# Help with walking goofy and he lunges towards



## Goofy (Sep 27, 2008)

people passing by trying to get them to pet him. Not growling at all, sometimes he lets out a friendly bark. I don't want to make this a habit cuz as he gets bigger I am sure it will be harder to control him and he will freak the other person out. I just read the prong thread on here and think that might be the way to go.

Any other advice or help please.

Thanks.


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

If my math is correct he's three and a half months old. I'd say too young for a prong.
Have you done puppy class with him?


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## Goofy (Sep 27, 2008)

He is in training and has sit,stay,leave it,down,heal and roll over commands all down. Goofy knew these commands before training classes started 3 weeks ago.



> Originally Posted By: LucinaIf my math is correct he's three and a half months old. I'd say too young for a prong.
> Have you done puppy class with him?


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

I don't know, I'd like to hear from others on this but it sounds like normal happy puppy behavior to me. Lucy was like that-full of life and love for everybody- and still is at a year but to a much lesser degree. My trainer always told me to keep training and she'd grow out of it. She is, and has not lost any of her love of people which I think is a wonderful trait. I'd worry about correcting that behavior at this age- he should not associate people with corrections IMHO, but again, I'd like to hear from others.


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

bump


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

it sounds like Goofy needs some socializing and training. you have to teach him how to act when people approach him. get him out around people. i use to hang out in front of the super market when my boy was young. there's lots of people who want to pet a puppy. you can use this time to teach him not to jump on people and to sit or stand when people want to pet him. there's all kinds of people going in and out of the super market. did Goofy go to puppy classes?? did you think about getting a trainer??? at 3 months old he's so young. your training should start now. you want to correct a bad habit before it becomes a permanent part of his behaviour.


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

Goofy is in puppy classes, per the OP. (Man, I LOVE that name!) OP is doing everything right, IMHO.
My thinking is that this is a BABY who is acting appropriately like a baby and needs nothing more than what the op is already doing and a little patience and maturity.
I do not think this is a bad habit but normal puppy behavior. But he is a baby and I think that to put a prong on him at this point would be a mistake.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

I agree with that! No prong needed yet-maybe a long spoon with some peanut butter on it!







Volhard classes-the messiest funniest classes with tiny puppies following the big spoon! 

To see a happy, friendly baby is VERY nice.

You are right that you don't want him to develop a habit of it, because what is cute in a baby is not so cute when someone sees 80# of happy dog of any kind coming at them. I was at a small business and their big something or other-couldn't tell the breed-came barreling out at me and had I not been a dog person, I would have probably messed my pants! 

So, with a baby who is in classes, you can gently guide him into understanding that good things always happen to puppies, but even better things happen to puppies who have good behavior, and start to shape those good behaviors with lots of food and praise. 

I liked to teach the look command (and there is a thread on here about that somewhere-stickied) which may be a bit much for his age. But that helps to get your dog focused on you so they aren't lunging. Give them a "look at me" then a "sit" and this is how they meet people politely. It's still great when they meet someone, but with a little more guidance from me, and a little more control for them. It doesn't have to be strict or tough, and should be positive-when he sits he gets attention and perhaps even a good special (people food) treat. Plus he'll be up on everyone when it's time to get his Canine Good Citizen certificate! 

Puppies that I have fostered have gotten so into this that they will see people and just sit waiting-looking-and if the person doesn't stop to pet and treat, I do it for them. I







puppies!


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## Goofy (Sep 27, 2008)

So no prong needed for now. Goofy even will try to lunge at people that are just walking past, the ones that stop to pet him he will just start is happy whinning the minute they touch him, like he gets no love at all.


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

That's how Lucy was, and the difficult thing about it was that I was taught that if they were behaving correctly you gave them what they want. So if she was in a nice sit or down, the person would come to give attention and she would come unglued with excitement all over again! 
So I asked my trainer, and she said that Lucy would outgrow it as she matured beyond the puppy stage. I am seeing this happen, at a year old, but she is far from that aloof adult we all read about in the breed standard. Now she meets someone, has an excited fit for a few seconds, and then is fine. So it is an improvement but she still has a way to go to adulthood. And I can expect more of her now at a year old than I could at three and a half months.
What I did was physically prevent her from hurting somebody, tell them she was a puppy and still learning manners, and not allow her to interact with the frail or children that she might hurt in her zeal for attention. At the age your dog is I picked her up when necessary, or removed her from a situation. I felt it better to avoid a bad situation than have to correct it at that age. 
What if you were armed with treats and had someone walk past at enough of a distance that Goofy would not respond- and then when he didn't and was focused on you you gave him a treat? Maybe then you could very gradually work at this, reducing the distance until he learned to ignore it? That would be a positive way of telling him what you'd like from him. It would take a while, because he has to both learn AND mature, but it would not invoke any negative association with meeting new people. Treats when he ignores and focuses on you, nothing when he doesn't.


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