Yesterday my friend and her little girl came over, they rang the door bell and Luka(German shepherd) was fine with that. but when they enter our home she was overly excited and jump and did a little nipping. Than it got a little out of hand when she picked her daughter up, next time I'm going to put a leash on her and try it again.I asked my friend to just stand there and not pay Luka any attention but I think she got scared.  My son was here last week and she did fine never jump on him but, he is use to being around big dogs.

I will be watching my friends daughter after school in the fall and this would not be a good way to end the evening.

Thanks

DT

Hi Darla,

What you should do is shape the absence of the behavior. To do this, you need to identify the cause the of jumping (arriving, and/or picking up the little girl) and take action before Luka rehearses the inappropriate behavior.

Try this:

• Have Luka on leash
• AS SOON as she sees the event happen (door opening, person walking towards her, picking up little girl, etc.) say, "Yes" or 'click' if you are using a clicker and give her a treat
• Move her a bit farther away if she is too interested in the events in front of her and continue the exercise
• As her interest moves from the events in front of her to getting a tasty treat, you can try and drop the leash (it is still attached to her collar) and continue working
• If that is too much for her, pick up the leash and try again

You can also redirect her attention by tossing her favorite toy down the hallway as soon as she sees your guests so she chases it instead of jumping on your guests.

Let me know if you have more questions. If you haven't watched my Jumping video, you might want to do that as well. See a sample here.

Let me know if you have more questions, and good luck.