Greeting visitors

Hi there.

Elsa is now just over 6 months old and she's coming on well with training in most things.  One thing I'm really struggling with is when we have visitors.  Elsa gets so excited that its near impossible to stop her from jumping up and biting cuffs and anything that dangles from their clothes, be it a tie, scarf, toggles, buttons etc..  When they are sitting in the living room, she will jump on them and nibble and bite their ears and if there's a pony tail, she'll tug it as hard as she can. Generally being a typical boisterous staffy pup.  I've tried the leave it, stop, sit nice but nothing stops her, she just ignores me.  I end up taking her out of the room for some time out until she's calmed down and I can bring her in again.  

Did I read somewhere on this forum that putting them on a lead might help until she settles down when visitors come around?  And also, is this the right thing to do?  I feel awful because my daughters fiancee left with a torn coat sleeve a couple of weeks ago.  I don't want to dread anybody calling around, especially at this time of year too. xx

Yes, that's absolutely what I'd do, preferably with a harness rather than a collar. That way you can control when she gets attention, i.e. when she's being quiet, and make sure that if she does get carried away you can quietly take her out of the situation but without banishing her entirely. I think it's a really good way of showing a dog what is expected of them - if you think about it, how can they know otherwise?

I hope it works for you, especially over the season of visitors.

Popping Elsa out of the room is fine until she calms down. Part of the issue with us humans is that we make a fuss when a puppy jumps up at us or pulls clothing etc but to a puppy this is all part of the fun.

Half the battle you need to win is to get everyone to treat her the same way when the first come in to the house. No attention until all 4 paws are firmly planted on the floor.... And then, fuss, fuss, fuss.

I have the exact same with Bonnie, so will keep an eye on this for ideas. I hate having to put her in the cage when people are round.

I would always have her on a lead until shes calm. I would also tell any guests to not interact with her until shes calmed down, and at that just give her a stroke. No fussing about.

Id pop her on a lead and stress to visitors no attention till shes totally calm