REFRESHING - Door Manners

Something I am always working on with my dogs is our manners at the door. We have several people come in and out of our home every day, which is very exciting for our dogs, and a continual supply of opportunities to practice our manners. How I envision their behavior isn't always what occurs, but what does occur is a chance to reinforce the rules, boundaries and limitations of our life. I expect my dogs to behave a particular way and I create the opportunity for them to succeed.

When someone comes to the door, my dogs have learned that I want them to give our guest the space to enter, hug our hellos, and then take off his or her coat before the dogs approach. And they are not to approach our guest until given permission. This is truly a challenge for my dogs who are extremely social and interested in all humans. I see this challenge as wonderful and feel little stress about whether we will succeed or not. Honestly, I do feel some concern when a new person is coming over and I tell my dogs, "Now I know it's hard to accept, but not everyone we meet thinks you are as fabulous as I do. We have to feel this person out before you can say hello."

Our guest-welcoming routine is:
1. We see the person's car arrive and I tell the dogs to sit and stay in their designated spot.

Their eyes are focused on the front door!

2. I open the door and welcome our guest. The dogs are often reminded to stay.

An open door does not mean I've invited my dogs to the door or to walk outside.
Some behaviorists or trainers encourage dogs to follow their owners to the door and then give space to the visitor.
When I am expecting someone on a personal visit, my dogs come much closer.
This is our most conservative greeting style for those visitors who are new to us or uncomfortable with dogs.
My dogs can get a lot of scent information from this distance until we assess the comfort of our guest.

3. Our guest and I hug and say hello and I take his or her coat.

4. I ask our guest if he or she would like to say hello to the dogs. If the answer is Yes, the dogs are allowed to approach.

Foster & Luna have been given permission to greet.

5. Following the hellos, the dogs are told to give our guest space again and we enter further into the house. The dogs can still smell our guest from a distance and get whatever information is useful to them while giving the socially acceptable and comfortable space most people need.

We practice this every day. Some days there is more excitement than others and some guests bring treats adding steps to the welcoming process. Some days the dogs seem to remember their manners better than others, but I like them to have the chance to practice every time. Some people dread anyone coming to the door, or ringing the doorbell in particular, and I'm happy to say, we always enjoy the experience of honing our door manners. Every guest is a chance for my dogs to see I always want the same thing at the door, and for them to shine their wonderfulness on people!