Guests, dogs and Festive Chaos: Why your dog turns into a party animal.

The festive season is full of laughter, guests and food...but for our dogs, it can feel like chaotic excitement overload!

From the moment they knock on the door, many dogs go from chill to thrill - jumping up, spinning, barking, grabbing and generally acting like they've never seen a person before in their life. Add in bags of gifts, plates of food and its a disaster.

Why it happens:

The festive season brings all manner of changes to your dog's world and if they were already a tad excitable, well, you'd better buckle up!

• Extra visitors means extra practice at jumping up!

• Excited humans: Guests fuss, squeal, lean down (and even push your dog away) It is basically a reinforcement buffet before they've even come through the door.

• Messed up routines and late nights: lack of sleep adds to lack of thought, spiking arousal, irritability and energy.

• Doorway drama: it's already a hot spot but now with all this extra activity, it's like the gateway to Santa's Grotto!

So what does it look like?

If you're reading this, you already know but just to get your memories flooding back to you, the festive frenzies include:

• Jumping up especially when snacks and gifts are being carried. bye bye cream carpet!

• Barking as soon as the door knocks or bell rings

• Zoomies! We love to see dogs zoom but not when you're trying to usher your 80 year old grandmother in from the cold.

• Over-greeting. 5 minutes, 10 minutes...an hour? How long does it take for your dog to calm down?

• Suddenly, any training you thought you had nailed has just totally gone out of the window.

But Lo, there is good news from the North Pole!

With the right set up and practice NOW, your dog can learn to greet guests politely and return to chill faster than before - without losing their adorable friendly sparkle that we all love to see and that makes them who they are.

That's exactly what our Guest Greeter Mini Course is all about (and yes, we actually come to your house to do it!) A short, in-person course designed to help your dog to stay calm, polite and happy when people visit - perfect for social dogs that just get a bit too excited around visitors and puppies just starting out! Note: this course isn't suitable for dogs that are anxious or nervous around guests or that show territorial behaviour but we ARE of course welcoming those dogs to take part too! We will need to do a Behavioural Assessment BEFORE we can look at whether the course will be right for you. All dog's deserve to feel good and take part in the festivities!

If you're not ready to book in some actual training with us, here's some things for you to answer and practice with your dog anyway to get you started:

1. Do they actually want a fuss or are they just super frustrated and jumping up regardless of who it is or if they know them? Your dog might not actually want attention, they might be just investigating!

2. Are you their hype man? Do you add into the rush when people arrive? If you're not chill, your dog doesn't stand a chance. Ditch the fanfare of "who is it? who's here? STOP BARKING! Can you guess who it is? Can you? GET DOWN!" It won't help.

3. Are you just suppressing their behaviour? Locking them away but releasing as soon as the visitor comes in isn't teaching your dog anything. Yes, it manages that first part, but it isn't training. We need to follow that up with some greeting skills!

4. If people mean treats, people mean excitement! If you are asking your guests to give treats, their is a process to follow to makesure it doesn't just add into the excitement. What is your process?

If your dog turns into a festive firecracker whenever that door goes, this is for you. So let's make the holiday season calmer, happier and more enjoyable for everyone (paws included!)

Check out the Guest Greeter page on our website for all the details and how to book yourself a spot on the course.

-Laura & Rachel x