"How do you train a dog to not jump up on people?" (NEW! 1/14/04)
Here are some specific things that you can do to avoid and/or correct the jumping behavior. As usual, I'll start with the more gentle approaches and end with the more forceful corrections. It's important to only use the amount of 'force' necessary to get the dog to comply with your wishes. If giving the dog the cold shoulder works, you don't have to resort to doing a leash correction.
The best thing to do is to always try and prevent the behavior rather than correcting it after it has happened. Allowing a small pup to jump on you and then trying to stop it later on when it's a full grown dog is unfair to the puppy. If you enforce the 'no jumping' rule from the moment you get your pup, it will be easier to prevent the behavior.
When a puppy starts jumping on you, try and redirect it from the inappropriate behavior to something that is more appropriate. Ask the puppy to sit, then if she does it, praise her for doing such a good job! It's much better to praise for something good, than to correct for something bad. The puppy will soon realize that the praise is much nicer than a correction, so she will start offering 'good' behavior to get more praise and attention.
Keep your hands low and near your sides. If you are animated and waving your hands around, it encourages a puppy to jump up and grab at them. Keeping your hand motions low, slow and smooth will make them less of a temptation to be chased. If you raise your hands up, the puppy is more likely to jump up. Also keep your voice low and calm. A happy, high pitched voice will encourage the pup to get excited and he'll be more likely to start jumping on you.
Turn your back. Dogs are great at reading body language. When you are playing or interacting with the puppy and she starts to jump on you, cross your arms, turn your back and give her the TOTAL cold shoulder. Most puppies will quickly realize that when they've got 4 feet on the floor you play, but when they are jumping you ignore them.
In conjunction with turning your back... try to keep your hands off the dog. When a dog is jumping on you, it's usually because they are looking for (or demanding) attention. They're excited and jumping in your face so what is your first reaction? To grab a hold of the dog and push it back to the ground. The more you touch the dog, the more the dog will keep it up because she is getting the attention that she's looking for.
If the puppy is bouncing around and jumping in excitement when someone comes to the door, try putting her leash on before you open the door. Drop the leash on the floor and stand on it. Give her just enough slack that she can stand normally, but not enough that she can jump or put her feet on the person who is walking through the door. This leaves your hands free to open the door, but every time she jumps up, she will be correcting herself.
Be consistent and enforce the rules when the puppy interacts with anyone else. If you expect the dog to behave with you, but your family members or friends allow the dog to jump, the bad behavior will continue.
Ask people to pet the dog on the chest, rather than reaching down for the top of the dog's head. When a person reaches for the top of the dog's head, the dog is more likely to jump up to meet the hand that's coming down towards her. If the hand is down low and coming towards the dog's chest, the dog has to look down at the hand, and reach down to sniff or lick it, rather than looking (and jumping) up to get to the hand.
You can also do something called invading the dog's space. Have you ever met a person that walks right up close into your face and talks to you? Someone that has no regard for your personal space? What is your normal reaction? To take a step backwards of course! You can use a similar trick on a dog that does a lot of jumping. While the dog still has his feet on the ground, take a step forward and invade his space. He will usually turn to the side or back off and try to jump up again. When he backs up, you move forward again. If he jumps up, just as his front feet are leaving the floor, step forward into him before he gets a chance to plant his feet on your chest and get his balance. Keep moving forward into him until he decides to keep all four feet on the floor.
If you have to do a leash correction with a really persistent jumper, always correct in the opposite direction that the dog is going. What that means is that if the dog is jumping up, position the leash so that it goes from the dog's collar straight down towards the ground and give the dog a sharp tug downward. If the dog is jumping up, and you correct the dog by pulling upward on the leash/collar, it encourages the upward motion. Always try to correct in the opposite direction that the dog is going.
As a last resort (I often think of Turner and Hooch, with the big galoot bounding in slow motion, straight for me) as self defense from a big dog that's already got the bad habit fully engrained, I will use my knee to stop the dog from jumping and possibly knocking me over or hurting me. Timing is EVERYTHING when you do this. You have to stand still until the dog's front feet are leaving the ground, then lift your knee and use it to tip the dog right over. You don't want your knee to slam into the dog's chest, no hard, jarring impact, just a lifting motion that knocks the dog right off balance. The dog will quite often fall over, scramble back up on his feet and try it again. Do it again and when the dog gets back up he'll probably pause and look at you and wonder why, whenever he tries to jump he falls over. That's the time to give him a "sit" command and then praise him when he does it right.
- Debbie Knatz
Shepherd's Ridge
Here are some specific things that you can do to avoid and/or correct the jumping behavior. As usual, I'll start with the more gentle approaches and end with the more forceful corrections. It's important to only use the amount of 'force' necessary to get the dog to comply with your wishes. If giving the dog the cold shoulder works, you don't have to resort to doing a leash correction.
The best thing to do is to always try and prevent the behavior rather than correcting it after it has happened. Allowing a small pup to jump on you and then trying to stop it later on when it's a full grown dog is unfair to the puppy. If you enforce the 'no jumping' rule from the moment you get your pup, it will be easier to prevent the behavior.
When a puppy starts jumping on you, try and redirect it from the inappropriate behavior to something that is more appropriate. Ask the puppy to sit, then if she does it, praise her for doing such a good job! It's much better to praise for something good, than to correct for something bad. The puppy will soon realize that the praise is much nicer than a correction, so she will start offering 'good' behavior to get more praise and attention.
Keep your hands low and near your sides. If you are animated and waving your hands around, it encourages a puppy to jump up and grab at them. Keeping your hand motions low, slow and smooth will make them less of a temptation to be chased. If you raise your hands up, the puppy is more likely to jump up. Also keep your voice low and calm. A happy, high pitched voice will encourage the pup to get excited and he'll be more likely to start jumping on you.
Turn your back. Dogs are great at reading body language. When you are playing or interacting with the puppy and she starts to jump on you, cross your arms, turn your back and give her the TOTAL cold shoulder. Most puppies will quickly realize that when they've got 4 feet on the floor you play, but when they are jumping you ignore them.
In conjunction with turning your back... try to keep your hands off the dog. When a dog is jumping on you, it's usually because they are looking for (or demanding) attention. They're excited and jumping in your face so what is your first reaction? To grab a hold of the dog and push it back to the ground. The more you touch the dog, the more the dog will keep it up because she is getting the attention that she's looking for.
If the puppy is bouncing around and jumping in excitement when someone comes to the door, try putting her leash on before you open the door. Drop the leash on the floor and stand on it. Give her just enough slack that she can stand normally, but not enough that she can jump or put her feet on the person who is walking through the door. This leaves your hands free to open the door, but every time she jumps up, she will be correcting herself.
Be consistent and enforce the rules when the puppy interacts with anyone else. If you expect the dog to behave with you, but your family members or friends allow the dog to jump, the bad behavior will continue.
Ask people to pet the dog on the chest, rather than reaching down for the top of the dog's head. When a person reaches for the top of the dog's head, the dog is more likely to jump up to meet the hand that's coming down towards her. If the hand is down low and coming towards the dog's chest, the dog has to look down at the hand, and reach down to sniff or lick it, rather than looking (and jumping) up to get to the hand.
You can also do something called invading the dog's space. Have you ever met a person that walks right up close into your face and talks to you? Someone that has no regard for your personal space? What is your normal reaction? To take a step backwards of course! You can use a similar trick on a dog that does a lot of jumping. While the dog still has his feet on the ground, take a step forward and invade his space. He will usually turn to the side or back off and try to jump up again. When he backs up, you move forward again. If he jumps up, just as his front feet are leaving the floor, step forward into him before he gets a chance to plant his feet on your chest and get his balance. Keep moving forward into him until he decides to keep all four feet on the floor.
If you have to do a leash correction with a really persistent jumper, always correct in the opposite direction that the dog is going. What that means is that if the dog is jumping up, position the leash so that it goes from the dog's collar straight down towards the ground and give the dog a sharp tug downward. If the dog is jumping up, and you correct the dog by pulling upward on the leash/collar, it encourages the upward motion. Always try to correct in the opposite direction that the dog is going.
As a last resort (I often think of Turner and Hooch, with the big galoot bounding in slow motion, straight for me) as self defense from a big dog that's already got the bad habit fully engrained, I will use my knee to stop the dog from jumping and possibly knocking me over or hurting me. Timing is EVERYTHING when you do this. You have to stand still until the dog's front feet are leaving the ground, then lift your knee and use it to tip the dog right over. You don't want your knee to slam into the dog's chest, no hard, jarring impact, just a lifting motion that knocks the dog right off balance. The dog will quite often fall over, scramble back up on his feet and try it again. Do it again and when the dog gets back up he'll probably pause and look at you and wonder why, whenever he tries to jump he falls over. That's the time to give him a "sit" command and then praise him when he does it right.
- Debbie Knatz
Shepherd's Ridge