Can a dog trainer help with this

[2024horizons]

Can't even believe I am posting about this.

When I go and visit my close relatives, their dog does my head in.

When I arrive she jumps, licks, barks etc. This I can live with.

But when I am just sat on the sofa she licks my face off. I can't stand it. She does not do it to one of my relatives who seems to have individually trained her not to do it to her. Whereas perfectly acceptable to guests.

I was wondering - if I book a session on the phone with a dog trainer can they give me some strategies to try to stop this? My relatives could not be less interested as the sun shines out of the dogs backside as far as they are concerned. She also barks when I phone and it would be nice if she stopped doing that as I cannot speak to my long distance relatives.

I like the dog, it's nice, but this irritates me. Help.

Yes they can. It’s a very easy thing to fix but a good trainer would need to look at the whole picture eg. Exercise, training, breed etc. Then your relatives would need to put the time in. Thats where I think your issue is going to be.

If one of the relatives has individually trained her not to do it, it would seem possible for you to do the same. It's not complicated, simply don't let her do it. Don't let her on the sofa with you, remove her firmly and only give her praise and attention when she is nicely on the floor beside you. If the relatives agree you could have some small treats in a pocket to drop on the floor beside her when she behaves but the timing is important.

Does your relative know you don’t like the dog licking you?
It sounds like the dog is excited to see you. The trick is to not reward the unwanted behaviour, so give attention and praise/ treat when the dog is sitting nicely with all paws on the floor.
Suggest to your relative that they give the dog something like a filled frozen kong to keep the dog busy as a distraction while you chat.
I have complete sympathy for you, I hate constant licking.

She does have a Kong, but would probably ignore it in favour of me.

She doesn't come on the chair (she is big) but puts her paws up on me then licks. It's physically quite hard to remove her and works for a second then she is back. Its exhausting and relentless. She never sits on the floor next to me . Its either lick me to death or go and lie in front of the fire or take my relatives seat if he gets up. The window for a treat is small. My relatives are all like, she misses you etc., or they tell me to play with her. Maybe I can use play in some way, but she is sooo tiring and stubborn. It's ruining my enjoyment of visiting them. She is a vizsla if relevant.

You don't need to pay a trainer - you just need to make yourself boring and unresponsive.

Every time she does it, get up and turn your back to her. When she has her paws on the floor, praise and reward. And just be consistent and repetitive - they learn very quickly.

they are beautiful dogs.

I still don't want 'kisses'. I can't stand being licked by any dogs. My dog was my ❤️ but I didn't even let her lick me.

im still teaching my friends dog not to lick me. It's slow as I only see him once a week & most other people he sees are happy to be licked.

hes a big lab and im fine with him 'dancing' with me (im short) & sitting on my knee, but NOT LICKING!!

I think boring and unresponsive is a good approach. I am very gushy over her mainly as they encourage me to say hello etc and I don't want to seem rude. Thanks, good tips.

If you gush all over them it probably hypes them up and encourages the excitable behaviour.

I can definitely be guilty of this with the dogs I walk - they're so excited to see me that it's hard not to encourage them to jump and have a fuss 😂

But ignoring does work really well and they cotton on very quickly. You just need to be repetitive and consistent ☺️