My puppy gets overly excited when around other people!

I’ve tried to calm her down, but she gets so excited she even tries biting my hands. Have you any suggestions on how to curb this?

GUNDOG TRAINING
Paul Rawlings
The term “socialisation” does not mean meeting and greeting people. With a small, lovable puppy, overexcitement usually happens when it is petted, praised and generally made to feel special.

Even if this occurs only once or twice a week, the puppy soon becomes drawn to strangers, having been conditioned by receiving a reward every time it does so.

The owner may raise his or her voice and give restraint on the lead, but this only convinces the puppy that the new people are the nice ones.

Your puppy is old enough to accept formal obedience training through kind, positive methods.

A complete change of management during this period is essential.

Do not put her in situations where she can go to other people, but train her in a distraction-free environment on a one-to-one basis.

Begin with sit, stay and heel, all taught on the lead, and within a few weeks you should develop this to off-lead full control.

It may take a few months, but she must learn strict control and obedience in ideal surroundings before introducing her a little at a time to the wider world.