Polite Greetings

Socialisation is not about fostering friendliness in our dogs; rather, we strive to create confidence and propriety in a variety of social settings. A critical element of proper socialisation is teaching puppies to be calm, relaxed, and polite during greetings, and to remain neutral to passersby when not cued to interact. To achieve this, it is first important to remove reinforcement for any behaviours you will deem impolite once your puppy is full-grown. For most people, this means calm and on a loose leash, with all paws on the floor.

With your puppy on leash, have a friend walk back and forth at a distance as you mark and reward your puppy for remaining calm and on a loose leash. If your puppy pulls or jumps toward the helper, have him turn and walk away from you. Don't say anything here - driving away a potential friend is precisely the consequence we want her to mull over! Once she reengages with you, click and treat, then repeat the pass-by until successful.

Once your puppy is remaining calm with pass-bys, practise polite greetings by having your friend approaching to pet your puppy. If at any point she pulls or jumps on him, including after he's begun petting, have your friend walk briskly walk away and repeat a couple of pass-bys before reattempting. During this formative socialisation period, your puppy should link polite behaviours with positive social interaction and rude behaviours with driving friends away, resulting in adult dogs who have no desire to pull toward or jump on strangers, rather than adult dogs who simply restrain themselves from performing these behaviours.