How to Teach Your Dog to Greet People Nicely

Many dogs love love people. When visitors come to the house, dogs may run to the door, prance in place, and even jump up on the guests.

While this may seem cute when it's a puppy jumping up and placing his paws on your shins, it's not so cute when it's a ninety pound dog jumping to put his paws on your shoulders. When a ninety pound dog jumps on you, there's a good chance you'll get knocked over.

For service dogs, it's very important that they keep all four feet on the floor when guests come to their partner's house. Not only is it good manners for the service dog to keep all four feet on the floor, but calm greetings also allow the dog to stay more focused on their partner.

How to Train It

1. Start with your dog on leash. Have someone the dog is familiar with go outside, close the door, then come back inside. Click and treat if your dog keeps all four feet on the floor.
2. Have a familiar person go outside, knock on the door, and come inside. Click and treat if your dog keeps all four feet on the floor.
   
3. Have a familiar person go outside, ring the doorbell, and come inside. Again, click and treat if your dog keeps all four feet on the floor.

In addition to clicking and treating, the person who comes in the door can pet the dog and give him attention if and only if all four paws are on the floor. After all, what the dog really wants is attention from the new person.

Be careful not to move on to the next step too quickly. Make sure your dog is at least 80% successful before moving on to the next step.

Practicing this behavior will teach the dog that he only gets attention when he keeps all four paws on the floor. When real guests arrive, you may still want to have your dog on leash, and make sure your guests understand that they can only give the dog attention if he has all four feet on the floor. "Attention" includes petting, talking to the dog, and sometimes even looking at the dog. In order to be successful in training your dog to keep all four paws on the floor when he greets guests, you'll need to have the cooperation of all your guests. They will need to be prepared to completely ignore the dog if he jumps. You may want to talk to your guests before they arrive so they know to ignore the dog unless all his paws are on the floor.

What if Your Dog Does Jump?

If your dog does jump up on people, that person needs to completely ignore the dog. No petting, talking or looking at the dog. The dog gets absolutely no attention for jumping. If a dog is jumping on you, you have few options.

1. You can turn your back to the dog. When you turn your back, chances are the dog will get down. You will also be completely ignoring the dog.
2. You can walk through the dog. This technique is exactly what it sounds like. When the dog puts his feet on you, you simply walk forward as if the dog wasn't there. The dog will then be off balance and it will have two choices: put his feet down or tumble backwards.
   

Note: Never knee the dog, which can hurt him.

Whenever your dog has all four feet on the floor, you and your guests can give him lots of attention. Just remember that as soon as his feet leave the floor, the attention stops.

If you're consistent, you'll soon have a dog that keeps his feet politely on the floor when he greets guests.