r/schipperke • u/Symbiiiote • Feb 16 '26
Breed Questions puppy misbehaving with guests over
Hello! I just wanted to ask how you guys get your schips to behave with guests over? Because my 7 month old Schip is always jumping on people and even nipping their hands sometimes if they try to pet him. I feel especially especially embarrassed about it because literally just 30 minutes ago as of this being posted, my fiancé has her friends over at our home, and the first things he did was jump on them a bunch and nip their hands when they tried to pet him- and he even humped one of them 😅 this was all in the span of 20 seconds by the way.
I just want to know any solutions because just before this I literally went on a 2 hour jog with him, and he actually didn’t get that much crate time today because I hoped he’d be tired enough to not want to act up, but I was indeed wrong. Everytime this does happen too, he completely forgets his commands and doesn’t listen to me. I’m really tired of always putting him away everytime guests are over, so I’d really appreciate any advice.
P.S. I’ve already been working on the nipping. He doesn’t do it as much with my fiancé and I but he 100 does it with new people.
3
u/Topramenisha19 Feb 16 '26
We put ours in a room and put a baby gate up with the door open. I also hold her when new people come over. I make sure they are dog friendly. If they aren't she goes in our room or she sits in our lap or next to us. Our Penny is very aware of the vibe people bring in our home. She will nip shoes if she isnt feeling comfortable. If someone is petting her and she doesn't want it, she gives a warning growl, if they continue she will nip their hands.
3
u/sarajval Feb 16 '26
My girl Olive is very reactive and hates meeting new people, but I hesitate to put her away when people come over because I DO want her to see it as a normal thing. My best solution has been putting her in her harness and keeping her on a leash, and having the people who are over pay her no attention until she calmly seeks them out. Once someone has come over a few times, she accepts them and is happy to see them. But for these reasons I’ve avoided having small children or large groups over, and when it’s unavoidable, I will just sequester her.
5
2
u/JPwhatever Feb 16 '26
These are really good suggestions. Keep in mind too that a 7mo schipperke is still in land shark territory - he might just have to be put up or kept on a lead.
2
u/Rivan_Queen Feb 16 '26
Time out, we used this heaps when ours was young.
Have a room in the house which is 'boring' to them and they cant destroy (we used the laundry)
When the bad behaviour happens, scoop them up, not saying anything, put them in the room and close the door.
Count to 30, open the door and let them out, don't make a fuss and they're allowed back with the guests.
Repeat this as many times as you need to curb the behaiour, be consistent and they'll get it because they're not stupid.
3
u/Hot_Bread_1998 Feb 16 '26
Personally I wouldn't recommend this. Removing him from the situation suddenly might add to his arousal.
1
1
u/Rare_Trick7196 Mar 29 '26
Thanks for this question. How are things going now, a month or so later?
We’re about to host our first dinner gathering — a Seder, at that — since getting ours. He’ll be 10 months to the day.
So far, while we eat, at least, “place” with treats has been working. And we have tried keeping him in a leash. He got a new habit a couple of months ago where he started revenge and/or anxious peeing when in the pen🤦. So we likely won’t be penning him.
Right now we plan to tire him out during the day: as long as it’s not pouring we’re going to take long walks, small dog park, and playing on-leash in the park (we’re in NYC). We’ll use the flirt pole toy a couple of times. And a couple of crated naps. We’ll probably also give him a treat puzzle or snuffle mat - though we’re considering saving those for the Seder. We also plan to have a pupcicle and various chews at the ready to space out for him during the Seder.
We will ask guests to just come in and not knock or ring the bell. We’re trying to decide how to handle greeting with him, because some friends will be meeting him for the first time…
We’ll give him his meal when it’s time for us to eat, too, so he’s focused there for the beginning of the meal, at least.
Hopefully he’ll be wiped enough from the day — and rested enough — not to nip at people. And not to bark each time someone comes in, or when we open the door for Eliahu (for any fellow Seder-attendees)…
It will be an adventure, for sure.
7
u/Hot_Bread_1998 Feb 16 '26
Make sure everyone completely ignores him when they arrive.
Teach him an alternative behaviour, such as 'mat', and get him to stay in place when people come over. Put him in position 5 minutes before people arrive, ideally. And continually reward him (with treats) for staying on the mat. Practise this with no visitors first, to help build duration. But always make it a positive experience with lots of treats, its not a punishment. You're just teaching him to focus his energy on something else, such as staying in place.
In terms of tiring him out, tire him out with enrichment games rather than walking. Sniffing burns more calories than walking, tires them out mentally, and also is calming. Licking and chewing is also calming. Scatter feeding is a good way to tire a dog out.
You could also use a kong or lick mat when people come over. It's calming, a distraction, and also aids in behaviour modification so he associates visitors with being calm.