Help! How to manage weekend guests.

[rudy]

Does anyone else here have people-aggressive dogs?

Lou can still easily get triggered by new people. We have not had overnight guests since our 3 day intensive in Vt and I've put him in his crate upstairs before any visitor arrived in our new house.

But my inlaws are coming for a long weekend and Lou can't stay in his crate all weekend. I also have his "skybox" the bike dog cart that he can go in that keeps him in the action but safe.

I will still do his normal training/exercise routine twice a day while they are here.

Any of your experienced NDT have advise?

Has anyone ever tried sweeping the feet inside the house??

[Sang]

People aggressive dog you say? Oh yeah, that’s something I have LOTS of experience with.

So here’s what I do to dissipate the charge when Roxy’s meeting new people. I have them meet her outside, avoiding eye contact, essentially completely ignoring her. I have her on leash, do lots of pushing with her, mixed in with bite and tug, have her get up on her “box”, which is just her plastic travel crate I’ll put outside sometimes, and do some settle work with her there. Get her to speak, then repeat the whole sequence again and again. The goal is to keep her attracted to me, and focus on channeling all that fear into me, until the charge is gone, or at least subsided enough to where she can go up and meet them on her terms. Once the charge has subsided enough, if the person is willing, I like for them to then feed her, again avoiding eye contact and such. They basically just act as a human food dispenser.

Then I’ll take everyone inside, and just continue the routine that I did outside, inside. Normally you want to keep all activities outside, but in situations like this, where you want the dog to be able to get used to having new people around, I’ll work with her inside the house to help dissipate the charge. I just do the same thing I did outside, inside. Using Lou’s skybox will help as well, since I know from previous posts that he feels very safe in it.

Ultimately, it’s really nice if your guest is willing, to get them to push with your dog too. This will really help him flip polarity and allow him to get in sync with your guest(s). But only if they’re totally comfortable with doing it, and only if Lou has reached a point where he can go up to them and make friendly contact with them.

Once you can get the charge out of Lou, then it would be great if you can have a box inside the house, where you can have him settle and stay settled. So get the charge out, then have him get up on the box and stay there, and don’t let him get off it until you’re ready to have him get off it. This will help teach him that just because people and energy are moving around him, it doesn’t mean he has to react to it. So before your guests come, spend some time this week just getting him to settle on the box while you do your normal routine around the house. Every time he jumps off, just put him back up there.

It probably goes without saying, but Lou should be on leash at all times through all of this. Once the charge has dissipated, and if he shifts and can hang out with your guests, you’re likely to think that you can all leave the house, come back, and Lou will be “friends” with your guests upon your return. But what’s more likely to happen is that you’re going to have to do this routine over and over again every time you guys leave the house and return, until he finally flips into social. It may take just a few times or a few days. Every dog is different. So don’t worry if he never completely flips while your guests are there, because the point is that he’ll get this valuable experience and it will get stored up in his system, and you’ll have done a lot of great work to help him the next time you have visitors. I only say that because I know it can be frustrating if things don’t go as you’d like them to. So don’t put too much focus on getting Lou to be “friends” with your guests. If you do everything and he still can’t quite connect with them, then he’s just not ready.

I hope that helps

[rudy]

Thanks Sang!!

I understand exactly what you mean.

It could easily take me an hour, or maybe more, to get the charge off Lou when new guests arrive. And then again inside. I will do exactly as you say

I have reasonable expectations for this weekend. It would be GREAT if we could all be friends but considering where we are that would be asking a lot.


Fortunately, Lou spends about 8 hours a day on is box inside, so that part should feel sort of natural to him.

I'm HOPING that this is a good sign: Lou has peed on my floor in the house 3x in 3 days. He has NEVER peed on the floor before even when he first showed up. I have my own urinanaylsis tests and he's checked out fine, so it's not a medical issue. Maybe I've got him digging back into puppyhood.

[Sang]

Originally Posted by rudy

I'm HOPING that this is a good sign: Lou has peed on my floor in the house 3x in 3 days. He has NEVER peed on the floor before even when he first showed up. I have my own urinanaylsis tests and he's checked out fine, so it's not a medical issue. Maybe I've got him digging back into puppyhood.

Whoa, if he doesn't have a UTI or any physical ailment, then that's certainly a good sign that he's reconnecting with his puppy. If that's the case, then you are well on your way

[rudy]

Oh Sang, let's both hope that Lou and I are well on our way.

I've been working my butt off for about a year now with Lou. (To be fair, only started NDT in Feb) And sometimes, like today in the rain, it would be nice to just put a bowl of food down for him.

I just know that one day we'll get up and have an issue free day.

He is soooo worth the effort though.

[rudy]

Lou has met my inlaws 2x before and honestly, it was not a pretty scene. This was before Vermont.

But I'm wondering if he remembers them. Because there was NO frantic panic barking or lunging or anything. I did a little bit of pushing/speaking outside and then my FIL asked Lou to Speak and Lou did and he dropped some food for Lou and repeated several times.

He has let out a couple of BARKS but at least they were big coherent barks. Otherwise, we are rather relaxed.

WOW.

WOW.

[Sang]

Awesome.

[neilsattin]

So glad to hear that it's going well. Sang's advice is (as per usual) spot-on.

A few comments:

1. There's an article on Naturaldogblog that talks about how to introduce your dog to a person: Introducing your dog to a Person - It talks about submissive peeing (which is of course just an overload behavior, just like aggression - expressed through a different temperament).
2. I like Sang's gentle reminder that just because you've gone through this once doesn't mean you're not going to have to go through the routine again the next time you come back to the home.
3. When it's appropriate, hopefully you have some time to share with your guests what's going on with your dog (from your perspective) so the things that you're doing make sense to them. Also, so if Lou happens to freak out, they'll know how to handle it. Also, it will help them manage their behavior so as best to avoid triggering Lou.
4. A true box in the house is great - I've substituted just a dog-bed in the past. Basically anything that defines the space. While you can certainly do the more advanced boxwork/stability exercises in the house, I think the most important thing is simply keeping your dog focused on you, grounded, and - ultimately - to get them to settle. A long stay on the bed can do the trick. (you have a box, so this is more for other people reading the thread)
5. I'm a big fan of heading out on a rainy day. As long as you have the right gear to keep yourself comfortable. That being said, you need to feel relaxed about taking a day here and there to simply chill. The downtime is just as good for Lou as it is for you. So just setting the food bowl down every so often - it's a good way to remind yourself to take it easy. For everyone's benefit. Especially considering how hard you've been working over the past year.

Looking forward to hearing how the rest of the weekend goes.

[rudy]

Thanks Neil! You are awesome! Really

EVERY TIME I go out in the rain with Lou I think about your rain gear article and wish I had the right gear Rudy and Lou need rain gear too because they are both lightweights and get soooo cold when they get wet.

Lou and I are taking a break from company (being the good introvert, I need the break too) to report in because it is just so great.

I put a nice bed on Lou's box so it's a little more comfortable. He fell asleep in the bed on the box with my inlaws just a few feet away last night.

This site and neilsattin.com have been seriously life changing for me. When I can find a way to get my life sorted out I think Lou will get sorted out too.

Thanks a million.

[Chris]

Wow what fantastic news, so pleased it's worked OK with your guests, keep up the good work.