# Too hyper



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

In another thread about buying a puppy, Whitepoodle said that too many miniature poodles are too hyper and frenzied -- that is how Lucy is when we have company. She leaps and leaps and leaps and leaps and licks and licks and licks -- and it drives people bonkers. I have taken to putting her on a leash or shutting her in a crate when company comes.

I was wondering if there is any kind of training I can do to STOP her doing this. I suppose people will suggest getting her to sit -- but I can almost guarantee that she will sit quietly - when nobody else is here -- but as soon as strangers show up - she goes ballistic.

Is that something that she will grow out of as she gets older? Is my solution of putting her on a leash or putting her in a crate teaching her that constantly bombarbarding guests is not acceptable? I would prefer to teach her not to do that -- rather than just controlling the behaviour myself.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Maybe start slow ... enlist a willing friend. I would load Friend up with yummy treats and have her knock on the door. Go to the door, and get Friend to ask Lucy to sit, treat, sit, treat, sit, treat, sit, treat. Have Friend go out, tell Lucy she's a good girl, then start again.

Then go to two friends arriving with treats for nicely sitting dogs. 

I've heard of people stashing treats at the front door with a sign for delivery people asking them to help with this sort of training.

I wouldn't expect change overnight, if she's established this as a behaviour. It's one of those self-rewarding ones that is difficult to stop.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Kikopup (love her videos), as always, has a good video on this:


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## georgiapeach (Oct 9, 2009)

From experience, I can tell you that if everyone's not onboard, it won't work. Fonzie's the same way, and my other family members won't help with it. I've had to resort to picking him up before opening the door, so that he can't bother people. :eyeroll:


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## AgilityIG (Feb 8, 2009)

JE-UK has hit it right on. It won't be as easy as this is an established behavior. Also, as GeorgiaPeach put it - it is so much harder if people won't cooperate. Vinnie still puts his front feet up on people. I hate it, but it's my fault. I had so many people that would not cooperate when he was younger and I just let it happen. So much harder to fix when they are older and it's an established behavior.


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Yes. You are right about getting help. I remember a similar occasion when I had my Golden. She was obsessive about her ball. We always had the neighbours over for coffee outside in the summer. I would try to make her behave and stop shoving the ball on people's laps but I would get "Oh Liz, leave her alone, she is just being a dog". And then someone would pick the darn ball up - the dog would take off, crashing into the table and knocking everyone's coffee over!!

I think I am going to have problems finding friends that will cooperate, but I think my neighbour would do it when the weather is nice and she doesn't have to stand out there in the cold. It was nice last week but this morning its 17 below again.


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## ziggylu (Jun 26, 2010)

You can start with you and your husband practicing come in and out of the house and teaching her to sit and be pet(adding in there not to rush the door, but having her sit and stay while the door is opened). This is what we did, from there we've moved to dog friendly friends. Things aren't 100% yet, but each time someone comes in we're seeing more and more solid behaviors. The rushing the door is down and he's better not jumping on strangers but people he knows still gets him excited, particularly if he knows they're dog friendly (ie our vet). 

We still on very rare occasion will crate Cosmo when someone new is coming and we want to be sure they don't jump on them or when we're having a dinner party with a lot of people coming in short period of time. This always works well for us. we'll crate him, let him watch the person/people come in and greet us, get comfortable, etc...then we let him about ten minutes later and he always greets the person/people calmly, four feet on the ground, tail wagging.

We also practice out walking. If someone wants to pet him, I have him sit, feed him treats and let the person pet. If he gets up, the treats are removed, the hands are removed, he's asked to sit again, treated and then pet. It's taking time to get a solid behavior but he's definitely improving each time we do this.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

AgilityIG said:


> JVinnie still puts his front feet up on people. I hate it, but it's my fault. I had so many people that would not cooperate when he was younger and I just let it happen. So much harder to fix when they are older and it's an established behavior.


Vasco does likewise .... I've never managed to train him out of doing it with people he knows and likes. I have a modicum of control in that he will meet new people and never jump, but too many people who know him encourage it, so it's like bashing my head against a wall to get them to stop.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Same here - every time I think I have got it under control, someone waves treats just out of the dogs' reach, and pets them for jumping up ... and how are the dogs to know that it is OK to jump up on mucky jeans and wellington boots, but not on white linen trousers?!


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