# visitors and happy wees



## meme (Jul 3, 2011)

My poodle is not quite 5 mths old and she gets very excited when visitors come to the door. she has had a few excited wees when visitors have come in the door. She also at this point 'goes nuts' trying to jump up against their legs, wagging tail and wiggling around.

I do an obedience class with her and she can follow basic commands, but in general when she is excited like this she doesn't easily pay attention and if she does listen and sit, she wiggles and quickly unsits as soon as she has paid attention, to try and get the visitors attention again.

so 2 issues, the excitement when visitors enter, and the accidental weeing. I am hoping with age the wee thing will just go away...

but any tips on speeding up the process or on how to behave around visitors to get her out of this behaviour would be good.

She also does the go nuts thing when we walk at the park and people stop to pat her, she goes a bit silly wiggling, jumping etc.

I would like her to sit still and just be patted. 

How much of this behaviour is age, and how much is something I can do something about?

tia


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

I'm not sure I'd want to get rid of ALL the puppy wiggles :smile:...

Five months is pretty young to have full impulse control, but you can certainly start the process. The trick is to find the very, very lowest stimulus and start there. Maybe someone far away in the park (helps if you can lasso a friend to help). When she first catches sight of him/her, ask her to sit, and treat. Get a bit closer, ask her to sit and treat. Etc. Find a way to set her up for success in what you are asking, rather than putting her in a situation where the stimulus is so overwhelming that she can't help but fail.

Similarly, practice at home when you have a friend, time, and lots of yummy treats. It's a good practice to start teaching her to go to her spot when someone comes to the door. In the beginning, reward heavily for split-second impulse control, then very gradually start to ask for more. Again, find what her thresholds are for excitement and reward her for the tiniest bit of self-control in the beginning.

There is a very good dog training podcast, The Dog Trainer's Quick and Dirty Tips, that has an episode on just this issue. I'll try and dig it up. The podcast is worthwhile anyway, however ... loads of excellent advice, and the episodes are short.


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## bluespoomommy (Feb 25, 2010)

pretty normal...they DO grow out of it. i would suggest introducing visitors outdoors or have visitors who come over ignore your poodle for the first 10 minutes or so before greeting.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

When you have visitors at the door, tell your pup to sit and tell your visitors to ignore the pup. The definition of 'ignore' is: No touch and no eye contact. Your visitors should just walk in, greet you ONLY and all the humans should just walk inside. Ignore the pup until she's COMPLETELY calm.

She will grow out of it. Don't punish her for that. Don't even pay attention to the puddle.


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## meme (Jul 3, 2011)

thanks guys:act-up: 

Today I took her away from the door and got my teenager to just hold her in a different room while I let the guests in. It might have not been quite perfect but we did avoid a puddle and I am practising the go to your bed and stay there while I walk to the front door and open and shut it. the cat wanted to come in this morning so she was our practise guest....

It's good to know that some of those wiggles are normal puppy stuff that she will grow out of. it is cute, but I don't want to indulge her too much if it will make it harder later - it's so easy to be indulgent because she is sooo cute!:biggrin:


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## royaltygirl (Apr 30, 2011)

I am dealing with this with my 6 month old spoo Olivia. She is so good all day but when company comes over she goes nuts and pottys everywhere without even knowing it! She love people so much she can't control herself and jumps and goes crazy. People think she is a bad dog because of this and they don't like her. I am starting to put her away because it is so negative of an experience for her and me too! Even when put behind a gate in my room, she cries and barks to see the visitor. At least no pee pee (unless they get near the gate...) 

I feel your pain!
xoxox,
Sandee


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