Meeting new dogs!

[kaikousha]

First of all, HI everyone! My boyfriend and I just got Thor a month ago. He'll be 4 months old on 2/4.
We want him to be a polite little boy and my question is...how do we encourage him to be more calm when meeting other people and dogs? We're trying to teach him not to jump since he's getting big and heavy fast, but he gets pretty enthusiastic and ends up scaring the neighbors' dogs (we of course have him on leash). He doesn't bark or growl, just gets excited and leaps at everyone and everything! He gets his last shots tomorrow so we can start taking him to puppy class, but for now I just want to keep him from knocking everyone over
Any advice for me?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Saalwi]

Welcome and congratulations on your puppy.
Puppies are supposed to be curious and exuberant and adult dogs will usually know your puppy is a puppy, regardless of his size and give him a bit of leeway but they will also let him know when he's gone too far (that's normal).
As far as people, be firm and let him know that jumping is not ok ( it helps to always have a leash on him in the training period or beyond, so you have the ability to control him). My bullie gets excited and likes to jump on people, I tell him off and have the person turn their backs to him, he gets the idea and settles pretty quickly....
I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice here ...

 

[LariP]

you need to be consistent in what method you use but teach him no jump and you will need to push him down at the shoulders as soon as he starts jumping up while firmly saying no jump.

 

[BruceP]

to EBN. Im sure you will get lots more advice. Glad you joined and look forward to the PICTURES.... Hint Hint!!!

 

[LaurenA]

Hi and welcome! Thor is so handsome!
I don't have a lot of advise to give as Rook is just over 5 months, but I will say that time and patience seem to help. We also had trouble finding dogs that wanted to socialize with Rook. All of our friends have older dogs (over 8 years old) and they are all smaller breeds so those pups didn't really like playing with our hyperactive puppy - they would usually just run away from him. We had to go out of town after the holidays and couldn't take Rook, so he stayed with our breeder and his bully family. I've noticed since then he plays better with other dogs. I don't know if he is just getting a bit older and calmer, or if the other dogs clued him in to proper dog etiquette, but finding dogs for him to socialize with seemed to be the key.
We're still working on not jumping up on everyone we see - but it's a hard one!
I'm sure Thor will learn his manners in no time! Good luck!!!

 

[Poppy]

I have trouble with the jumping too.. I find the more they "respect" you overall, the less they will jump. Keep working on overall obedience.

For socialising, it's not always a bad thing when older dogs don't like the attention from a puppy and let them know it. In my experience it teaches the pup social etiquette. UNLESS you are freaking out, tension on the leash, etc. Always keep the leash loose during greetings, hard to do w. a pup I know.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Thor is quite the "Greek God"!! Sorry..sometimes I lose concentration! .. A good method for the jumping is to put your knee into them as they jump up and firmly say..no..or down..whatever your "word" is! It takes a long time with these guys..but eventually, even a Bully will catch on!

 

[Vicaroo1000]

I have a terrible time with Bo jumping. He knows he's not supposed to, but he gets positive reinforcement from everyone he jumps on. "Oh I love it when he jumps on me!" He loves to lick faces too and he gets a lot of encouragement with that too around here it seems. People act like they've never seen a people loving bulldog!

It DOES have to stop though and I've noticed that the older he gets, the more impulse control he has. He wants to "behave" (whatever that means) and that means I need to provide direction so he knows what I want. He's getting better. Your pup will too. Day camp or day care one or two days a week is a great stress free way for them to meet other dogs. Bea used to go twice a week. Bo goes on occasion.

Congrats on your baby!

 

[kaikousha]

Thank you for the advice everyone! The neighbors and their dogs thank you too, haha.
I didn't think to try leaving the leash loose. I always thought I should keep him close to keep him from jumping. I'd hate for him to get into a tussle since most of my neighbors have kids or smaller dogs! I'll try that the next time we run into one of his "buddies"

 

[Poppy]

Thank you for the advice everyone! The neighbors and their dogs thank you too, haha.
I didn't think to try leaving the leash loose. I always thought I should keep him close to keep him from jumping. I'd hate for him to get into a tussle since most of my neighbors have kids or smaller dogs! I'll try that the next time we run into one of his "buddies"

It's ok to keep him close as long as the leash is loose, and his collar isn't tight. If he jumps up while on the leash, get him down and give a firm tug on the leash from the side. I just mentioned the "loose" part because dogs can develop leash aggression if their leash experiences are always super tight and stressful etc. Of course you are very far from that just keep it in mind to stay calm and positive about the greetings.

 

[Poppy]

PS Yes daycare is a big help!

 

[Poppy]

like this..



(not my photo)

 

[kaikousha]

Haha he rarely stays loose leash like that but I can dream right?!?!
I hear what you guys are saying about others encouraging the jumping...they're all like OMG HE'S JUST A PUPPY HOW CUTE I LOVE IT WHEN HE JUMPS...I'm like nooooooooo

 

[SunDog]

Welcome! When little kids visit, we taught them to quickly turn their backs to Lupe when she greeted them over-excitedly. It was a very short phase, and now she greets by wiggling her behind. Unfortunately, we socialized her too often at dog parks when she was little, and she's now unpredictable around new dogs. I LOVE the name Thor! Good to have another Diegan on here!

 

[Alice Kable]

Welcome to you and Thor! You'll love it here at EBN!