No more jumping on people

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Welcome to our “Detraining Your Pet” series, where we help you “detrain” your pet from those naughty or boring bad habits and get them back to being the best boys and girls.

There’s no doubt that a puppy jumping excitedly around your legs when you walk in the door is an adorable way to be greeted by your favorite furry friend. But… what happens when they still have this behavior in adulthood? Your family and friends probably won’t find the jumping behavior as cute when their shirt is ripped or their white pants now have a paw print pattern. Or, even worse, they get knocked down by your noisy host, which is a real possibility if your dog is a large or giant breed – a Great Dane on its hind legs is taller than most people!

If you want to get your dog’s jumping under control, we’ve got some tips for turning your out-of-control jumper into a calm, gentle host.

Why do dogs jump on you?

Jumping is a natural behavior that dogs use during play and when they meet. Dogs like to greet each other nose to nose, so that’s what they’re trying to do when they jump on you – reach for your nose which is up there. Some dogs also use jumping to get your attention, whether it’s positive attention and you respond by playing with them, or negative attention and you tell them to lie down. Either way, they stopped you from doing what you were doing and got your attention. And then there are dogs who have so much pent up energy that they jump on you and bounce off walls (literally) to release it. Thus, jumping is a normal behavior for dogs; you just need to teach them when and where to jump is appropriate.

Respect the no-jump rule

Consistency. This will be a recurring theme for our “Untrain Your Pet” series, but it’s an important point and worth mentioning every time. Once you decide to stop your dog from jumping up on people, everyone in your household, your visitors, and even strangers to the dog park, should know that jumping is no longer an acceptable way for your dog to greet people. folks. It’s confusing for your dog if he’s allowed to jump during playtime, but not when Grandma comes to visit or when you have your hands full of groceries. So don’t jump on people must mean don’t jump on people – Never.

Change greeting style

The end goal of stopping your dog from jumping up on people is to train them to do something else instead. How you would like your dog to greet people is up to you. They might sit or lie down or have a special mat where they wait for people to come to them. Whatever command you decide to use, the idea is to teach your dog that when someone walks through the door, he will execute that command instead of jumping. It helps if they already know the command, they just learn to follow the command when they are Really excited. It will take time, patience and lots of rewards, but hopefully soon you can stop struggling with your dog and saying “down” as you try to usher visitors through the front door.

The best case scenario is to train your puppy early on not to jump. Of course, sometimes that’s easier said than done with a playful little pup whose jumps don’t bother you. But it will be better for both of you in the long run.

While you wait…

Training your dog to follow a command instead of jumping is going to take some time, so here are some tips on how to handle jumping while you’re training.

Hello from afar

While your dog is learning a new method of greeting, you can manage his urges to jump by limiting jumping opportunities with a gate or pet crate. This reinforces the “We’ll never jump again” rule and helps prevent you from inadvertently paying attention to your dog (even if it’s negative) because you’re reacting to his jumps. Once your dog has gotten over the initial excitement of a new friend in the house, you can see if he will calmly greet your visitor.

You can also use a collar or no-pull harness and leash to control your dog’s jumps. Ask your visitor to wait until your dog is calm before approaching him. If your dog tries to jump off, turn slowly and lead him away. Once they are calm, you can try again.

Turn away or walk away

There will be times when your dog will jump on you while he is in training, so it is good to know the best way to deal with it. One of the best things you can do is to take away from your dog the reward he gets for jumping, which is your attention. If they jump on you, turn away with your arms crossed. Don’t look, talk, or touch your dog (yeah, that’s gonna be tough). Once they stop jumping, wait a few seconds to make sure, then reward their calmness and good behavior with your attention (and other rewards if desired). If they jump again when you turn around, ignore them again. If he really persists in jumping, you may need to walk away or enter a room and close the door. Eventually, they’ll learn that being calm gets your attention and rewards you; jumping does not.

Remember that for this to work you need to be consistent with the no jumping rule. So if you’re coming home from a long day at work and just want to hug your furry best friend, you can’t do it if he’s startled. You have to wait until they are calm, with their four feet on the ground. It’s going to be hard on both of you for a while, but you can do it!

RELATED: Detraining Your Pet: Stopping Your Dog From Begging



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