I have a 6 month old golden retriever ans she is the sweetest thing. BUT she keeps jumping and scratching everyone. She gets so excited I cant hardly get a leash on her. I keep trying to raise my knee up but that doesnt work. I have to get her under control before she trips someone or knocks them down...What can I do???

There is a snack at petshop called pet eaze! Helps calm over excited puppies.

I think I choke chain with a small hand leash on it that you can grab each time she jumps and jerk down... (i know, sounds harsh) or, really give her the knee HARD. (again, harsh). However, whatever the action is, it has to be very uncomfortable and unpleasant, or else she will think you are playing. Maybe even someone holding her with the hand leash when people arrive? Making her sit all the while the people are coming in? And lots of praise when she is successful...

And, the short hand leash is something you could leave on her when she is around you and safe from not choking herself. That way you have quick access to give her that reminder jerk downwards.

Make sure that you are taking her out for regular walks so she has a chance to work off that energy. Also make sure she understands that YOU are at the top of the pecking order.

Cesar Milan has really good tips also.

Get a can of air for cleaning computers and spray it down yourself every time she jumps

We went through this with the dobie in my avatar when she was a puppy. Have you taken her to puppy training yet? I was taking China to puppy training at night to socialize her and teach her good puppy manners. The trainer came to our house to show us the choke chain method that MellieK mentiond because I was afraid I would hurt her and wanted an expert to teach me the right way to do it. It worked in the first session!! I can't remember now exactly how it was done.

Patience ,consistancy , and not rewarding bad behavior in otherwords do not show any positive attention for negative behavior.Leash training is a must,if you do not have a choke chain just loop the leash and use it like a choker. Ceasar the dog whisper has so many good methods, I don't know if he is still on or not. I watched him when I was laid up after an accedent and I can not beleive the difference in my bulldog since I used his methods. It has to be the entire family too. It is funny as well as irritating because the bulldog only listens to me, the rest of the family tell on him like kids cause he wont listen to them. I have NEVER hit him yet he obey me with just a look most of the time.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

I have used treats but the best thing I found was to totally ignore this bad behavior and give the command sit. Only then does my pups get petted and attention. Now when someone walks in they all sit- very nice! We worked on sit command every chance we could til they understand what it means. Also walk ours til they and I am tired. I lost 40 pounds on weightwatchers along with walking :)

watch the dog whisperer... he has some really good methods... exercise her and be consistant. do not pet her when she is being bad... Like I am one to talk cause my golden goes biserk when someone comes too. lol.. he goes in circles.. lol

If you have someone that can work with you, have that person
stay at a short distance with some bean bags. When the dog jumps, you give the sit or down command and they throw the bean bags hitting the dog in the hind quarters if possible. This does not hurt the dog, you are not tryng to hurt him, just startle and distract him; teach him that if he jumps, something happens to him. Then when he sits, reward him. I know it sounds strange, but it worked.

Another thing you can do that you can do at any time, is simply walk into her. Don't knee her-it can hurt her AND you. When she gets in your space without your permission, just walk into her and calmly tell her "Back up", or off, or whatever you choose for your command. Don't say anything else to her, don't use her name. You only give the command and walk into her. When you walk into her, you may make contact with her body with yours, but it will be just like you're bumping into someone. If she jumps again, walk into her again. Try your best NOT to use your hands on her. She will see this as a reward, even if you're using them to push her away. You need to stay neutral, and when she finally stands at your side/feet, lean down and praise her. When you're on her level, she doesn't have to jump up to see your face to tell you how much she loves you. Reward her when she has four on the floor, never when she only has two. Puppies jump up to greet mom when she returns, that's all she's doing. Her new mom is just a bit taller! This is a simple solution that most anyone can do, other than little kiddos. I have taught all but my very youngest child to do this to our bouncy dog. He still bounces, but respects their space and doesn't touch them when he bounces, which for me is acceptable.

I have a spinning Golden as well - always clockwise! Henry will be 5 years old next month and still gets very excited when anyone comes to the house. I tell him "Paws on the Floor!" and he eventually calms down in a couple of minutes.

A friend told me that it takes 5 years for male Goldens to get a brain. I look for that FedEx delivery truck every day!! ;)

puppy school, training is the best way

lord lets hope that girls are quicker...and if male dogs are like some men????

yes please, puppy training. no choke collars!!! please.
you can train her but it will take time. if you can find someone who does the training, things will go faster. she's just a baby and learning. be nice but firm and consistent.

When I took my Aussie to obedience classes the trainer said to get a metal can and put bolts, or washers (anything metal) and shake it when they misbehaved. It worked for my Aussie. She got to the point when I reached for it, she would stop. Along with shaking the can you say NO.

Being consistant is the most important thing, as you can send the wrong signals otherwise.

When your pup jumps up, lay an open hand on the nose & gently push down, say DOWN in a firm, but not yelling voice. Then walk away. This shows pup what it is doing wrong & that it will not receive a reward. Once it learns this command an open hand, not even touching the pup, will show it you want it to stay down.

If pups sits down then a pat & verbal good dog as a reward. It's all about negative & positive training. Ignore/do not reward the negative things they do. Reward the positive.

[/quote]I have a spinning Golden as well - always clockwise! Henry will be 5 years old next month and still gets very excited when anyone comes to the house. I tell him "Paws on the Floor!" and he eventually calms down in a couple of minutes.A friend told me that it takes 5 years for male Goldens to get a brain. I look for that FedEx delivery truck every day!! ;)[/quote]

Well good luck with that 5 year thing.. lol.. my "CASH" will be seven this year and the only thing slowinghim down is his hips..
Funny mine turns counter clockwise and he always turns 3 times before laying down or Pooping . lol.. If you have a ball in your hand he will spin spin spin spin i do not know how he keeps from getting dizzy lol..

Whatever method you decide, please continue with her training, either in a group or alone. There is nothing worse than an out of control dog, specially if they are on the large side. I have been very vigilant with our Malamute/Staffy, he is very strong and quite willful. From a very early age he was trained not to jump up (I have a disability so I'm in big strife if he were to knock me over), another one to start early is "leave it" and of course the usual sit, stay, come...happy training!

I have a spinning Golden as well - always clockwise! Henry will be 5 years old next month and still gets very excited when anyone comes to the house. I tell him "Paws on the Floor!" and he eventually calms down in a couple of minutes.A friend told me that it takes 5 years for male Goldens to get a brain. I look for that FedEx delivery truck every day!! ;)[/quote]

Well good luck with that 5 year thing.. lol.. my "CASH" will be seven this year and the only thing slowinghim down is his hips..
Funny mine turns counter clockwise and he always turns 3 times before laying down or Pooping . lol.. If you have a ball in your hand he will spin spin spin spin i do not know how he keeps from getting dizzy lol..[/quote]

Henry's dad is 7 and I am told that he is finally settling down -- hope springs eternal!

We've used this technique with training all our dogs over the years. Works so well and fast.

We have an excitable golden puppy that's 4 years old. When ever we have company he can't control himself. We have an electric collar for him to take him on walks etc. We have found this really works indoors as well just when we have guests. We have never had to use a full strength zap on him, just a little buzz. Our collar has 3 buzzing levels and 127 power levels (first a warning, 2nd a stronger warning and then a zap). He doesn't even like a second warning so we hardly even use that one. It also keeps him safe outdoors.

Get a Gentle Leader, when she jumps, pull down and she will stop. A choke collar is not the nicest thing to put on a dog. Sorry, but I don't believe in them. A good collar and a Gentle Leader. I don't believe in kneeing a dog either. Kindness and praise. We have had two dogs now, both sweethearts, but all puppies start out the same, rambunctious, happy, and they don't know anything yet. Why start being mean to them right off the bat. We have a neighbor that just got a puppy on Saturday. By the time I went home, I had scratches on my arm and little tooth marks. I just said "NO"! That did it! At least with me and her it did it! Now she knows not to do what she isn't supposed to do, but still, it is perfectly normal. Kindness and praise and a few goodies in your pocket to reward. Edie

It's called a "puppy". Yes, excercise and take him to obedience classes. they really train the owner!

We've always used a spray bottle of water. It startles them, doesn't harm them in any way, but they sure don't like it. Consistency is key!!! So is patience & never hurting your dog. You have to kill them with kindness!!! The suggestion to watch Sog Whisperer is a good one. He seems to have a lot of good ideas.

Good luck. My Cricket is a 4yr old Golden and she still jumps and claws when you enter the house. But once she settles down, she is such a sweetheart!

I kept a spray bottle of water handy - a spray in the face doesn't hurt them but sure has got their attention. Now I just have to say 'do you want me to get the spray bottle?' and that was 10 and 12 years ago for my 2 yellow labs. For barking control, I used a few pennies in an empty soda can and shook it when they barked. Both methods worked like a charm. Obedience training and exercise is also key for smart dogs like retrievers.

Check out Victoria Stillwell on "It's Me or The Dog". She has great common sense training methods.

The puppy jumps up because it is excited and to get attention -- so any action you take to push the dog down, knee it, tell no etc is giving the dog attention (even though to our eyes it's not nice attention!)So you need to ignore the dog when it jumps up by turning your back to the dog -- just keep turning away. As soon as 4 feet are on the floor, praise and reward. All this may be hard to do when your dog is going crazy because you are just home from work, so also teach an alternative behaviour that is rewarding to the dog. Try a tug toy that is only given to the dog when you first meet it --just push the toy into the dog's mouth, tug around and then release the toy. Nearly every dog will then race around, shaking and "killing" the toy for a few minutes, then call the dog over, give a treat and put the toy away until the next person comes home. (It is important that this toy is not left around for the dog to play with whenever he wants, or the toy will lose its value) Eventually, if you have taught a solid sit command, and your dog has matured, you will be able to get him to sit for a pat, but it's expecting a lot from a young puppy to exercise this sort of self-control. Incidentally, check that no one in the house, especially children, encourage the dog to jump up "because it proves that he loves me!" All your training can be undone if everyone is not consistent. Keep a spare lead and some treats near the front door, and slip lead on when visitors arrive. Using the treats you should be able to get your dog to sit to say hello, and then walk the dog outside using the lead. (It doesn't matter if the dog only sits for a split second and then stands up--just keep doing sits and rewarding -- it just gives you more opportunites to practise sit and reward your dog when visitors come. Try to regard this as a training opportunity rather than a nuisance!

Turn around when she starts jumping and ignore this bad behavior. when she settles turn back around and tell her good girl.

We had a squirt gun - I would look at Bess, "Bad Dog", give her a squirt!!!!!! Never say the dog's name in anger. Give her/him another name when you are angry at her/him - Ours was "Roundhead"! Dogs can put "bad Bess and good Bess together and make it sound good. Bad Roundhead gets their attention. Anyhow, back to my squirt gun - now all we have to say is three words, one syllable each, very distinct - "GET THE GUN". That's all it takes now! Which incidentally is so very rare that we don't even have the squirt gun anymore. Long gone (She doesn't know that yet, we just say "Get the Gun") - Bess is 8-1/2 now. Owns the house! Lock, stock and barrel. We do get to live here rent free if we keep her in food, snacks and more love than you can imagine. Edie

a head halter while you walk the pup is also a great investment. If you can control the head, you can control the dog! It looks kinda like a muzzle, but is definitely NOT a muzzle. it slips around their muzzle and head. it helps infinitely with all kinds of problems.

I had the same thing with my young dog a few years ago. After trying everything I finally tried a friends suggestion of stepping on her back paws when she is jumping up. I know it does not sound "nice", but it only took a few times and she decided it was not worth it. And also, the sitting down when you come in. I still do that because she is so excited to see me and her tail is a killer.

LOVE this idea! Also you can put a few pennies in an aluminum soda can and shake it just once sharply when she is misbehaving and she will respond! This is especially good if you are not right in the vicinity of the incident.

I have an almost 4 year old golden, she is my avatar, and I have a spray bottle with water and instruct down or stop. If she doesn't I spray her with H2O. If she is out of control and excited now all I have to do is pick up the bottle and she quickly retreats. It doesn't hurt them and for some reason dogs do not like being sprayed in the face. Lots of luck. She is just now quieting down, we rescued her when she was 1 1/2 and she really must not had any discipline because she doesn't think she does anything wrong. I wouldn't trade her for anything. Great dogs.

That's the Gentle Leader I was talking about - works great! Edie

I had also heard of the "walking into them". It puts them off balance which they don't like and lots of consistency and patience. Enjoy your beautiful puppy.

Definitely check out Ceasar Milan! Also, let your visitors know to IGNORE the dog when they come in until she settles down and becomes calm.

One thing that works on all my dogs is when they jump up on you uninvited, pinch the skin in between their toes. It doesn't hurt them, but it sure is uncomfortable. They'll learn to associate jumping with the pinch, and they'll stop. Knees to the chest work too, if you're quick enough to block them.