The rude dog

Does your dog run toward you and slam into your knees at full speed?  Does he use his body weight to push you around? If you’ve answered YES then you’ve got a rude dog. It may have been cute when he was 3 months old but now that fido is 60 lbs cute doesn’t cut it anymore.

A rude dog will purposely run into you, smack you with his paws, knock you over and generally invade your space when given the chance.

“But he’s excited.”
“He’ loves people.”
“He’s just happy to see me.”

These are just a few excuses owners have made for their rude dogs. Yes, Pumpkin may love people and be very excited to see you, but he’s fully aware of what his body is doing and he’s still choosing to crowd your personal space. This should not be acceptable. Aside form being annoying and possibly dangerous if you smack your head on the ground after being knocked over, it’s also a great way to make your dog think of you as another pack member he can push around. Not as a leader. And the last thing you want is your dog to think that he’s equal to you. That just opens up a big opportunity for other behavior problems, with aggression being at the top of the list.

So how to you stop this?

Simple. Decide right now that you will not allow him to treat you rudely and take action to prevent it from happening, or correct it when it does.

Example. Your dog is running at you full speed, instead of bracing yourself, stand up straight, take a big step forward, clap your hands and in a deep voice say “NO!” It actually doesn’t matter what you choose to say as long as your tone of voice conveys that you mean business. Feel free to say “back off” of whatever else you want to use as your “stay out of my space” command. The idea is not to scare the dog, just to startle him. No yelling required, just use a deep no-nonsense voice.

Once your dog slows down and backs off (probably from surprise as you’ve never asserted yourself in this way before when he charges you) then ask for a sit, and calmly praise him. Then go about your business.

If you dog has a habit of slamming into guests as well then keep a leash on him before you open the door to visitors so you can easily prevent him to tackling them. Your guests will thank you.