[musicmom116]

I have no clue what to do anymore with Dallas. As I said before , she goes nuts when the mailman comes. But, for the past 2 days, she never even realized he was here. However; today, she realized it and all hell broke loose. I had her in a down/stay position waiting for when he came (I saw him at the neighbor's house) Dallas stayed until she saw him through the window, she jumped up, darted to the window (which was open) jumped up on the screen and her legs actually went through the screen, it happened so fast, all I could do was grab her and pull her back. I'm sure if I didn't pull her back, she would have jumped out. I think we scared the daylights out of the mailman. BTW, 2 weeks ago she jumped up the opposite window and scratched my table, knocked over the lamp and tore down the blinds. I don't know what to do with her anymore. Oh, and hubby blamed me for it all! HELP!!

 

[melgrj7]

Does the mailman come at the same time everyday? If he does, can you just crate her or otherwise contain her? Or does this happen when anyone comes up to the house?

 

[TooneyDogs]

Down/stays are advanced obedience work and takes lots and lots of practice. You 'proof' the down/stays during training with low distractions....then medium...then high (mailman is high).

There is another element to this training. She somehow thinks it's her job to take care of the mailman. You teach her that it's not her job by getting between her and the mailman....showing her that you're handling the 'problem'. Make her back-up slightly...that tells you that she got the message. Eventually, of course, you'd like her to just go directly to her mat or rug and hold the down/stay when the mailman comes.

 

[musicmom116]

Down/stays are advanced obedience work and takes lots and lots of practice. You 'proof' the down/stays during training with low distractions....then medium...then high (mailman is high).

There is another element to this training. She somehow thinks it's her job to take care of the mailman. You teach her that it's not her job by getting between her and the mailman....showing her that you're handling the 'problem'. Make her back-up slightly...that tells you that she got the message. Eventually, of course, you'd like her to just go directly to her mat or rug and hold the down/stay when the mailman comes.

Well, I was not between her and the mailman, but I will remember that in the future. I'm not sure if she thinks it is her job to "protect" us. Remember, Dallas is afraid of everything/everyone.

Does the mailman come at the same time everyday? If he does, can you just crate her or otherwise contain her? Or does this happen when anyone comes up to the house?

Unfortunately no, he does not come at the same time every day, which is annoying.

We could crate her if we knew when he'd be coming each day, but then she wouldn't learn not to go bonkers when he/she comes. On the other hand if we did crate her, my house wouldnt' get destroyed

 

[melgrj7]

Could you rent a mailman outfit and have a friend dress up?

 

[MissMutt]

Where's your mailbox? Physically on your house or is it at the curb?

Just wondering, because if it's on your house, maybe you could move it and get one at the curb. Just a thought.. it's likely a proximity thing.

 

[Curbside Prophet]

Not very much different than this...

The problem is predicting when the mail carrier will pass, preventing the dog from rehearsing the behavior on his own, and creating an adequate training scenario.

You may need to double click on the video to get to youtube and play it from there.

 

[Poly]

Teach the "Look" command - some people call it "Look-At-That".

If you have a good "sit", combine the two - that will give Dallas much more to think about. But even if you don't have a reliable "sit" yet, start teaching the "look".

Start teaching it with 'low-intensity' targets such as people just walking by, kids riding on bikes, etc. before you go the the 'higher-intensity' target of the mail deliverer.

Some people start this with stationary targets and if your dog is interested in them that would be a fine start. However, many high-drive dogs don't show much interest in stationary targets. That's why I say start with moving but very non-threatening targets.

Teaching a positive behavior is much better than a constant stream of negative "no -no -no", and is also better than simple desensitization training or counter-conditioning training.

If you do a good job with this - especially if you combine it with a sit - your dog will sit and look at a target on her own whenever she encounters something out of the ordinary. This is very desirable behavior for high-drive dogs.