How to teach your dog to calmly "go say hi" to a complete stranger

The holidays are approaching and it's time to get your dog ready to greet strangers with calmness & understanding.

In order to complete this exercise, your dog will need to know how to --

1. Hand target your hand, or "touch"

2. Sit calmly and hold position

Now that your dog knows how to do these behaviors, your next step is to teach your dog how to touch someone else's hand, as outlined in the video below.

Remember, follow your dog's cues. If they need a break, they will let you know by --

1. Sniffing the ground

2. Disengaging with you

3. Turning their head away for a few seconds at a time

5. Stress panting

6. Stress yawning

Little sessions of training, 3-5 minutes long, are better for your dog because you always want to end training on a positive note. Just like you don't like your boss drilling you on the spot, neither does your dog 🐶.

Happy training!