My girls have learned to automatically sit when waiting to enter and leave an area. It’s a safety and sanity issue for me, as well as a chance for the dogs to practice their self control.
I never ask them to sit when greeting people or dogs, nor do I let people approach them with their hand out. I wait for the dogs to calm down from the initial “it’s a human, it’s a human!!!” tail wagging frenzy (at least in Rosie’s case), then I ask the person to stand still with hands loosely at his/her side so my dog can choose to approach them. For Katie, that’s entirely enough, and we walk away (no petting allowed at that point). For Rosie, we ask the person to pet her calmly, so we can work some more on her self control.
I can’t think of anything quite as unfair as forcing a shy dog to assume a position she wouldn’t normally choose in a situation that is anxiety producing, like meeting new people. If the dog pops up from the sit to move away, she’ll be corrected and asked to sit again, which feeds into her already high level of anxiety.
I find that the hardest part about a dog greeting from a stand and approaching the person (not having the person approach the dog) is managing the person, not the dog!
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