#188 Too Friendly

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Could your dog's friendliness actually be causing training problems? This eye-opening episode tackles the paradoxical challenges that come with raising social butterfly dogs—those lovable pups who want to greet everyone and everything they encounter.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You know what's funny ?
Sometimes our biggest trainingstruggles come from having that
really nice dog.
I'm talking about those socialbutterflies, dogs that love
everyone, wag at every strangerand are dying to meet every dog
on the block.
Dying to meet every dog on theblock.

(00:24):
And because they're friendly,we let them.
We let them walk up to everyperson we pass, we let them go
nose to nose with random dogs,we let them hop up on the couch
next to our guest and snuggleright in Because they're

(00:45):
friendly.
What could go wrong?
Well, a few things Letting ourdog greet every human that they
pass.
It starts out harmless.
A neighbor says hi, someone atthe park pets him.
A jogger stops and smiles andbefore long your dog thinks that
every human they see is goingto stop and give them attention.

(01:07):
But here's the problem.
First, if we teach our dog thatthey can interact with everyone
they see, you quickly train adog that pulls toward people and
probably ignores your leave itcue people and probably ignores

(01:28):
your leave it cue.
And second, the person thatthey're trying to interact with
may not like dogs or, even worse, they may be afraid of dogs.
So what's a friendly dog ownerto do?
Easy, stop letting your dogmeet and interact with everyone
you pass.
Letting your dog meet andinteract with everyone you pass.
This may mean telling somepeople that, no, they can't meet

(01:49):
or pet your dog, and I knowthat's a tough one.
After all, your dog is friendlyand everyone loves him.
But to help your dog understandthat interacting with other
people is a privilege and not aright, sometimes the answer has
to be no, sorry, you can't meetthat person today.

(02:10):
And the second bad habit wecreate letting our friendly dog
meet every other dog they see,and this one's big.
Just because your dog is greatwith other dogs doesn't mean
that strange dog walking towardyou is A friendly dog can still

(02:36):
get snapped at and growled at oreven worse.
And too often we walk ourfriendly dogs into trouble
because we think well, my dog'sfriendly, it'll be okay.
But no, it won't always be okay.
At some point you will crosspaths with the dog who isn't
okay with other dogs and yourdog will end up paying the price

(02:57):
.
If you must allow your dog tointeract with strange dogs your
dog to interact with strangedogs be very selective and very
careful.
But better yet, skipintroductions with strange dogs
and limit your dog'sinteractions to other dogs with
dogs that you know.

(03:17):
And another thing that we canget wrong letting our dog be too
familiar with guests.
I mean, I get it.
It's sweet when your dog wantsto jump up on the couch and
snuggle with Aunt Linda.
But what happens when it'ssomeone who doesn't like dogs or
who has allergies or justdoesn't want 60 pounds of

(03:38):
Labrador in their lap?
If your dog is used to beingthe life of the party and no one
ever redirects him, he won'tunderstand when someone finally
does so.
If your dog is a socialbutterfly, that's great, that's
a gift, but it's your job toteach him boundaries, just like

(04:02):
with kids.
Being friendly doesn't mean werun up to everyone.
We see.
Not every person or dog that wewant to interact with is safe,
and not every guest wants acuddle, and it's up to you to
decide what the rules are and toimplement them.
So maybe we start small Walkpast people without greeting.

(04:25):
Reinforce your dog for stayingby your side.
Instead, let your dog see otherdogs without saying hi.
Have a place or a go-to matroutine when guests come over
and release your dog only ifit's appropriate.
Being friendly is great, butbeing friendly with manners,

(04:47):
that's even better.