How to I stop dog getting overexited when people come round?

[Fabuloo]

We have an 8 month old labrador. He is great but gets over exited when people come round, jumping on them, barking, licking them, climbing on them and peeing on the floor.

It's quite scary for our childrens friends and our friends who have babies or are elderly.

I put him in his crate as soon as he starts but then he just whines really loudly (we have an open plan house). I have tried shutting him in the garden but he braks and throws his whole body at the glass doors (they are safety glass btw!). I have tried giving him treats when he stays calm but it just doesn't work, he just goes into a frenzy. If we ignore him it gets worse.

It's got to the point people are quite wary of coming round and get really annoyed with him,

What can I do???

[Fabuloo]

We always ignore him when we first arrive home so as not to encourage him, he's not as bad as he was but we need to make him stop!

[Imnotaslimjim]

Watching with interest - I've just aquired a VERY friendly 2 yr old Rottweiler. He's boisterous and bouncy and I'd love to teach him to sit and wait to be introduced. He's good as gold in every other sense, just loves people!

[Lougle]

We've had some success with teaching our dog to sit on his bed (which is in the hall) and wait for a stroke. He's still bouncy, and gets off the bed as soon as he is stroked, but he's learning that he only gets a stroke if he's down. The other thing he's learned to do, is to go and get a toy, which means we can give him a game of tug rather than bouncing too.

[Imnotaslimjim]

We've been trying that with very little success so far! But I do know we just have to persevere. He's had a bad time of it so I know some of it is trusting us

[LetThereBeCupcakes]

Like Lougle says, the best way to combat undesirable behaviour, like over-zealous greeting of visitors, is to give the dog an alternative. So targetting to a bed or mat, or asking them to produce a toy to focus his attention are great ideas. Don't expect too much too soon though, it will be hard for him to break the habit and sit quietly on his bed for very long at first.

Also make sure your visitors don't do anything to encourage the behaviour. If the jumps at them, they say nothing, just turn around and ignore him. Only pet him when his paws are on the floor. Try to use long, slow strokes rather than vigourous rubbing which may excite him even more.

Other options are to get visitors to do a little clicker training with him when they arrive, to focus him a little, or if you know when visitors are arriving, pop him on his lead and meet them outside (a few houses away ideally), so you can all walk in together. This worked a charm whilst we trained our lab.

[Imnotaslimjim]

Thanks for the tips cupcakes, certainly something to think about! we've only had him 2 weeks so I know we've a long road ahead of us. He's a lovely dog though, and worth the work

[TheHoneyDragonsDrunkInTheIvy]

I'm training for this at the moment. We put her in her pen and people come and say hello and the we all act as normal. Once she has stopped going bananas in her pen and settled we open the door so she can say hi.

I am definitely going to try the greet and walk in together too though.