Dog Question

[teh_blumchenkinder]

I live in an apartment complex; since the nearby college campus doesn't allow pets, this is a high-concentrate area for animals, especially dogs. I've noticed this particular behavior before in other dogs through the years, but since this is a board with a few (at least) dog-people on, I thought this would be a good place to ask about it.
Why is it that some dogs whine, yelp and basically act like it's the end of the world when someone walks by that they want pets from? They usually seem very anxious to get said pets/attention, too. These dogs certainly don't lack for attention, from what I see, and they're very good dogs, if a bit jumpy and hectic... ideas?

[draggar]

Some dogs just really REALLY like attention.

It's like the person at the party who is trying to be friends with everyone at the party.

[AriGriffin]

Abby, my three-year-old, possible Australian Shepherd/Pitt female, will whine and pull on the leash to get to someone walking by because she wants them to pet her. Mom and I pet her all the time. I have no idea why she does it.

Here is Abby- http://www.ncturkeyfestival.org/NCTF_DogShow.php
She is the black & tan dog in the Raeford Animal Clinic Ad.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Draggar, that makes sense... and AriGriffin, that's the type of situation I see exactly! Abby is a pretty puppy... looks like she should be out in the woods somewhere or herding something.

[terakhan]

They equate people with good and happy times. New people, new happies, I guess. Imagine it reversed and a child seeing a new puppy. They get kind of noisy and excited too, don't they?

[Marmalady]

Abby is a pretty puppy...

And what a wonderful smile she has! My Shandy grins too, he always looks like he's just about to bust out laughing.

[Flying Grype]

Fortunately the only dog I know who insistently pulls on his leash to get petted is a Chihuahua. It's hilarious, he runs to the end of his leash and ends up standing on his hind legs while his little tongue darts in and out trying to lick my hands from four feet away.

Some dogs just have great experiences with people. "All people love me and their hands are for petting and I love them too!!!11!" They're happy, energetic dogs who have no focus and/or aren't being told to settle down and pay attention to where they're going.

I dunno, I love it, but then I love dogs. The only time I can see it being a problem is if the dog in question is big enough to cause damage in his enthusiasm (when I was a kid I got knocked down by a Newfie in this kind of mood) or if the person being asked for pettings is afraid of dogs. In general any dog owner should be training a dog to settle down on command, in case rambunctiousness would result in injury/damage/trauma.

[Mikkel]

I love dogs like that. They should obey the owner and keep four feet on the ground, but a happy dog out looking for new friends always make me smile.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

I'm usually concerned that the dog would hurt themselves... that, and a dog is a dog, no matter what size, and should be treated like they were 'huge' anyway-- like, same training sort of a thing. I have seen a few dogs that freak out, but do so properly, they have the huge wiggles, dance a bit, bits of whines and whimpers, but they don't bark, cry, jump, jerk or pull their leash/restraining system/ walker... you get the idea.

[Seshat]

There's two things we've not been able to fully teach our dog to do. (Everything else, she's fine on.)

1. She's afraid of food. Or more precisely, she's afraid that she'll be beaten/punished around food. Four years with us hasn't yet corrected this.

2. She gets hyperexcited.
This manifests as nuisance barking if other dogs in the area are barking, or she thinks someone might be coming to our door, or she sees another dog or another human or a cat or a rabbit when out on a walk.

She knows what 'sit' means, and what 'quiet' means. And she will sit. And she will stop barking. And then the stimulus will trigger again, and she'll squirm and try to obey and then get back to barking and jumping around.

And we re-command her to 'sit' or 'quiet'. And just .. try to be patient.

We do make a point of being in close control of how close she can get to another human/dog/etc, when she's walking.


Anyway, she LOOOOVES people. And that's why the hyperexcitement. She gets lots of loving, she knows she's a Good Girl (almost) all the time, she is well trained (with these exceptions) and well looked after. She just wants to meet you! Get to know you! Find out where you've been and what you smell like!

[LewisLegion]

It's also self-rewarding behavior. Puppy is happy to see people, wiggles, and gets rewarded (affection, attention) for doing so. Next time puppy sees people he gets excited, gets rewarded for being excited. And it just ends up escalating until you get a dog that gets all overexuberant when they see people. Because people+excited= rewards!!

What SHOULD happen is this. Puppy is happy to see people, wiggles. Owner cautions people not to give affection just yet, gets puppy to sit and calm down somewhat, and then allows the pettings while the puppy is sitting and slightly calmer. Puppy learns overexcitement = nothing. Sitting/calm = rewards!!

And soon you have a dog that sits calmly and waits to recieve attention when they see new people, rather than one that goes bonkers in anticipation.

[TheSHAD0W]

Dogs are pack animals, and their behavior in a relationship with humans mirrors normal pack behavior. A dog that can be allowed to mix with the public will either be acting as general pack or as an omega, and will see humans as alphas or betas. They will want to socialize, meeting their superiors and expressing submissive behavior. (In a pack this sort of meeting is important as otherwise an alpha/beta might consider a dog a stranger and attack.)

[Seshat]

And soon you have a dog that sits calmly and waits to recieve attention when they see new people, rather than one that goes bonkers in anticipation.

....

We even DID that to train her to ask nicely for attention from us (her family).

And it didn't even occur to me to do it for this sort of thing. How daft am I?


Thank you, LewisLegion.

[LewisLegion]

No problem : ) I hope it works!

[Seshat]

I'm certain it will. She responds perfectly to that sort of pattern for everything else.