Tag: dog greeting visitors

Teach your dog “Sit to say hello!”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your dog would sit to say hello?

If you don’t think it’s possible, you’re probably not going to believe you can get there just by playing a little two-minute game with your dog. You may have to play it a couple of times a day for about a week. But it works and you can do it!

Easier to start fresh

Normal certainly looks different today than it did a couple of years ago. When life was “normal,” most dogs were exposed to at least a few different people on a regular basis. Friends and family would stop by, and dogs learned to take their presence in stride.

Since we’ve had pandemic restrictions on travel and visiting, many people’s and dogs’ lives are less social. If this applies to your situation, this is a great game to play with your dog. Be prepared for times when your circle expands.

Luckily, you can play the game without anybody else around. All you need is you and your dog. And treats. Lots of yummy treats. Mainly for the dog, but you probably deserve some, too!

Get your dog excited

The first step is to get your dog all excited. It may seem counter-intuitive. To teach your dog how to be controlled and calm, you would think you start there – controlled and calm. Logical, except for one thing. It doesn’t work. Starting calm doesn’t teach calm.  (Now, this is different than teaching your dog to be calm when it’s just her and the family. That’s usually a more subdued starting point.”

When the doorbell rings, or someone comes in, chances are your dog will be excited. One of the charming things about dogs is how happy they are to see us – even if all we did was take out the trash. Your normal dog is going to be wildly happy to see whoever walks in the door. The objective is to get your dog to wiggle delightedly from a sitting position. 

In our house, it doesn’t take much for chaos and mayhem to break out. For unknown reasons, knocking on the counter sets Booker off, barking and jumping around, ready for zoomies. If your dog has a similar trigger, use it. Celebrate it! Say silly things like “Yes, get crazy!” “That’s my nutsy puppy!” “Dog, you are one happy puppy!”

Okay, it’s loud. Now what?

Fran taught the dogs to sit and say hello.
The dogs are rewarded for sitting and saying “Hello!”

Once your dog is happy, excited, and you’re starting to think the neighbors will complain, reward your dog. Then be still. Don’t say anything. Don’t move. It’s like you’re playing “Red Light, Green Light” and the light turned red. Become a statue.

If your dog is like most, she won’t know what the heck happened. She will stop, look around, try to see what’s changed. And then, if she’s like most dogs, she’ll sit in front of you, puzzled. Reward! Good puppy! Nice “hello!”

Then do it again. If she didn’t sit, you can whisper the word, without moving. If she does, reward and start again! 

Teaching “Hello!”

Achieving impulse control is one of the most difficult things for dogs to learn. By playing this reversed, doggy version of “Green Light, Red Light” you’re pairing the excitement of movement with its opposite. Using the word “Hello!” will associate it to the stillness of the sit.

A good portion of dog training is vocabulary building for our dogs. Once they understand what a word means, most dogs are happy to do it. If we teach them that “Hello!” means sit still, we automatically pair greetings with good behavior.

Dog manners for greeting visitors

Is your dog a nut job when company comes? Do you wish your dog had better manners for greeting visitors?

It’s been especially tough during the pandemic – not many people were open to visiting. Many dogs either forgot the manners they had, or never had a chance to learn polite greetings. You can turn that around, with some basic training games to teach your dog what to do when the doorbell rings.

Doorbell behavior

It’s always easier to teach something “to” do, rather than “not to” do. If your dog learns that the doorbell, or a knock on the door, is a trigger for a specific behavior, you’re giving them a familiar goal. 

You won’t necessarily be able to stop your dog from giving a startled bark. A doorbell is meant to alert the household that someone has arrived. What a learned behavior will achieve is making the aftermath of the doorbell sound into a familiar routine.

Teach “Place”

Booker in his "place!"

If space and your routine allow it, have a dog bed or mat in view of the door. When you teach your dog “Place” (2-Minute-Trainer.com Book 1) your dog will know that his/her “job” is to run to the bed when the doorbell trigger sounds. It’s really an ideal scenario. Your dog will be able to see what’s going on, you’ll know where your dog is, and whoever is at the door will be able to deliver your pizza without fuss. 

If you’re not in the habit of getting deliveries, set up the scenario with a friend or family member when your dog has mastered “Place,” and will dash to the bed or mat as soon as you say your cue word. It doesn’t have to be “Place.” If a different word comes more naturally to you, by all means use it and teach that word to your dog so that he’ll develop better dog manners for greeting visitors.

Choose a different behavior to “do”

One of the biggest obstacles in teaching dog training is getting people to change from the “don’t” words to the “do” words. It’s natural to tell your dog “Off!” when she’s jumping on your friend. (Never “Down!” – that means lie down. Each word has only one meaning for your dog.) 

But it’s not helpful. It doesn’t give your dog anything to do. “Stop” doesn’t mean anything to dogs. She’s doing lots of stuff – walking, jumping, sniffing, licking, etc. What do you want her to do?

It takes time and conscious thought to change the “stop doing that” into “Sit!” or “Touch!” Giving your dog a task to perform, one that’s familiar and is always rewarded, if more likely to be successful. 

Just like kids

If you’ve ever witnessed, dealt with, or been with squabbling children, it’s a very similar situation. We’re convinced it’s how the vast majority of “road trip games” came into being. Giving them a task, like license plates to look for, is more effective than saying “Stop touching each other!” It separates the children to look out their own windows, and occupies their minds. Do the same for your dog and manners will improve!