TRAINING TIP FROM THE PACK:
Ever notice how EVERY time you leave the room you get greeted by your dog excitedly and with an active nose? Why? Well, lets look at the Pack in function....
Your dogs are as happy to come as they are to go here at the Farm. Every time a dog enters the Pack, everyone stops what they are doing and comes to greet. Proper greeting ritual is sniffing and being sniffed. The ritual HAS to take place, or the Pack sees it as a challenge and the non-sniffer gets punished with corrections from the Pack members. (If your dog isn't doing that, that is a behavior that must be addressed from lack of socialization. Call me!) Think of it this way, you go to a co-workers home for dinner, upon entry, you SHAKE HANDS with their family. Why? Because that is proper American custom to meet new people and you are rude if you don't (or ill mannered whichever.) So make sure your dog is sniffing and allowing itself to be sniffed.
When your dog leaves the Pack to go on a walk and comes back, the dogs re-sniff entering member to confirm not only that "yup, it's the same guy" but also to reconfirm dominance pecking order. When there is no challenge by the new enter-er, play resumes back to normal.
So, back to why you get greeted EVERY TIME YOU LEAVE for 5 mins! lol. Your dog wants to not only give you proper ritual, but also make sure that the dominance pecking order rules are STILL the same as when you left. Are you making sure that you are being the Pack Leader EVERY time you enter where your dog is at? Or are you winding their brain up into excitement and making your return a ritual? Remember, if it is all fun and games when you enter the room, it will also be fun and games when your guest come in too. YOU Pack Leader set the example for both. Dogs are not able to know that today is ok but tomorrow is not. It is either all or nothing, you decide.
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