I have a 10 month old poodle/cavilier spaniel cross. He is the greatest dog, but has a very annoying habit of humping peoples legs when they come to visit. I scold him and get visitors to talk crossly to him, but he continues to do it as soon as someone comes in. Any suggestions?
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An easy way of training your dog _not_ to do something is to do something to them that they hate (like bathing them, picking them up and holding them like a baby) right after they do the offending behavior. For example, my dog used to claw my leg when she jumped up. So every time she did it, I picked her up and held her like a baby, which she hates. She no longer claws. In another example, I read something where they bathed the dog every time he ate from the coffee table. For a while there, they had the cleanest dog in the world, but now when they put food on the coffee table he leaves it alone. Another example is when a dog jumps up, hold its paws and do a little dance with it for 30 seconds or so (as they frantically try to pull their paws free). They'll get the message.
The key is not to be abusive to the dog, but just be consistent. In your case, I would invite over a couple of willing friends at different times and have him do the behavior and then follow that by something that will get him the message that this is not acceptable.
I'd try using a clean squirt bottle filled with water. Every time your dog "offends" squirt him (preferably in the face) with the water. You can also say "Squirt" while you perform the action. They don't like being squirted and quickly associate the behaviour with the consequence.
If you don't like the squirt bottle idea, you can use a loud noise correction. Fill a can partly full of pennies, seal the top, and throw it NEAR (not at!) the dog when he humps. This works best if it seems like the awful noise just "came from the sky" as a result of the bad behavior. You may want to warn your guest about this loud correction! Be ready to repeat this until the dog quits.
your dog is exhibiting dominance behavior. Instead of shouting at your dog, try to redirect his attention to something else then reward him for being good. Your dog also needs exercise so walk him every day or every other day for at least 45 minutes. This may seem like a lot but a tired dog is a happy dog and a happy dog is a happy owner.
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