# Lab freaks out when people come over



## MayaTheLab (Oct 15, 2007)

Our yellow lab is about 16 months. She's completely housebroken, great with food, doing well with basic commands, very good on walks and maturing nicely in general. 

One issue we are confused with is when someone comes over. If the doorbell rings she starts barking and freaking out. A bark is good to alert us but this goes over the top. When someone walks in she jumps up, runs around, grabs a favorite toy or bone and just in general is a freak, running around and going nuts. This usually continues for about 10-15 minutes then she is fine generally. Doesn't matter if she's just had a few hours of playtime with our friends dog so its not lack of exercise. 

Even if I put the prong collar and leash on her, she is still jumping out of her skin. But at least not jumping up on people. 

She's getting good on walks, but will still want to run over to most dogs she sees and play. She is very submissive though to all dogs.

We don't make a big deal when we come home, we give her the kong w peanut butter when we leave, no big deal. She's crated when we're not home, she loves her crate. She doesn't freak out with us, just with other people when we are home. 

Any tips on what direction we need to go with this behavior?


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## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

You need to set her up. First step is work on a sit or down on her place. This can be something as simple as a cheap rug placed in sight but out of the way of the door.

Once she'll stay on her place for at least 5 minutes (work up to 30 minute downs gradually) before you release her, start teaching the "go to your place command" starting close to her place and moving gradually further away. Eventually you want to be able to send her from anywhere to her place. 

Now, once you can send her from the door to her place without distractions, you're ready to start setting her up. Ask a friend to come over and help you. Just make sure they won't mind you shutting the door in their face if necessary and not answering the door immediately. When your friend rings the bell (or knocks), you tell the dog to go to her place and "guide" her there if necessary by blocking her and walking right into her until she's there. Then tell her to sit/down, praise her, and, watching her in case she tries to get up, go answer the door. If she does, as she probably will at first, shut the door and send her back to her place. The friend does not enter until the dog stays where you want her place to be. 

She's young and it may take time but she'll learn if you're consistent and especially if you have good, patient friends and family to help you. Oh, and ALL your family members must enforce the same rules or you'll confuse the dog and make things worse.

Once the dog's learned to go to her place and be calm for visitors to enter, you can use her love of toys as a greeting behavior. You could teach her to sit in front of a visitor and offer a toy to toss when you gave the command or signal. Another greeting option, which I've used in the past, is to teach the dog to sit and offer a paw to visitors. This way, the dog learns that it must be calm or visitors won't enter, and it learns to greet visitors in a calm, polite manner.

But don't forget, your dog is young, really still a teenager in many ways, so this will take time and patience and consistency.


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## myminpins (Dec 20, 2008)

Wow, that's an amazing set of instructions!!! I'm glad to have read this - it's perfect! I hope it helps the OP. I commend you for being able to explain yourself so well. Heck, this should be a sticky!!!! 

Brenda


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## MayaTheLab (Oct 15, 2007)

THanks for the response. She's got that place- her crate. All we need to do is say crate and she goes right there. Do we need to work on her staying in there (with door open) until we release her? We usually put her there if we are leaving, or if she needs a time-out- and the door is closed. Often during the day she will just lay down in there so I don't think she associates it with something bad. 

When she's in the crate, when someone comes in or the doorbell rings she freaks out- barking, etc. Not aggressively just excited. So are we just supposed to let her bark away until she stops, or correct her? 

You're right- her brain is quite underdeveloped!  But she's a lot of fun


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## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

MayaTheLab said:


> THanks for the response. She's got that place- her crate. All we need to do is say crate and she goes right there. Do we need to work on her staying in there (with door open) until we release her? We usually put her there if we are leaving, or if she needs a time-out- and the door is closed. Often during the day she will just lay down in there so I don't think she associates it with something bad.
> 
> When she's in the crate, when someone comes in or the doorbell rings she freaks out- barking, etc. Not aggressively just excited. So are we just supposed to let her bark away until she stops, or correct her?
> 
> You're right- her brain is quite underdeveloped!  But she's a lot of fun



You can either work to teach her that when you tell her "crate" and leave the door open she must stay in the crate until you release her, or you can just use a small rug or dog bed as her go to place. That's up to you. 

I would start working on a stop barking command. You have to teach her (learning phase) what the command means before going to corrections (proofing phase). One way to do this is to first teach her to bark on command. Then, once she understands that command, teach her your "quiet" command. Another way is, when you want her to stop barking, make a sound or toss something that makes a noise and startles her quiet. Then, praise her for being quiet. You don't want her to not bark, you just want her to learn to stop when you tell her to. Don't worry if this takes some time and patience.


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