Dog won't wait when whoever is walking him stops to talk to other people

blue5

... And yet I have to wait for him to have a chat to his buddies! Seriously though, when I stop to talk to someone if my dog is on or off lead he does not like it when I stop for even a minute.

It's happening more and more recently, we have him about 9 months and we adopted him at about a year old.

He jumps and nips constantly and won't stop until you move to go on with the walk or into the house. It's a little bit aggressive and I don't want it to continue or even get worse.

I have no idea how to go about getting him to sit and wait patiently while I continue a conversation. I can get him to sit to take off his lead, wait for food or wait at the edge of the footpath. But none of these are for long periods of time. So when I get him to sit in this situation he does so but when there's no food presented he starts to jump and nip.

Even if I did bring some food with me everywhere and use it to get him to sit and wait longer, if he didn't get the food within a minute he would start off again. And then once the food is gone, he still continues to be aggravated.

Does anyone have any recommendations what methods I could try?

Any helpful suggestions much appreciated, thanks.

tk123

Put him in a sit and then "park him" by standing on the lead and plenty of praise and treats when he's quiet. Also you could try teaching him some patience with the wait/OK commands - have a look on youtube for examples. I use wait/OK when we're crossing the road/tying my lace/looking at my phone, opening the door etc etc

ladypip

+1 for above comments

Also you could try arrange to "meet" people on you usual route. Have someone from your family/friends or even more then one walk your route the opposite way and when you meet them stop for a chat and practice all the techniques. bring plenty of treats and praise

DBB

+1 on both of the above!

I'd be inclined, however, to teach him the "park" in short steps, and not when you've stopped to chat with people... Yet anyway. It sounds like he's lacking impulse control... But all dogs have to learn this to some degree. It's really about teaching him gradually that he won't get a reward until he had exercised some patience. So ask him to sit, wait a second or two, then reward. Gradually build up that second or two to lots of seconds, in small, gradual steps.
Standing on the lead is a fab way to stop him jumping up and fidgetting, but make absolutely certain to praise him warmly and reward him for calm behaviour, as we tend to ignore them when they're calm and only give them attention when they act the eejit! The waiting for calm whilst you stand on the lead can and should be practised ad nauseum around the house and garden too, before you need to use it for real.
I suppose my point is that you need to teach him to be patient in small steps, and build up to when you need him to be calm in the "real life" scenarios where he's acting the noodle at the moment.

blue5

Those are great tips, thank you all so much.

I really agree with taking new training in small steps. So I'll try the garden first but it really only happens when other people are around (not family members).

Standing on the lead seems good also, when I'm wearing a tracksuit/loose clothing he tends to bite at the ends, will aim to try and avoid this happening at the same time!

Thanks again, much appreciated.