3 Ways to Keep Your Dog Calm When Meeting New People -

3 Effective Ways to

Keep Your Dog Calm When Meeting New People

Dogs, especially young ones, often get very excited when meeting new people. But many times, their social skills aren’t up to par when it comes to interacting with new friends. It may be difficult to keep your dog calm when meeting new people if he is an overly energetic pup, and it may take them several minutes to be able to respond to your commands. This behavior can be a problem, especially if the dog gets too excited and bites. If the injuries from the attack are bad enough, the impact may be severe enough for the victim to press charges.

Even a minor bite can lead to legal charges and punishment for both you and your dog. So, to avoid any of this happening to you or your dog, here are three steps you can take to ensure that your dog is on their best behavior when meeting new people.

1. Break Out The Leash

Whether you’re walking your dog in an area where leashes are required or you’re having trouble with your dog getting too excited about guests that are coming into your home, training them how to act on a leash before a new encounter happens is a good first step. Start by giving your dog only a little bit of free reign at the end of their leash when a visitor comes near them.

As time goes on, start giving them more space to interact with the guest, while you remain near and ready to grab them if things begin to go south. Use the leash to keep your dog close to you in order to guide their behavior. Before you know it, they’ll start to learn the behavior you want them to demonstrate and be able to act appropriately even in cases when they don’t have the leash on.

2. Keep Treats Handy

For just about every dog, treats are a welcome distraction. When your dog gets overly excited by a new person, distracting them can help calm them down. Have your dog work on perfecting simple tricks like sit, stay, and lie down, and regularly ask them to perform those tricks for a treat. This way when they meet someone new, you have a way to distract them by pulling out some of their favorite treats and showing their new friend a few of their best tricks. You can even involve the new person by having them give your dog a few treats.

3. Provide Outlets for Your Dogs Energy

It’s important that you provide your dog with the appropriate amount of play each day. If they are held up inside all day, they are sure to be harder to reign in when something exciting, like meeting a new person, happens.

When a visitor arrives at your door or you meet someone new on a walk, have activities on hand that you can easily engage your dog in, such as a game of fetch, a favorite toy, or some kind of puzzle treat. This gives them something different to focus their energy on instead of the person they’re meeting for the first time. Also, be sure to work to decrease your dog’s energy level throughout the day by taking them for walks or playing games with them in order to make sure they aren’t so high strung when they do finally get out.

Conclusion

Dogs love meeting new people, so they understandably get excited when someone different comes along. Although this can be a bad thing if things get too out of hand, with a little bit of work and training, meeting new people will be a great experience for every animal and person involved.

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“3 Effective Ways to Keep Your Dog Calm When Meeting New People”

Guest Author: Brooke Chaplan

Brooke is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan