Too friendly?

[Upendi&Mina]

We all know about aggressive dogs, but do you think there is such a dog as too friendly?

I think Mina may be there. lol She thinks everyone wants to be her best friend. For example, she heels perfectly in the house. This is not without distractions as we go past the rabbit cage, Upendi, my gramma's dogs, etc. She is absolutely perfect in the house and has been for a while now.

She also heels perfectly in the back yard, on the 6ft and 50ft leads. She'll heel nicely on a walk until we see someone. Then her only concern in life is getting to meet the people, hysterical whining included. It's like all her training goes out the window. She also things that every dog she meets is her best friend.

I love the fact that she has no aggression issues, however I wish she were a little less outgoing?

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

I don't know but this sounds a lot like Izzy (Minus the perfect heel!) I too wish she would be a little less friendly to every human she meets!

 

[smkie]

Maybe you can have some play dates with some older more experienced dogs that wouldn't mind showing an enthusiastic youngster the ropes. If Mary was around I would say come on over.

 

[Upendi&Mina]

Maybe you can have some play dates with some older more experienced dogs that wouldn't mind showing an enthusiastic youngster the ropes. If Mary was around I would say come on over.

I wish I could find a nice stable older dog to have her around. Unfortunately it's hard to come by around here, most of the people that I know that have dogs do little to no training and the majority of the dogs live outside in runs or on chains.

She's only a year, so I'm hoping she'll tone it down once she outgrows the puppy crazies. She'd be great to do therapy work with, if she toned it down. :lol-sign: She's be good for rally-o if she could focus around strangers too, she aims to please like no dog I've owned.

 

[Upendi&Mina]

I don't know but this sounds a lot like Izzy (Minus the perfect heel!) I too wish she would be a little less friendly to every human she meets!

It's embarrassing. We'll be walking down the road and she'll be doing great and then she'll spot someone, and it starts with just a little tug. Then the loudest, most pathetic whining you've ever heard. :rofl1:

 

[Maxy24]

That's what Max was like, and that is exactly what I want in my future dogs.

 

[Upendi&Mina]

That's what Max was like, and that is exactly what I want in my future dogs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy she's friendly. In fact she's pretty bomb proof, loves strangers, loves kids, loves other dogs. I just wish she'd tone it down a bit. :lol-sign:

 

[smkie]

I am sure she will mature a lot. Then you will want her enthusiasm back. There are things i wish Victor still took pleasure in.

 

[Upendi&Mina]

I am sure she will mature a lot. Then you will want her enthusiasm back. There are things i wish Victor still took pleasure in.

I'm sure she will as well. It might take her getting to three or four but we'll get there. :rofl1:

I see a lot of potential once she grows up a bit. I'd like to get her certified and visit hospitals and nursing homes with her. I'd also like to get her CGC and maybe dabble in rally-o when she's calmed down some. I'm going to register her with akc's mixed breed program I think. I would have done it already, but she's not spayed yet so we have to wait.

I might like to dabble in agility too, but that's largely dependent on what her hip x-rays look like.

 

[Dreeza]

hahaha, its better than having everyone's feelings hurt when they want to pet your dog & he runs away from them.

When we are outside, Oakley is TOTALLY focused on sniffing the grass/trees/bushes/sidewalk/dead leaf/etc. He wants nothing to do with anyone & ducks away from them when ppl try to pet them. I have to explain that they shouldnt take it personally, hahaha.

 

[PixieSticksandTricks]

Maggie May tends to hate anyone who isn't me or my immediate family. But its not like she's protective. She is more likely to hide behind my legs and growl this bad ass growl. Like "Yeah you make one more move, and my human will get you!" LMAO.

Sawyer over all is a good boy. He is friendly as he should be. But he's not "too friendly". If someone approaches us on a walk aggressively or just has a bad vibe. He will raise his hackles a bit, and maybe a bit of a unsure growl. Then if the person walks on by or I greet them he is fine, and all wiggle butts. Strange dogs, he is cautious around. His hackles will raise and he will stand stiff unsure of what to do. But as long as the other dog isn't aggressive and it sinks in for Sawyer that there is no threat. He is all about playing with his new friend.

He is very good about loose dogs when we are on our walks. If an off leash dog approaches Sawyer raises his hackles. But if I tell him to "leave it" he will walk right on with me. No struggle or anything. Which is nice because there are ALOT of loose dogs in my neighborhood.

Morrison lol falls under that catagory of too friendly lol. He LOVES meeting new people. And he LOVES meeting new dogs. And if I won't let him meet a loose dog. He will whine and whine until he is baying lol. He tends to think everyone should love him as much as he loves them it seems lol.

In the house he is quick to growl and bark at the door when someone knocks though.

 

[elegy]

luce is like that with people. she's pretty sure everybody was put on this planet to be her bff. she's left me in the obedience ring to go say hi to the judge.

attention work. the same kind of stuff you'd do with a reactive dog works for excessively friendly people, although with the added bonus that you can use the premack principle to reward her for attention to you.

 

[Paige]

That was Spanky except he loved to rocket himself at people's face, all four feet off the ground. Until he was able to control himself walking by people we did a lot of work at a distance so he could learn to contain himself. Cheeky bugger.

 

[lizzybeth727]

We all know about aggressive dogs, but do you think there is such a dog as too friendly?

I think Mina may be there. lol She thinks everyone wants to be her best friend.

That's exactly what we're looking for in service dogs. We do TONS of work with increasing levels of distractions, and then TONS of training outings to basically desensetize the dogs to working in public. Eventually they learn that paying attention to their handler pays off, and that strangers aren't that big a deal anyway. Incidently, we do let strangers - polite ones - pet our dogs; and we do a lot of talks for kids' groups about how to pet a stranger's dog, so the dogs definately get a lot of attention from strangers in public.... when they're ready for that level of distraction.

 

[Whisper]

Millie couldn't really care less about most people. She's way more interested in me.
Lucy can never ignore a person, though. She gets super over the top excited to meet people. She's calmed down as she's matured though. She's still basically the same but her reactions are a bit calmer.

 

[Southpaw]

This would be Juno as well. She's getting better at ignoring people--or at least, returning her focus back to me if I say her name. Our most difficult challenge has been ignoring dogs (interestingly enough, she behaves perfectly at the dog park with tons of dogs around... but a walk around the neighborhood, ONE dog far in the distance sets her bananas).

I don't expect her to ever calm down. lol. And training has proven to be difficult.

 

[Absolute Peril]

Try training in more public/high distraction areas (Park, Downtown,Petstores etc etc). I would work on impulse control and focus. Don't worry about what people think of you or your dog just work on getting her attention in public areas.

JMO.


Also, that is such a cute dog./

 

[Laurelin]

I have on of each. One dog that if someone pays attention to her (could just be a smile) is SURE that that is her new best friend. This guy started talking to her at the park and she just climbed into his lap and was content as could be to sit there. I was apologizing all over myself but he didn't mind thank god.

Then there's Mia... Mia will duck away and not let strangers pet her most the time.

 

[Leona]

I guess it all depends from the nature of your dog. My Stella is a little bit cautious around some people (sometimes even fearful), and she was like that as a puppy as well. So I wish sometimes she was more friendly but that just her character!