Fussy dogs!!

[muff747]

We have two young dogs that we rescued about four years ago now. Lovely dogs and they both love our grandkids so no problems there.
They are both just sooo fussy and go bananas when our family come, or even anyone comes to visit. We have managed to mostly stop them from jumping up but they just wont leave people alone and settle down.
And we have never had dogs before that bark when they hear us arriving home!
We dont mind so much when they bark at strangers but why do they bark at us???
Can anyone suggest how we train them not to be so fussy and bark so much?

 

[loopiesteff]

What breed? I'll be watching this with interest...my terrier literally screams when the doorbell goes and runs around like a loon. Put him in kitchen behind babygate and he bounces constantly until the people are in. I've managed to stop him jumping up at people, and will weave between their legs and bum wag very happily for a fuss then he's generally fine. But will try and get on their laps when they sit down. Currently working on that one!

 

[CorvusCorax]

Put them away?! I don't like being mobbed by my own dog, let alone other people's dogs if they 'don't leave people alone' and still get attention, pats, cuddles, etc, what are they learning?
When someone knocks my door, and I am happy with who it is, if I tell my dog to go into his crate, he goes into his crate. Because that's what he has learned over a period of time...knock the door, bed.
If I am not happy I can ask him to 'speak' because I have taught him the difference between 'speak' and 'quiet' - by rewarding him for doing both and linking it with the word.

At the moment they are learning, if I bark and squeal and jump and act the fool, I get to meet the new people and get lots of cuddles and fuss. If I demand attention, I get it.
They are probably associating a knock on the door with a big free for all funfest, wahay!

You need to reward them for being calm and quiet and by isolating them or removing the reward when they are acting the maggot. If they have been allowed to behave like this for four years, you have a bit of a battle on your hands and you will need to be very firm or consistent.

What/how are they fed? There are things you can teach them but I would work on hand feeding, IE feeding them their dinner from your pocket, rather than a bowl, so that you are the source of the food and they only get fed when they are doing what you want, and not everyone is a big fan of that

 

[muff747]

Thanks for this, they are both smallish possibly whippet crosses.
One crossed with a cocker spaniel, the other with staffie or jack russell.
We used to feed them Burns but changed to Wagg but tbh, I don't think there's any difference in their behaviour, they are still as fussy and noisy.
We try not to let visitors pet them, definitely never allowed on anyones knees ever, and are always telling them off for being so fussy and I dread to think of the noise they would make if they were shut in their crate! We wouldn't be able to hear ourselves talk!
I don't take any notice of them when I come in until they are calm so they have leant to be calm when I come in but they still make a lot of noise before I get in the door, I can't understand why they bark at us, non of our other dogs have ever barked when they heard us??
We have tried shutting them in another room but they go absolutely nuts.
I'm seeking help and advice because we have new neighbours with small children so am very consious of noise levels, especially at night.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Dogs can bark at us when they are excited or even when they are confused! Some breeds are more vocal than others and no two dogs are the same.
I've had to do a lot of work on capping my own dog's noisiness and it is in him genetically (I've seen...sorry...heard! videos of his granddad on YouTube ) but by making a clear distinction between 'you can make noise when I say this word' 'you must be quiet when I say this word'. Barking for him is a fun thing to do!!

It's hard when there is no way of controlling them when they are on the other side of the door....but again, if that has been their routine for a while then that is what you will probably continue to get for some time.

You could do lots of repetitions of pretending to come in and then leaving again when they kick up a stink. Then only coming back in when they are quiet. However that could take a looooong time and lots of walking back and forth as it's been (unwittingly) reinforced for so long and there is no one on the other side of the door to either ignore or reward them.

For instance, my own dog is very high when he thinks he is going for a walk. So when I go to his crate, if he is spinning and shrieking, I stand back and act neutral until he sits and is quiet.
If I make a move to open the crate and he starts it again, I stand back and wait until he sits. Then when I open the crate door he must not come out into the body of the car until I give the release word. It took about five minutes before I got him out of the car tonight but he has to make the link 'she opens the door when I sit and am quiet' - likewise when he is out of the crate and sitting in the boot he must be quiet and let me put his collar on and not jump out until I say the release word, if he does not then he either goes back in the crate or gets put back in the sit position until he is calm. I've had to apply this logic to most of his training and I've had to lay it over his previous training where he got to make all his own decisions.
'You only get what you want when you are calm and paying attention!'
If I get flustered or annoyed etc, that sends him even more scatty so I keep everything very calm and neutral.

Sorry for rambling on and on but that's what I mean about repetition and linking and how long it can take once behaviour is ingrained, etc etc etc!!