making an office dog

[gabeshouse]

I've got a 6 1/2 month old Bernese mountain dog, Gabe is about 75 pounds, generally very mellow and just now working on th basics. He knows sit and down and follows those commands every time he wants to. Still working on stay. I'm trying to make him a well mannered office dog. I keep him in his crate most of the day and he does good with people coming in and out. If he's not in his crate, he wants to check out everyone who comes in. I'd like tips on getting him to approech people only on invitation. also when he's not in his crate he gets anxious everytime I go outside. He wil stand on the door or window until I'm back and this kind of disrupts little things like a customer wanting to come in the same door. Any hints?

Just registered here today. I've been reading posts here and Big Paws seems to be a great site, full of big info.

[DakotaMom]

I don't have any advise for you but I wanted to say welcome. My name is Denise and I have two Leonbergers and a Newf/Lab mix.

[navarre1316]

Welcome to BPO!!  I have Daphne, a boxer, who has decided that I will do for her forever home!!  She's a rescue.  No BP at the moment deciding what I want next!  This site is addicting and you will get many ideas.

While teaching him stay, also try teaching him wait.  I would tell my GSD to wait and he would stop in mid stride.  So maybe try this with Gabe so he doesn't automatically greet people at the door.  You may also want to teach him a "boundary" at the door, you know give him a threshold, he can't get within so many feet of the door.  I know with my family the crate is their home unless they are going out to potty or play for at least the first year.  But that also depends on the dog.  One thread on here talks about crate training and one good post pointed out not to let the dog out of the crate just because they're being noisy.  They might realize if I make noise I get let out.

The anxiousness is something a lot of dogs do.  Don't make it a big deal when you come or go from the office.  I would almost ignore my dog when I would come home, for a few minutes until he calmed down some and then I would talk to him.  This may or may not work, even at 6 he would get a bit axious whenever I would leave but it wouldn't last that long.  You'll get a lot of good advice, much better than mine, from some of the people on here!!  But these are some thoughts!!

Oh, and we like pics!!  (Yes I know I don't have any)

[tanimara]

Meet Gandalf our office dog.  He goes to work with us each day and is well known by all in our little town.  Everyone that comes into the shop just goes on and on about how well behaved he is.  Getting him to this point took some work but of course it was worth it.

You dog is 6 mo old.  So he's a good age for training and he's not going to learn a thing in that crate.  Your job is to make the office some where he likes to go.  Crating is a good deal but if overdone can be a detriment to his training so dont over do the crate thing.  Every day work on commands and setting a visible boundry for him is important.  That way he knows where to go if you need to put him there for picky customers who dont want all the things that go along with a big dog like we all here have learned to accept as part of life, like dog hair in your food...lol  Be consistant, be consistant, be consistant.  Socialize, socialize, socialize.  Those are the keys.

Welcome to Big Paws. 

Jackie Wood
Tanimara Great Pyrenees

[navarre1316]

That is a BEAUTIFUL pic of Gandalf!!  I love the red leaves behind him!!

[shangrila]

First of all, welcome to BPO!

As far as stopping him from approaching people without permission, I would suggest a few basic commands to train him with:
1. Leave it/Take it - if Gabe approaches someone you don't want him to go near, you would tell him "leave it" and he would know to leave them alone. This also works for food, things around the house, etc. And at the same time, if you teache 'take it', Gabe will learn to learn things alone unless he knows that they are his or you tell them to take it.
2. Stay - you can get him to do a stay or a down/stay to get him to stay put even when there is a person to investigate
3. Crate/go to your room/etc (whatever term you prefer) - this is where the dog learns a specific spot to go lay down in - if he is in that spot he can't bother your coworkers.

If you need help learning how to teach these commands, let me know

[NoDogNow]

Are you keeping him on a short lead, so he can't wander? 

There's a dry cleaner near my office that has their dog with them every single day, and they've taught him to come to you if ask if he'd like to visit--THEN he will start wagging like a fiend and come over and put his head in your hand. The short leash is how they said they taught him--he's an older rescue dog, and they used the leash to keep him right next to them, unless someone asked.  I'm sure it would work with a puppy.

[doggylover]

* that pic of Gandolph is absolutely stunning.  What a beauty. 

I would definately take the advice already given on this thread.  I think it's just a matter of repetition on all the things you want them to do.  Personally I find it is easier to teach a dog to do things all the time.  Constant corrections for what you don't want, constant reward for what you do want.  I still do focused times of training; like 10 minutes of sit/stay commands on/off leash 4 times a day (or whatever the skill is you are working on) but also, you just stay on them.  Lightly correcting naughtiness, non excitedly praising good behavior.  For instance, if the dog got distracted and didn't go through the door one time, and that was what you wanted, even if he didn't mean to do it, you praise him with the threshold command like, say "good door" and pat him. 
 
Good luck, it's great to be able to take them to work! 

[kathryn]

I don't really have much to add because you have already gotten some great advice.  I just wanted to welcome you to BPO.  I'm Kat and I have 2 female Malinois and 1 male Malinois x Ridgeback.  Good luck with training your "little" one.

[gabeshouse]

Thanks for the ideas. I think alot of the anxiousness when I leave will pass. I've just had him since fourth of july.
He'd moved around a couple of times before that.
In the near term I'm going to quit greeting him at the door myself when I've been out. I'll work more on stay and leave it. He does ok on these at times but can forget when he's distracted. If no one else is in the office, I can tell him to lay down and he will. With others in the office he may need some coaxing or lay down for a few seconds then get right back up.
I'm still keeping him in the crate so much to get him used to people coming and going and all the sounds. He does spend a couple of hours a day out in the office or longer when he doesn't get too excited.
Most customers that come in like seeing Gabe. A couple have come back with thier kids or someone else just to meet him.