When you get home from work or from just being out, you might think it’s lovely to see how excited your dog is.  Just look at how much he loves you.

Try to bear in mind that happy as you are that your dog is excited to see you, you don’t really want him jumping all over you or a guest.

When we act excited to see our dog we don’t really think that we’re training the dog to jump and be wild. The fact is we are helping to create a habit pattern.  Training is basically the creation of habit patterns. If we create negative habit patterns like the dog jumping all over us, what should we expect when someone new comes into our home?

A more positive approach will be to bear in mind that the more calm and non-reactive you are the easier it will be for your dog to be calm and centered as well.

For the dog’s sake and your guests please don’t get all excited and say all kinds of oochie coochie baby talk in a high-pitched voice. This will create a crazy reaction.

It’s much better for you, for the dog’s training, and for the dog when you come in to do it quietly without a lot of reaction.  After you’ve been there for about 5 minutes call your pup over and give them lots of love. This will help build the habit pattern of being chill when someone comes in.