When we started working together four sessions ago in late September, Orville was very reactive to the sight of dogs on his walk, even at a distance. With practice doing my low-arousal walk exercises, he's learned to choose to relax and "stand down" instead. In the beginning of this video, he's aware of the approaching dog but choosing a calming ground-sniff. When they get pretty close, watch Orville choose again to disengage and calm himself by exploring the ground.
Orville chooses disengagement at https://youtu.be/rjTZSwQWY5w
Maybe I'm projecting a little bit, but I think Bobby is looking proud of himself after a training walk where he saw several dogs and didn't bark at any of them!
A common device for managing your dog while answering the door is a mat or cot in the foyer where he can learn to Stay during arrivals. Orville had already learned to go on cue to this couch, conveniently situated by the foyer, so adapting that existing skill to door-answering manners was a no-brainer!
You can almost tell just looking at that face that the reason Shelby's human called me is she's too happy to see every visitor she meets! Here she's sitting nicely in the foyer - she's working on making that stick while people come in the door, for starters.
Like so many dogs I see lately, Leelee was just finding the world she encountered on a walk overstimulating. We're just past our third session using my arousal reduction strategy, and her person is now happily looking for dogs and people to practice near, instead of dreading and avoiding them, and she's helped Leelee find and use her calm walking personality.
