Improving Dog-Dog Greeting Behavior

Hey all,

Kaylee just turned 6 months on July 1st and I really cannot be more happy with her. She hasn't had an accident in our apartment for several months, is comfortable alone if needs be and loves to play with everyone and everything, including strangers, local critters and other dogs. She seems to like other dogs a bit too much sometimes though.

I was wondering if the community had any suggestions for improving her dog manners. She is scheduled for a beginner dog obedience class (the next step up from her April puppy kindergarten class) this month. So, maybe I can work out some of her behaviors there.

If we are out and about, she is usually on a leash and will act very excited to see another dog--tail wagging, some pulling and of course mild, but excited happy barking. She tends to get up right in the face of the other dog with both paws on their face or shoulders. I'm just worried that some day, she'll meet up with a dog that the owner says is dog friendly, but doesn't tolerate her excited and energetic behavior.

How should we train her to greet other dogs? Or is this something that will become less of an issue with age?

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Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on July 9, 2012 at 4:47pm

The way I learned it in Yuki's obedience class is to not let your dog greet unless he or she is calm. I don't mean completely chilled out next to you, but if there is pulling and barking, then the dog is too excited and some dogs might take that the wrong way.

In this situation, the reward for good behavior is getting to greet the other dog. So by allowing her to greet in that fashion, she is being rewarded for pulling, barking, etc. For Yuki I have to use calming techniques, distraction and yielding to get him to tone it down when seeing another dog. We have yet to get a successful greeting (except with a sheep or chicken, hehe.)