfie in the garden for the rest of the visit. The whole visit was rather tense as we could hear Alfie squealing and scratching on the patio door the whole time, he did settle eventually but it took a while. I dont really know how to solve this. He is so friendly he would just lick you to death but it looks like he is a wild animal when he gets like that. I mean we work on things like jumping up when he greets us and he is getting better at that but boring old us dont make him THAT excited so how are we able to work on this? if he see's someone new and we havent managed to grab him in time he will always jump up at them...and often people will say 'oh I dont mind, he's fine' when it obviously isnt. We are really careful with him when out so he wont be able to ambush people (luckily he has excellent recall skills...at least one thing that has sunk in!) but it is just he whole excitement in general...will he calm down? is there hope? We dont really get all that many visitors normally as it just my husband and I, but at this time of year I would like to be able to at least enjoy a visit from my nearest and dearest without it been so stressful (and quite embarrassing when your guests have to cover their ears!)

any ideas? Hope you are all having a merry christmas by the way!

shannon

What do you feed please? Could be food related?

Hi Shannon

at 9 months he's still mentally very much a puppy I'm afraid - so over excitement often comes with the territory :)  You don't say what breeds he's crossed with but of course it could be with one or more that are naturally over exuberant until they are fully mature, physically and mentally (hate to tell you but that can be upwards of 3-5 years with some breeds - like mine :rolleyes: )

You will probably have to stoically work on distracting him with a particularly rare food reward or extra special toy on these occasions - I think I'd try to distract, give a command like "sit" or "watch me" and then offer the treat or toy.  Hopefully if you can associate that something pleasant is coming from YOU at the time visitors arrive etc., he will be more focused on you than anyone else.  Practice regularly, eventually when you see good results for your efforts, make the treat or toy more random - so that he really HAS to give you his undivided attention *just in case the goodies come* :)   Initially you may need to do this with a house line attached (obviously only when you're supervising him) but of course there will be occasions when this is not practical so the reward has to be the BIG part of your plan!

Re his excellent recall - WELL DONE - one of the most difficult things to train IME but it's worth remembering that a "Kevin stage" is probably looming where a lot of our hard work appears to be undone overnight.  This happens to most dogs no matter how well attuned their owners are so don't despair - just try and keep a consistent attitude with him (i.e. even when enraged - smile, laugh, talk in silly high pitched voice :D ) and "up the ante" of his rewards when he gets the commands right :)

HTH a little, Teri

Hi Shannon,

I had the same with my little Rescue Eurasier came to us as a little Tasmanian devil ;) :D
Have a look at this article from Clicker solutions
This is along the lines of what we did (I dont click tho'..Im laaazzeee and not coordinated ;) )
The key really is consistency stick at it..always stick to the same behaviour (your expecting your dog too! so, so should we!)
I used friends and work colleagues, the postman..anyone I could rope in!! solidly using these 'stooges' everyday
WE had it licked in about her first 2 weeks I think, as loopy as we think our dog might be..I always find the 'loopy' ones actaully learn quicker and conform quicker!
good Luck, with good and consistent training you will get there :)

Thanks all...

he is fed timberwolf kibble but has blended veggies in aswell as it is the only thing that actually keeps him firm, he is a very greedy boy yet doesnt seem to keep weight on...I blame this on (what must be) a very fast metabolism! (he is a very energetic boy, only rests when he drops and even then Im sure he sleeps with one eye open!)

He is...wait for it....a collie x jack russell we think (with a possibly a few others thrown in!) he was rescued as a pup (as Im not sure anyone in their right mind would think THAT cross would be a good idea!) he is a bit of a nutcase in general really, we go to agility and flyball just to learn the ropes, this seems to help keep his mind occupied a little.

I am practising the recall with him at every chance as I am determind to keep up his standards at the other end of the 'kevin' stage...I am expecting him to start pushing it soon and am prepared with tastier treats!

I will definitely work on some of the techniques suggested thanks Teri and Huskygal, I do train him with a clicker so will have a closer look at that article in a minute. I think I will need to rope in some willing volunteers to help work on this.

>collie x jack russell

LOL - got your work cut out then :D :D :D

Hopefully you'll find plenty of willing stooges (whoops! :rolleyes: "assistants" :D ) and you'll be back on track very soon.

Keep us posted and good luck!  Happy Xmas, Teri :)

he sounds like really good fun I got as many people to visit as possible  for the first year and yes, some were mugged but i resisted the temptation to put the dog out so that when he was calm he could be rewarded, its only when visitors become boring, commonplace or there is something better on offer that the dogs excitement will wane, now he has a quick snifff then looks to me for his reward, unless they are one of his favorites then theres a bit of a mad run down the hall rather that than barking though!

:-D  I agree Collie x JR, oh boy you are going to have twice the work, but twice the love too. ;-)

Apart from everything already said which will work in time, be assured of that ;-) if he really does go absolutely manic with excitement and leading and putting him in another room or even outside does not stop his high pitched squealing and whining, try something I used to have to do with my mum's terrier x when she was a pup, she was very much like yours extremely excitable and I know the noise you are talking about whenever we had my neices and nephews or the boys friends around when I was looking after my mum's dogs, this is what I used to do with her.

I would set up the crate in my bedroom and pop her in with water and a knuckle bone, then drape a cloth over it so that she could not see, and close the bedroom door, not being able to see out would make her just sit down eat her knuckle or go to sleep, people could come and go and she would not make a sound, if they were staying for just an hour or so I would leave her in there, if they were here all day she would be let out after an hour, popped on a lead and led into the room with everyone, the children were asked to ignore her completely whilst we walked through, I would then walk her back in and they could all give her a little pat and stroke, if she started up again I would pop her back in for another 20 mins and then let her out again, and try the process again and bingo she behaved impecably, and went to settle down with the other dogs and played nicely with the children, without the noise or over-excitment.

It did take a few times to get her to behave like the other dogs, but dogs learn very quickly, but it does work and believe me she really was a handful, it takes the stress away from visiting as she was quiet upstairs and eventually she learnt that over-excitedness got her back in the crate.

Today she is a dream to have, impecably behaved and very loving and obediant.

Good luck and keep being consistant.

I know that particular, excruciating noise. Indeed, I live with it although I hear it less and less these days. However, it's a well-known Jack Russell "sound effect" and was once described to me by an chap unfortunate enough to share a pub garden with us as "going right through yer head, out the other side and then back in again".

I'll come up with something more constructive later but in the meantime just wanted to sympathise with one aspect of your problem. :D