# Help! She's too friendly!



## Minnieski (Jan 27, 2009)

I never thought I'd have to worry about my dog being too friendly, but we are getting ready to retake the CGC test and we have the same problem as before - Minnie can't contain herself. She does the whole test perfectly, but when it comes to meeting another person with a dog she just HAS to go and meet them. No treat is tasty enough for her to ignore them. I've been taking her everywhere with me, trying to praise and treat her when she ignores other dogs, but when they meet face to face she's all play bows, and she doesn't care if I have bacon in front of her nose. She sometimes has this problem with people too - she's just so excited to meet a new playmate, but I usually can get her to calm down if I make the person ignore her for a few minutes. She's almost 9 months old now, and I thought we would have made a lot of progress on this, but unless she's wearing her prong collar she just can't seem to help herself. I don't like to have her wear the prong because she's a pretty soft dog and shuts down if I use it, but it does help to reinforce the command. Any ideas for fixing this? She's not really food motivated (unless there are NO distractions), but she does love to play fetch, which is coming in handy for her SAR training. 

We wouldn't even care that much about passing the CGC because aside from wanting to play with other dogs she's really great about listening, most of the time (she still has her butthead moments). However, we may be moving soon, and if we need to rent a place until we find a house a CGC could help convince the landlord that she's a good girl. 

Thanks!


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

oh we had the same problem. When you get to the where you are meeting the person, first turn to her and tell her to sit. You can even put her in a down. Jax almost failed at this point but the tester let us redo that part.

There is a plastic collar that works like a prong but is not as severe.


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

In our CGC test we had the dogs heeling on our left sides and the PEOPLE met face to face - and not that close. That way the dogs weren't overly tempted to go greet the other dog.


----------



## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

She is still pretty young, not even 9 months old. Keep working at it and give her some time -- remember how you were wanting to play when you were young.

I, myself, do not give CGC tests to dogs under a year old. That is a personal decision of mine though I will gladly walk through a test (no charge) for someone who wants to see what they need to work on with their young dog.


----------



## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Balto is the same way. I waited until he was well over a year old to get his CGC. It's not a race, anyway. Take your time, and she'll get it eventually.


----------



## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

I had the same problem with Baron (male now approaching 21 months0 and it was a problem to get im to sit still long enough altho he was even mor einterested in other people than the other dogs usually. Eventually, he will settle down.

Besides, a lot better "problem" to have than having him shy or too aggressive.


----------



## jake (Sep 11, 2004)

not meaning this as a put down but just think a lot of posters on this board wish they had this problem .Unless your landlord is a DOG person he would probably react more positively to being kissed to death than a CGC rating.


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

THink some of it is probably an age thing BUT you'd also see alot of improvement with a good set of dog classes.

Cause good classes are full of (brace yourself) other wonderful people and dogs! So YOU'LL get the skills you need to help train your dog, and the same time your pup is learning to listen and learn from you in a room full of exciting people and dogs!


----------



## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

Practice practice practice, but you are already! I guess I would rather she be friendly other than aggressive. 


When you walk in to greet the person you can talk to the dog all you want. Approach on a bit of an arc so she is not making eye contact. You cannot use your body to block her but you can arc a bit so you do not meet head on. 

Put her in a stay (either sit or down whichever she is more likely to hold) REMIND her to stay and then pass on. 

I think the hard part of this exercse is the handler is doing 2 things: greeting and shaking hands with the other person and trying to watch the dog. I think the dog figures this out and if you are distracted the dog will be distracted and more likely to break a stay and go to do something they should not, especially at this age. Forget the other person and concentrate on the dog and reminding her to stay.

AKC will allow tests of young dogs but they also recommend repaeting it at a later age when the dog is fully mature. 

Havoc passed his CGC at 10 months - barely. I need to re-test him now that he is 2 but he also likes to visit!


----------



## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

We have the same problem with meeting other dogs, but it's not a bad problem to have compared to other issues you could have.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: KathyWI guess I would rather she be friendly other than aggressive.


Totally! Halo did not pass her test because she jumped up to kiss the evaluator.







But that's much better than not passing due to shying away or reacting aggressively. 



> Quote:When you walk in to greet the person you can talk to the dog all you want. Approach on a bit of an arc so she is not making eye contact. You cannot use your body to block her but you can arc a bit so you do not meet head on.


In our test, the evaluator approached US while we remained stationary, so I didn't have any control over how close she was or at what angle. She walked straight towards me, so she was well within range of Halo, who had no interest in sitting and staying! It would have been a moot point anyway, since as soon as we attempted the petting and grooming exercises which came next, the evaluator would have gotten a face full of puppy slobber. I was focusing on her and not the evaluator, but Halo was extremely distracted on the night of the test, after having done very well in the 6 weeks of class. It was a small class, only 3 other dogs, but we had drop-ins for the test, so there were at least twice as many dogs and people as there normally were in the same room, and I think that threw her off, and probably me too. The week prior and the one before that she was AMAZING, and would easily have passed the test either of those times. But it was not to be!

She actually did well with the person with dog approach, which I thought might be another problem area. We had also practiced this in class, and most of the time she was good, but she did cross over to say hi to the other dog a couple of times. Since we were both moving towards each other, we could stop close enough to shake hands but not so close that our dogs lost focus.


----------



## Minnieski (Jan 27, 2009)

We already completed an 8 week basic obedience class, and that did help her start to ignore other dogs, but she's still super into meeting them when we're out and about. I know, I know, we could have worse problems. Like I said before, we only really want the CGC in case we need to rent an apartment for a few months. It would be in another state, so the chances of the land lord meeting her before we move in is pretty slim. I guess we just have to keep working with her.


----------



## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

She sounds like such a sweetie!

I always had this issue with getting CGCs on Golden Retrievers. It just took a lot of practice and I actually trained them to ignore people on command.

Not sure yet if my puppy will be like that. My Whippet passed at 6 months almost to the day (and ironically, the same day he got a major from 6-9 puppy class- a good day for sure), but he's a snob (but with absolutely no fear of anything) and I don't think it'll be that easy with my GSD.


----------

