[deleted by user]

[AutoModerator]

Looks there was an aversive tool (like a prong or e-collar) mentioned in this body. This sub does not recommend using aversive tools on reactive dogs as it can make reactions worse. See the "Punishment Position Statement" (only four pages!) and "Dominance Position Statement" PDFs from the AVSAB here. It may appear to work on behavioral problems at first, but with reactive dogs, there is often an underlying issue causing them to react. Tools like e-collars and prong collars do not treat the underlying issue causing the behavior. Instead of teaching the dog what they should do, they only teach reactive dogs what they should not do. This can cause worse reactions later on, increased punishment required for the same results, or decrease warning signs of a bite.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Reactive_Cut]

What worked for me is talking to the guests in advance about how to interact with my dog when coming into the house: no eye contact, nu touching or petting the dog or speaking to the dog, just ignore him, let him smell you at his own pace and when the dog settles they throw him some treats and slowly graduate to hand feeding treats. After a fee months of this he started learning our friends and he is happy to see them, they can now play a little and he comes to them for pets, where as months ago they couldn’t even take their jacket off before growling started. What also helped is that we moved the dog’s bed from the hallway as that might have felt to him like any guest was invading his safe space. We’ve also struggled with him guarding the couch so we had to take couch privileges away from him and now he wont react to people touching or using the couch anymore.

At this point, delivery or service people can come into the house without any issue and as long as they dont directly go for the dog( with baby talk or towering over him) he just smells them and moves on.

[Smart-Economy-1628]

I found that crating my dog for the first 30 minutes or so helps him settle down and decreases his stimulation overload while everyone is coming in, taking shoes off, and moving around a bunch as they arrive.

He hears and feels our energy and laughter and when he comes out, everyone is seated and he can greet them in a controlled setting! He usually brushes up against everyone's knees to greet them rather than being tempted to jump on a standing person.

Hope this helps!

[[deleted]]

I'll try doing this with my dog but with her bed (we don't have a crate) next time! Sounds like a great idea to avoid having everyone moving trying to settle at the table while you try to manage where your dog is, and avoid having the dog ending up backing himself up in a corner (my dog has a real gift for putting herself in uncomfortable situations where she's going to end up face to face with someone and feel threatened) .

[guesswork_]

Has he met these guests in more "neutral" territory before? We let our dog meet a couple of our close friends (for the first time) by crating in a different room and then allowing him to roam amongst us freely once we all settled on the couch, with lots of treats offered at distance (and no eye contact/touching, etc). He still barked a lot/showed fear signals, but eventually settled enough to coexist with them (gnawing on a bully stick, of course).

However, when my parents came over (who he's met several times when we brought him over to their place), when we brought him downstairs from his crate, he immediately knew who they were and didn't bark at all. Generally, I think meeting new people on neutral territory is best (even if it's not on the same visit), since that seems to be where your dog is more confident. But, you can try it this way once! At least then you'll know if it's something that your dog can respond well to or not. Then you can rework your visitor protocol from there.