Hickory Hollow Llewellin Setters

[Tam S.]

Nine-month old Sig (aka Flash from Litter F), is an Olympic caliber high jumper. Unfortunately he's begun pole vaulting our guests at the front door. I know this is the proper greeting in the canine world, but it's hard explaining that to the popcorn-selling Boy Scout (and his mortified mother) who was nearly flattened by a lovable but over-rambunctious dog. Does anyone have any four-on-the-floor tips to share?

Tam Schlueter
Nebraska
_________________
A house without a dog is a house without a soul.

[Rex]

Hi Tam.
We have Leo (aka Doc) and, like Sig, he is an anti-gravity machine. He can spring from a 4 flat-pawed beginning about 4 feet in the air. Think how that excites the pizza boy.....at least the Boy Scout knew to "be prepared." The first thought that comes to mind would be to get a dog pack, the kind that they wear over their backs, and fill it with rocks but that seems a bit impractical, so here's what we do

Without question, we have a "setter frenzy" when we come home. The 4 year old (Harvey) does a pretty good job of sitting and waiting to be acknowledged --- we call it "say hello" as the command. We ignore Leo until he is sitting, then acknowledge him.......he sits only about 3 seconds so we have to be quick! At least the rest of the time he's only play growling with a stuffed animal or ball in his mouth weaving his way around our legs while we pet Harvey.

We've also taught "place", where, in theory, they go to a place on the other side of the living room -- it's basically a "sit-stay" -- while we answer the door. When they hold position it's really nice.........of course it helps that Leo's "place" is in the large crate that we have in the living room. He just doesn't have the self control yet to sit-stay when a new person comes to the door. He's pretty active and we've 'graduated' to having the crate door open when strangers first arrive and he goes to his 'place'.

It starts with how you greet Sig when you come home. Ignore the jumping, and reward the behavior you want, as I'm sure you know. Easier said than done. Having the dog under control by holding his collar while answering the door and controlling the jumping is something we do, but it's nice to have the crate handy for him to cool his jets while the excitement subsides. This technique works particularly well when it's an unwanted solicitor and you just happen to let the dog slip from your grasp

Time and consistent expectations.........you guys will get there.
Hope these ideas helped.
_________________
Dr. Rex Williamson
"My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dogs already think I am."

[Tam S.]

Thanks for the speedy and thoughtful reply. I love the idea of the weighted dog pack, but something tells me that would just strengthen Sig's legs for moon launch-caliber jumping when he's pack-free.

I'll definitely give your tips a try. Llews are serious athletes, and managing all that energy can be a challenge. Recently we've begun the "tree stump" technique. We cross our arms and stand like a stump - ignoring him completely - until he settles and sets before we pour on the happy greeting. That isn't always practical when you're wearing your best suede jacket, however. He's beginning to respond to the "off" command, so hopefully we're moving in the right direction. I'm going to ask my friends to help me out with "practice visits," too. We'll see if that helps.

Here's an unrelated question . . . do you have a regular kennel sitting in your living room, or do you have one of the fancier furniture-looking models? My house will never be featured in House Beautiful (thank goodness), but that big green plastic crate can be a bit off-putting.
_________________
A house without a dog is a house without a soul.

[Rex]

Funny -- after I posted I had second thoughts for the very reasons you mentioned!! I suppose in an ideal world, Sig could be involved in an activity like agility, where he could use his energy and natural athletic ability for exercise as well as strengthen the human bond.

There have been times when Leo hasn't settled quickly enough (judgment call) and we went about our business and ignored him until he settled. He usually made just a couple of laps around the living room with Mr. Monkey hanging out of his mouth before he figured out the proper way to greet. The idea being, of course, that we are the pack leaders and will decide when to greet.

Enlisting the help of friends is a great idea. Helps to generalize, too. Another thing we had to do was really, really tone down our greeting and be pretty boring and matter of fact about it.
I laughed when I read about the type of crate and decor......you must not have been following Leo's thread on this forum or you would know what shape our living room (couch especially) is in Since our living room is furnished in something like modern garage sale, the black wire crate doesn't phase us. I don't think it would anyway even if we were in a House Beautiful. We try to give our dogs what they need to be happy and successful. The crate and its location is very handy for this. They use it for sleeping when no lap or couch space is available as well as time out......even Leo's self-imposed time outs, but that's another story You can check it out on www.midwesthomes4pets.com. It's the Life Stages model and measures 42LX28WX31H.

My opinion is that training lets dogs know the expectations and our rules, but it takes patience, consistency, and a sense of humor to see them grow into those expectations. Training activities for which the breed has innate ability is an easier and more natural learning experience than getting a rambunctious, gregarious, Lew adolescent to sit when he's exicited. But he'll do it some day. No doubt.
_________________
Dr. Rex Williamson
"My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dogs already think I am."