another boxer question
Ok I have another question concerning my boxer. This one is about training. We have been sticking what I consider good to his training. He does all of his basic commands, he sits and stays before he gets his food and before he goes after his ball, etc. but when people come over he goes into hyper mode. He does not sit and stay. and he wants to jump all over them. He is a 68lb 2yr old dog. (rescue by the way) Last night he got so excited when he jumped up he knocked over my one year old and scratched his face on the way down. Now I know that it was not intentional but there is a line that has to be drawn between animal and child. And when he gets so hyper and won't listen knocking down kids, he is right on that line. Anyone have any ideas of what I can do to help him calm down when people come over? He just wants to be all up in their laps.
Here's what I have tried: Sit and Stay, a leash, his kennel. (he whines really bad)
Here is what I plan to try: A pig ear (as a distraction)
Answers:As a mom to two boxers (one who is insanely friendly and the other insanely shy) here is what I did to control unwanted jumping. First you need to establish yourself as the Alpha. That does not mean physical violence in any way.but he does need to know you are in charge. When we adopted Spike he was completly out of control. From day one we did EVERYTHING with him leashed to me. From eating to pottying to mundane housework and playing he was leashed to my beltloop. Now the length of the leash depended on what we were doing and the situation, but for visiting purposes it was very short. As soon as he would try to jump up on someone I would give a short tug of the leash with a firm no. I never raised my voice at him but was very firm with the no. Then when he did not jump he was praised with a good boy and a quick show of affection. It took about 7-10 days of doing this before he was ready to greet people on his own. And that was 6 years ago. Today he is a well behaved well mannered dog who knows Mom is the one taking care of everything. Boxers are such happy go lucky dogs that just want to "be with" their humans.hope this helps!
By giving the pig ear, you are REWARDING the behavior. You need to seek other methods. Like totally ignoring the dog when you come in the house so he cannot get over-stimulated. Then giving affection only when he is calm.
He gets hyper because you haven't taught him how YOU want him to meet people. In small phases, teach him NOT to run to the door barking, but that when you go to the door, he goes to another room and sits down, and doesn't move. When the person comes in, call the dog to YOU, have him sit down, and let the person hold out a hand for him to sniff. Then send him back to the other room and make him sit down. Letting him run to the door barking and jumping creates a situation you can no longer control, and it will get out of hand. Keep him calmly in his other area until your company leaves or you decide he can come socialize- but if he jumps or gets hyper, send him away to calm down again.