# Need help with a very bouncy puppy!



## Mclisa (Dec 26, 2012)

I need some help with Charlie and I don't know where to start. He's just turned 4 months and is such an excitable puppy, he wants to say hello to every single man woman and child, especially when we're out walking. So much that if someone is walking on opposite side of road he will pull and strain to get to them and whines if he cant. If someone does approach him he jumps up like crazy on them, most people don't mind and hes always on his lead so i pull him back but I find it so rude and embarrassing. Trying to get his attention is impossible as he is super excited and bouncy. 

I don't even know where to begin training it out of him, when we come home we try to ignore him when he is bouncing off us and reward him when all 4 paws are on the ground. If anyone comes into our house and shows him any attention he bounds to them and jumps all over them. All our family are dog people but its still very bad behaviour that I want rid of but I don't know where to start. The main problem is when approaching people and the jumping especially as he is getting very big and strong now and he would easily knock a child over. 

Apart from that he is a little bundle of joy


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Oh dear, I'm afraid i'm not a good advert as my 1 year old is still like this!! he learnt very quickly not to jump up at us when we didn't reward that at home but when he was younger there were just so many people that would stroke him whilst he was jumping, saying 'I don't mind', now he just thinks that is what he should do. You have to be really assertive and say please don't touch him until he sits (or is on all fours), it is very hard though, I try to hold him on a really short lead and say this to people, but half the time its like the people and your dog have just decided not to take any notice of you! If you have someone that will help with training you can ask them to practice it with you - another way is to turn and walk away the minute the puppy tries to jump (or have the person helping turn around). Good luck.


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## Mclisa (Dec 26, 2012)

Thanks for replying, that's exactly my problem, the people that stop are generally doggy people and think its endearing that he's so excitable and friendly and he just loves any attention so I feel like I'm getting nowhere with it. When I had my old cocker puppy I took her to socialisation classes and from the beginning we had to let the pups run around and you had to go and approach another pup and get them to sit for a treat so my old cocker learned from a young age that's what you did when you approached people. I might mention it to the trainer at our new puppy class although she might take it the wrong way :\


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Molly is exactly like that. She seems to think that everyone has to come over and pat her. When we go for a walk of when I take her out to pee and poo if she sees a person (even if they are far away) she will stand on her back paws or sit and wag her tail and whine cause she thinks she made a new friend. I tell her that not everyone wants to visit her ha! If people come over she is all over them and it's like we don't even exist. It is embarassing but it's hard to stop her. 

She is 5 months now so we started puppy class last Sunday this lasts 6 weeks so hopefully it will help. While in puppy class she was the same. The class is at Petsmart so the classroom has windows all around it so everytime someone would go by she would wimper cause she could see the people going by. She hasn't met one person or dog she doesn't like yet she loves everyone a bit too much We also take her to puppy socials once a week for an hour but there too she will jump on people!


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## Woo (Oct 5, 2011)

I'm smiling at this post so much    

Noodle is exactly the same, she just loves everyone and thinks that everyone is her friend and wants to pet her. When we walk she wants to say hello to every person we see, even if they are on the other side of the road, way in front of us or behind us. I have the same problem as others, people will fuss her so much and let her jump on them and say it's fine, I try and say that I am trying to teach her not to jump up but by this time they are on a roll saying "oh she is so lovley, looks like a teddy bear, I want to take her home, do you want to come with me, can I steal you" and they (Noodle and the stranger) don't even see or hear me!! What can you do.


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## Mclisa (Dec 26, 2012)

I'm so glad I'm not alone but your not helping much  god dam these over friendly well socialised pups  

What can we do is right? Charlie just thinks everyone is his best buddy and he deserves to be petted. If we go to visit in laws or a house with lots of people he goes nuts and doesn't know who to go to and has to make sure he goes around everyone and get a fuss made...it's like 'look at me everyone...look at me'!


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## eddie1 (May 31, 2012)

Eddie is one now and he his still the same. He thinks everyone should fuss him. I keep hoping he will grow out of it. X x


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## Jedicrazy (Apr 26, 2011)

Some Poos will grow out of this naturally or at least not do it as much. My 2 year old still likes to greet people but doesn't jump up very often now. 

If you really want to crack it then I would try teaching Charlie to Sit and Stay and wait to be petted. I would go about it like this:

1. Stop and put Charlie in to a Sit every time you see people approaching. This assumes the people are quite nearby. If he's racing off miles to greet people then you need to work on your Recall first and have him under tighter control when off lead. 
2. Have him Stay until the people have have passed by. You need to take control of other people around your dog no matter how friendly they are being. Would you let a complete stranger greet and touch your children? If people look as if they are going to stop and chat/want to pet, politely tell them your dog "is in training", most people understand and move on when you say this. I do something called Treat Jackpotting to get a good Stay if they are very distracted. This is basically continuing to feed treats one after another until the distraction has passed by. 

Once you have Charlie in a reliable Sit and Stay and people can walk by without him being bothered then move on to the next stage of adding the petting back in. I would get friends to do the next stage with you. 

3. Pop a lead on whilst in the Stay and hold in such a way that it restricts how far up Charlie can jump. Get the friend to approach and try to pet him. If Charlie tries to jump up then the friend must immediately turn and walk away....jumping up = no petting, no reward. If Charlie stays in a Sit lots of petting and reward with a treat. He basically needs to learn that jumping up gets nothing. Don't forcibly hold him down though or he will develop a negative association with his collar being pulled down. 

This will take lots of practice and consistency but if you're determined it will work. I'm currently doing something similar with a Sit, Stay (in our case we are using Watch as I need his eye contact too) with my older dog when we see other off lead dogs. It's taken weeks of effort to get some results but I'm slowly starting to see it work now.

Hope this helps.


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## Anita (Jan 5, 2012)

We also have a very excitable cockapoo! Even as a tiny puppy when I told the vet he was half spaniel half poodle she said she thought there was probably a bit of kangaroo thrown into the mix aswell

At training class we have always been encouraged to be very calm around Frisbee as it only takes a tiny amount of enthusiasm on my part to send him totally hyper. Also for a long time we only ever gave treats by dropping them on the floor to keep his focus down this helps to stop him jumping up for treats/praise.


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

I am afraid it sounds like a typical cockapoo. I put mine behind a stairgate when people come to the house or they will leap all over them and I keep them tight on their harnesses when in the street. They want to greet everyone and say hello to them. In the park when they are off lead I call them to me when people approach and give them a treat and praise them for keeping by me. It seems to have worked!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Clare is right... the only way to improve it is to adopt a strategy and stick to it.
It doesn't help that people say 'oooooohhh isn't he/she sweeeeeeet!' some people even used to scoop Kiki up for a cuddle and unlike Clare I was not directive enough about saying 'Please don't pick my puppy up...'
The trainer at my dog class is very much of the opinion that dogs should only be allowed to greet people or other dogs when you manage teh situation and her advice would be 'if your dog is on lead' keep walking ignoring their 'fish on the end of a line impression', but the moment they rejoin you and start walking with you again praise them lots of 'yes! what a good dog' etc etc.
Meeting of people or dogs should always be done on lead and if the puppy gets too excited take them away or stand on the lead at the point where they will not be able to jump up...
My feeling is that this trainer is very sensible and slightly old fashioned in her approach - but what she says makes sense.
Off lead you do need a good recall - and be looking for people ahead and calling your pup in before he/she sets off to leap all over approaching dog or person.
Then lead on and managed greeting or walk past...


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

I'm thinking of making a very bright strip with DOG IN TRAINING written on it to put on his lead, then go around the town. I'm sure some people will ask what he is in training for, but I expect they will be more likely to wait while I put him in a sit, and others may not speak to him because of it. It will be funny explaining that he is just in training to become a better mannered dog!!


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## Jedicrazy (Apr 26, 2011)

Dawn, go one better and put it on a fluorescent jacket/coat like they do for assistance dogs. Then no-one will dare interrupt! :laugh:


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## roz (Oct 5, 2012)

oh yes our little Ruby is just the same, made me chuckle they seem to have such similar traits. It is the thing we are really trying to work on at the mo, ours targets little toddlers in particular but seems to love and want to jump up on everyone. I have started telling friends to ignore her, particularly my mother in law who she targets with jumping up like mad, I got her to stand like a statue in the kitchen today and ignore unless Ruby's 4 paws on the ground and it seemed to work eventually!


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