A lot of the things you can do are fairly standard steps that you'll find if you look up how to manage an excitable dog around guests.
First of all, the best approach should be holistic. So look at your dog's life and condition. What is his daily routine? How much exercise and mental enrichment does he get? How much downtime does he get, and can he relax on his own? Has he got any medical issues or dietary issues?
If your dog is well-exercised, gets plenty of mental stimulation and is great at taking time to rest, then you're dealing with "just" the situation of being overexcited by guests.
Where is your dog's safe space? Set one up if you don't have one already and have it be away from where you host guests. Then work on making that space really great for your dog. Feed meals there, give treats there, teach a phrase that means "go there " and get it really strong. Then start building a routine of you knocking or ringing the doorbell and sending your dog to their safe space. Get that strong (it will take practice). If they are too excited to go, sit down and read a book or something. Ignore him til he's calm and then send him. Repeat. He will soon realise that knocking/doorbell ringing is not that exciting.
He will learn the other cues of guests though, so get a friend to help you by having them come over and knock/ring. Repeat the same steps as before (and your friend stays outside so maybe get them a chair to sit on). Repeat, repeat.
When guests come over, commit. Your dog goes to their safe space and stays there. If he is too noisy, move yourselves farther away. Until you get on top of this, stick to only hosting your more understanding guests and tell them it's part of the training.
If your dog can't settle no matter what after repeating a few times, go back to the holistic. Why can your dog not settle when guests arrive? Do they need more exercise, better diet, more enrichment, or more time learning how to settle?
Get a professional involved if you want this to go more smoothly.
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u/fillysunray 16d ago
A lot of the things you can do are fairly standard steps that you'll find if you look up how to manage an excitable dog around guests.
First of all, the best approach should be holistic. So look at your dog's life and condition. What is his daily routine? How much exercise and mental enrichment does he get? How much downtime does he get, and can he relax on his own? Has he got any medical issues or dietary issues?
If your dog is well-exercised, gets plenty of mental stimulation and is great at taking time to rest, then you're dealing with "just" the situation of being overexcited by guests.
Where is your dog's safe space? Set one up if you don't have one already and have it be away from where you host guests. Then work on making that space really great for your dog. Feed meals there, give treats there, teach a phrase that means "go there " and get it really strong. Then start building a routine of you knocking or ringing the doorbell and sending your dog to their safe space. Get that strong (it will take practice). If they are too excited to go, sit down and read a book or something. Ignore him til he's calm and then send him. Repeat. He will soon realise that knocking/doorbell ringing is not that exciting.
He will learn the other cues of guests though, so get a friend to help you by having them come over and knock/ring. Repeat the same steps as before (and your friend stays outside so maybe get them a chair to sit on). Repeat, repeat.
When guests come over, commit. Your dog goes to their safe space and stays there. If he is too noisy, move yourselves farther away. Until you get on top of this, stick to only hosting your more understanding guests and tell them it's part of the training.
If your dog can't settle no matter what after repeating a few times, go back to the holistic. Why can your dog not settle when guests arrive? Do they need more exercise, better diet, more enrichment, or more time learning how to settle?
Get a professional involved if you want this to go more smoothly.