Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 10/31/2008

Question
Hello, I have a 3 yr old Lab/Schnauzer mix who loves everybody...too much! He pulls to get to dogs and people and can easily pull me down or choke himself. When he gets there, he wants to be petted or if it is another dog he goes to puppy play position or smells in an overbearing but friendly way. He is CRAZY with exhuberance until after about a minute of finally interacting...then he settles down, lies down, or looks the other direction. Most people encourage this, and say "oh, I have dogs at home. It is ok." and most dogs just tolerate it. (If he is in the car, he barks a vicious bark - then is all friends if he can touch them. It is just too too overbearing! I can not control  him! In all other areas, he is a dream dog. No problems with chew, poo, touching what is not his, etc. He can do lots of tricks. HE IS JUST TOO FRIENDLY! How can I stop this?

Answer
Your dog is hyperexcited.  He is so full of energy and gladness that he can't control himself.  He finally calms down and shows a lot of displacement behavior (lies down, looks the other direction) as if confused by his own exuberance.  You do NOT WANT to make this dog "less friendly"; you want to make this dog CALMER.  You do this by controlling your response to his over the top displays; you are somehow interacting with him (perhaps out of anxiety and definitely out of frustration) that is not communicating a strong signal of leadership, and this is most likely fueling his own exuberance.  Do NOT fault yourself for this, it's a common problem.  But think this through: you know the dog has this over the top (and, let's face it, embarrassing) behavior; you see a person or another dog approaching; you become stressed, anticipating your dog's "bratty" behavior (thinking it's somehow an indictment of you as his owner) and you begin to react.  Whatever reaction you are offering I cannot see from here, but trust me: it's going down the leash and making your dog's condition even more hyper.  I CAN tell this from here because of his quick displacement behavior once he's met the dog/person.  So this is what you need to do:  put a long training leash on the dog (not extending lead, buy a strong, cotton web 16 foot long training leash.)  The MOMENT your dog begins to exhibit this unwanted response, back away from him to the very end of the leash.  If there's a person involved (that he's greeting), explain as you are backing away that you are trying to teach the dog to not be over excited.  In the first trial, you should see your dog exhibit confusion.  He will look at you and may even back away and follow you.  With either response (looking at you or coming back toward you), REWARD with praise and, if he's come to your side, a small food treat.  Then approach the person/dog again and repeat.  Back away to the end of the leash EVERY TIME he demonstrates hyper excitement; wait until he looks away from the person/dog or comes toward you, praise, and if he gets to you treat.  After a few trials of this, you should see a reduction in his hyper excitement.  This is NOT the dog's fault.  You must give him a calmer signal by removing yourself and seeing that he CAN approach strangers and other dogs in a normally excited manner.  Once you've proved this, you can approach strangers/dogs without so much anticipatory anxiety, and you always have the availability of going to the end of the leash.  Try this for two weeks and see what happens; report back.