Chilling Karma out when staff enter....

[kidkhmer]

I need some tips on how to get karma to calm down when my staff enter the office. She does not bark but she likes to sniff and prod and lick and grab ankles etc . Obviously I need to work on the down/stay but what can I do to get her to chill out. It does not happen every time but some of them are scared crapless of her as GSDs are only used as security and UXO dogs here in Cambodia so they are not used to seeing them as a pet! I have an en-suite bathroom in my office so one thing I am thinking is an immediate KENNEL UP / TIME OUT command that sees her bugger off into the bathroom and relax for 10mins. I would rather teach her to relax altogether so it can be used in other instances.

tks

[Cassidy's Mom]

Teach her to go to a mat and stay there. We've been working on the dogs not mauling me as I walk in the door! Both of them have had some mat work in the past, which has been helpful to train this, and my husband has been working with me. Here's a little video of our second day of training:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddw4EBuhIdM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddw4EBuhIdM

That was a couple of weeks ago, and this week my hubby was not near the door to assist, but I was able to back the dogs up by myself and to down them on the mat while I put my things down, and then I released them to greet me.

In the early stages of training you should probably put her on leash so it's easy to return her to the mat. In the first mat session with Halo I taught her to go to the mat and lay down on it in about 10 minutes with clicker training. At first I cued the down, but then I rewarded her with a much higher value treat when she did, so it didn't take her long to figure out that she got a click and a piece of kibble for stepping onto the mat, but a click and something way better for laying down on it.

[kidkhmer]

I actually use mats when i train and Karma knows "on your mat" and will stay there when we are training at home but the arrival of people in my office offer new stimulus. I guess I have to use a staff member as a training aid. Might have to write it into their JD and pay them danger money LOL.

[KZoppa]

can you post signage stating you have a dog in training? that might help. you could also encourage positive interactions between the staff and your dog. That might help matters too.