Swagger jumping up by invitation.
Initially, the title of this blog post was “how do I stop my dog jumping?” … then I changed it to “how do I train my dog not to jump?” … then I added “up” to the end. The changes were made because for agility, we DO want our dogs to jump, and I write about agility frequently.
But this post is about dogs jumping on people, and you guessed it, the question about how to teach a dog to NOT jump on people is one we see frequently. I know that many of you will be reading this thinking, “Susan, I’ve seen your dogs jump on you” … and you would be absolutely correct! My dogs jump up by invitation, and it also has a strategic purpose. More on that below.
Dogs Don’t Understand DON’T
When I was interviewed by Tim Ferriss for his podcast… and if you like podcasts, I’d certainly recommend you check out the Tim Ferriss Show… we covered the topic of jumping up. I told the story of training a group of dogs in a B&B we were staying at when on vacation in Ireland to not jump on me, and how it did not take very long at all to change that behaviour.
Anyone can teach this, you don’t have to be a professional dog trainer; you just have to know what you want your dog to DO. The thing is that most people try to train from the world of “don’t”. Don’t jump on me, don’t bite, don’t bark. Dogs don’t understand don’t, because don’t is a concept. Dogs understand DO. They understand behaviours.
What you have to do, is look at what you don’t want, and create a behaviour that you DO want, so that your dog can be right and you’re setting him up for reinforcement. This makes for a much better relationship for you and your dog, and for anybody else who comes in contact with your dog. Reinforcement builds behaviour, and what is reinforced will be repeated.
There are many reasons a dog will jump up, but the main reason is that we teach dogs to jump up with reinforcement. The behaviour continues as our dogs grow up because it is very rewarding. When our dog is fully grown, we decide we don’t like the behaviour because it’s annoying, and it suddenly becomes a problem. The good news is that you can help your dog and have fast results if you know what you want your dog to DO.
Remove the Reinforcement for Jumping Up
We let our dog know that jumping up when uninvited is not appropriate by removing our attention. It is also essential to also reinforce the dog’s good decisions not to jump up. If your dog jumps up without being invited to do so, turn around so he can’t see your face. Turning away removes the reinforcement of your attention. As soon as your dog chooses another behaviour, give him a treat that he loves.
When your dog starts to understand what will earn him reinforcement, you can reward him for all four feet on the ground with your attention, you don’t always have to give him cookies for not jumping up. When we take the reinforcement away for jumping up by consistently turning, our dog is not going to want to jump up as there is reinforcement for alternate behaviour. The dog is going to start to offer the behaviour that has the most reinforcement for him, which is “four on the floor”.
The dogs in Ireland you hear about in my chat with Tim Ferriss. Turning away removes the reinforcement of your attention. As soon as your dog chooses another behaviour, reinforce that!
Embrace Opportunities to Reward Appropriate Behaviour
Look for all opportunities to reward your dog when his feet are on the ground. Reinforcement will show your dog what it is you DO want. By teaching our dogs what we do want, we are empowering the dog to be in control of the ‘good things’, be it a cookie, or our attention, by offering the behaviour we want to see.
Start to notice the good choices your dog makes and be quick to reward those good choices! Be conscious of where you are in your training and what it is you want your dog to DO. This may need considered effort on your part initially, but looking for good choices will soon become a natural part of your life with your dog.
Put Jumping Up on Cue
You might not want your dog to jump on you at all, and if that is the case, ensure you heavily reward all your dog’s good choices for “all four feet on the ground” and be consistent in removing reinforcement by turning away if he does jump up. Empower your dog to make good choices. If you don’t mind your dog jumping up, you can train it as a behaviour.
Putting “jumping up” on cue will help our dogs understand how we would like to be greeted. It is usually easy to teach a dog to jump up on cue. Pat your leg, and when your dog jumps up on you, give him a treat. When you know your dog will reliably jump up on you when you pat your leg, introduce a verbal cue. Give your verbal cue just before you pat your leg, and reward your dog with a treat when he jumps up. Soon you will be able to fade patting your leg and your dog will jump up on your verbal cue. You now have a physical cue (patting your leg) and are introducing a verbal cue (e.g. “paws up”) to let your dog know when jumping up is appropriate.
The Advantages of “Paws Up”
As I said at the start, my dogs jump up on me. They do so when invited with a verbal cue “paws up” and the way I present my body. As well as being something my dogs and I enjoy, jumping up can be used for balance breaks, as a good trigger, and to make sure you have optimal “desire” (the D in my D.A.S.H. acronym) when you and your dog are working together. Remember that work = play and play = work.
If you are training with food rewards, having your dog jump up on you to be rewarded with a treat is far more dynamic and engaging to keep enthusiasm up and to maintain your connection, rather than just mindlessly feeding him a cookie. We always want reinforcement to be a celebration with us.
Rewarding Tater with a “paws up” cookie to maintain enthusiasm and connection.
Do you have a dog who jumps up and you want to change that behaviour? Let me know in the comments what it is you want your dog to DO instead. Have you trained your dog to jump up on cue? Let me know what the cue is, and where you use it!
Today I am grateful for our dogs letting us know where the reinforcement is… that knowledge gives us great information to train what we DO want to set them up for success.
Update: Due to popular demand, I’ve got a tutorial video on YouTube with three easy steps to stop your dog jumping up on people for good.
I have been working to get my 8 mo old Aussie poo not to jump up when you first enter the house but it is so hard as he will continue to jump and scratch (dig)at your back when you turn around. I try to take a few steps away so he cant jump on my back but the more you ignore him the more excited her gets. He gets so excited with anyone new that enters the house and will not calm down until he is allowed to say hello. I have tried to hold him until he calms down but he will calm just to get excited again when released. We are now in a training class I hope will help me with the few things I just cant seem to train on my own. I learned this week there is a difference between stay and wait..
We trained our male Great Dane to jump up on a hand command of patting our chest twice. He LOVED to jump up, and because of his size, he coukd knock you down. He already responded to the command of “off* (e.g., off the couch).
When it looked like he was going to jump up, we would give the off command, prepare our balance so we wouldn’t get knocked down, give him the jump up command, and let him jump up.
great article!
We have tried this with my daughter’s 100+ pound, just turned 1 year old puppy who loves to grab your clothes and rip them to shreds. When we turn our back he jumps on our back, grabs our coat and rips. He is taller than us when standing on his back feet, and it’s very difficult when all he wants to do is play and jump all over you.
I have a one yr old Belgian Mal/lab. She’s the sweetest dog ever and filled with love and happy. She’s also by far the most obstinate dog and stubborn that I’ve ever had. We have worked since last April when we got her to stop jumping on people. Two of the kids are terrified of her just because she weighs more than them. We even had her in puppy training for a while. We’ve tried all the normal tricks.. like turning around or putting a leg up. She doesn’t care. That and she is chewer, dog toys often only last a few minutes. It’s getting really expensive, But that beats her chewing on the couch.
My golden is 7 months old, we have tried the turning around when he jumps up but he keeps jumping up on your back!
Help
I saw a different training talk about walking into your dog not away because away invites the into your space but walking towards them makes them back up. I have been trying this and it hasn’t stopped her jumping but she does get off me in the moment.
Hi,
I have a 12 week old puppy mixed breed. I turn my back on her when she jumps up, but then she pulls at my slippers or trousers instead. Of course as soon as I try stop this, it ruins the point. If I ignore her with my back turned still, she pulls harder and harder on my slippers or trousers as it gives natural resistance. She doesn’t give up. She’s part Staffy- spaniel-Labrador. Thank you for your advice. From Joanna and Nancy, in the UK.
Question: my golden retriever (7 months), doesn’t grasp the idea of retrieving the ball when I try to play with him….he doesn’t bring the ball back to me. Any suggestions? Thanks!!
I have a 7 month old golden retriever. The problem is not him jumping up on me, it’s when he jumps up on others. Any suggestions??
This is coming late, I hope the jumping is a thing of the past by now. Timing of behavior and reward is key! Our dogs live in the present. I read (and have experienced) that we have 1.6 seconds after the behavior to reward our dog so that s/he will make the connection between the offered behavior and reward. The same applies our your stern “no” or frowning when we want to discourage a behavior (or however you do that). Timing is key! 🙂
Hi. I am absolutely LOVING the dynamic relationship I am enjoying with my dogs since I’ve started Home school the Dog and Wag Nation! My dogs light up when I come into the room and their increased happiness is palpable! I have a question about discouraging jumping. I’ve been trying to be quite conscious about “the thing before the thing”. How do I ensure when I turn my back and treat only when I have all 4 paws on the floor that my dogs aren’t equating the treat with the jumping up they did beforehand? Hope that makes sense.
Blessings and thanks for all you do!
Kelly S.
Hi Kelly, what a super note! It’s only a short turn and the treat is after the choice point. Susan now has a tutorial with all the steps to stop dogs jumping up on people that’s super with your foundations from Home School the Dog and Wag Nation. Here’s where you can watch:
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/121/
I have a 2 1/2 yr old golden who still jumps despite my turning around. She can come at you with a lot of force.
Hello, I’m a member of Recallers and have a four month Ridgeback puppy. 33 pounds. She was easily crate trained and easily figured out It’s Yer Choice. I’m working on Reinforcement zone, grinding nails, and requiring a behavior for everything she gets.
Problem is that unfortunately, we moved into a tiny one room studio while our main house is being remodeled. Not good timing, I know. Only challenge is that she surfs the bed so see if anything is there, then tries to steal anything that’s there of course. Sometimes it’s just because we are resting on the bed to watch tv or read. She will do it even when nothing is there the start to chew bedspread. Btw, bedspread is tucked in all around to minimize temptation.
I look for ever opportunity to click and reward four on the floor, sits, playing with toys, etc. while we’re on the bed. We’ve only had her a little over a month. A clicker training book recommends luring her to jump in order to reward when she gets “off”. That doesn’t sound right to me. Any advice? Am I expecting too much too soon? My husband insists we use yelling No and pushing her off but this just excites her more. Help!
I have an 8 month working cocker spaniel who is on springs. He jumps up constantly when we sit on the sofa and turning away from him makes him jump and paw more. What can I do?
Many of my friends are older ladies and I also have grandchildren. I’d prefer him to never jump up onto people. Would using a target of some kind help with getting him to go to target then sit as a chain of behaviour?
I have a wheaten terrier and of course jumping is inherent in the breed…wheaten greetin”
I am okay with this but I know others are not so it’s super important to teach him to jump on command. I am working on this when I come in from being out. When he comes to say hello at the door and tries to jump, I close the door on him and wait, repeating this pattern until I get the “sit” I am waiting for. Once I am able to put everything down I have in my hands, I give him the cue “up” with lots of hugs, kisses pats. He’s starting to get it…slowly. Should I be giving him a cookie as well?
Susan, do you ever suggest putting the dog on leash when visitors come to the house so you can at least stop the jumping and protect your guests while you are working on the training?
Hi Sue, Susan has a video podcast all about how we set our dogs up for success while we are working on things, here’s where you can watch.
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/6/
I have done so much to stop my boy Sunny 1yr old goldendoodle I turn around and then he jumps on my back. Then he starts pinching my arm.
I wanted to share one of Susan’s podcasts with you in case you hadn’t found it on your own. By teaching a dog to Target a perch with their two front paws many things can be brought under control. Additionally a perch is the foundation for many awesome behaviors.
https://youtu.be/O6sj6fTJnFc
I have this problem too. My 7 month old lab jumps up when excited and nips arms, hands, legs of everyone she meets. She hasn’t learned to moderate her mouthing . She sometimes jumps up when my back is turned and I’m least expecting it “humps” my leg and bites. She has caused quite bad bruising.
I want to know how to teach her to stop jumping up and stop her biting/mouthing.
Hi Gill, Susan has two videos on puppy biting to help with this very thing.
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/17/
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/18/
Keen to find the reply to this. My 9 mo old golden doodle is doing the same.
Our one year old BC lab cross jumps at everything but us. When walking if she sees something that interests her she will jump and bounce on her hind legs. Usually in these instances there’s no where else to go. If I go the other way she walks on her hind legs. Trying to go back. It’s awful and uncontrollable. For these cases what can I do. I can’t figure out how to get her out of the hind legs jump/walk.
Hi Susan,
I have an eight year old rescue who clearly was starving for food and attention. She’s part terrier and cattle dog. At only 20 lbs she can jump clear to my nose. She becomes obsessed. I’ve tried all the training stuff- turn around, walk from the room and ignore her, tell her to sit but she becomes deaf when she get strung out and hyped up. HELP! She’s so sweet but she can’t keep doing this.
I have a similar situation with my border collie/ heeler mix (1 year old). She is so excitable, she doesn’t know how to control her excitement. Be it in the morning when I let her out of her crate or when she greets my 8 year old daughter. She jumps so high… often pushing her snout in our faces. It terrorizes my daughter. I am trying my best to train her, but am fumbling and feeling overwhelmed. Hoping to learn some tricks to help my dog choose more appropriate ways to greet us and show more self control.
I have a 6-8 month old rescue dog named Rufus (vet is not sure of his age). He’s a Walker Treeing Hound Dog and I’ve been watching your videos and listening to podcasts as I work on Hot Zone and It’s Yer Choice Games through the IYC Summit and we have started local dog training in New Orleans with a trainer who follows the Canine Good Citizen Program. Rufus tends to jump on me more at night when I am working at my desk and has added pulling on my hair while his paws are on my back. I have been ignoring him and turning my chair but it doesn’t seem to be stopping him for repeating the behavior. He also tends to bite and nip in the evening and I am crying “Ow” when it hurts and praising him when he removes his mouth. This again seems to be more of an evening behavior as he is calm and wonderful most of the day. He also counter surfs (we’ve removed the temptations but that nose is always on the hunt for food). Any additional advice or tools I can try to work with him about training him to make better choices? I’m listening and thanks!
Hi Jenny, Welcome to the blog. Have you found Susan’s podcast? Here are two great podcasts that might guide you. Lynda (TeamSusan)
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/56/
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/42/
Thanks, Lynda. I have listened to both but the behavior has not changed. Any other suggestions? I have also officially joined the Recallers program. Much appreciated. Jenny
Hi Jenny,
I also have a Walker Hound pup who is 11.5 weeks. She is the exact same way. After she had been with me a couple weeks, she started the same nighttime behavior. It was shocking to me. She is near perfect for most of the day, other than the normal puppy shenanigans, but in the evening it is like she is swapped with another dog. The more I try to ignore her behavior, the more she starts acting up.. so strange. lol Just when I think I have figured our a solution and its getting better, she surprises me with another go around. I love her dearly and see her as becoming a great companion. I hope she will grow out of this behavior and I can find solutions to help her through it. I will also watch the suggested podcasts.
Hello from Germany, my 10 month old BC and my 7 year old BC jump still jumps on me even I turn around. Meaning both will still jumps on my backsite. She even jumps up into the face my mothers face if she is not quick enough with turning around.
My14 mo old BC is great with children, He will go up to my grandkids and sit at their side for attention but after a minute he will jump up to give kisses. He get so excited to see them and his behavior is hard to control when they are around. How do I re-enforce the wanted behavior(site at their side)when in the crowd of a bunch of kids that just walked in the door? He is great 1 on 1.
If there is a way to use IYC in the greeting repertoire, I’d love to know about that. IYC is a GAME CHANGER for us. This is the first time we’ve had a dog who didn’t beg, counter surf or even clean the floor in the kitchen.
We are working on not jumping when we come home or when visitors come over. My adult daughter comes over most days and Belle has gotten much better. My daughter turns away but can’t help herself from saying “off”. She gives pets and attention when Belle is down (4 on the floor). With my past dogs i used to have them get a toy when someone came to visit. With a toy in the mouth there is less barking (another greeting we’re trying to diminish) and seems to be less jumping. Do you think this is a legitimate thing to teach?
Susan, try this Podcast for some help on family and helping them understand that chains that can be happening!
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/42/
My main strategy has been to ignore jumping up, which is generally successful.. Lapses still occur, mostly when a friend who rides in a wheelchair visits — perhaps because she is nearer to Molly’s reach, and her legs are an ideal place for front paws to land? Suggestions?
Hi Susan I followed your advice and thought my Golden Retriever paws up! I use this now as a reward in the Obedience ring between breaks in competition. It worked a treat for us as she never jumps on anyone unless invited!
my dogs are very well trained and amazing at obedience EXCEPT they will Jump up on their favorite person. Emily drives up and they go bezerk…yelping high pitched piercing excited bark… will not stay on place or crate (unless I physically restrain them there) and they will pull on the leash or collar or whatever is restraining them…. bark continually in the crate … when she comes in the door …they will not stay…she turns her back to stop the jumping and they will jump on her back..if she continues to ignore them…they will bite her clothing or try to grab her arm in their mouths. BOTH dogs go crazy over her coming to visit. They calm down in about 5 to 10 minutes but that initial greeting is horrendous. I have tried having her leave the minute they break the stay. Come in the back door and they will bark at the barrier door from the room they are in separating them from her. I have been working on this for 3 years…they will NOT sit stay or place or stop jumping no matter what. With other people…they do not do this. but Emily is their favorite person. I am disabled…she takes them on walks around the neighborhood and she trims their nails and bathes them and plays tug and brushes them etc. She is their favorite person and they go crazy when she comes. She comes a few times a month while in college but daily when school is out. Doesn’t matter if it is every day or just on weekends…they will always go bezerk when she pulls in the drive and jump on her when she comes in the door. HELP please HELP.
I am beginning to think the hundreds of dollars I wasted on recallers etc. is not going to solve this problem for me. It is their choice to jump on her.
Perhaps you can enlist Emmily in the training. Training one dog at a time. It seems they see her as a favourite ‘Toy”. Lots of fun but no training or self control. It’s in everyone’s interest after all. Good luck
My dog jumps up on the counter to scan for items even if there is nothing there. I can’t always predict when he might jump on the counter so I’m not sure what I should be teaching him to Do instead. I can’t seem to break him of this habit. I try treating him when I can see him thinking about it but not jumping. i also treat him for finding his own objects on the floor, which i hide for him to discover. but what else can i do to eliminate this counter jumping problem altogether? Thanks!!
Hello Susan, I have a terrier/cattle dog rescue from a reservation who is a little more than food obsessed. She is under 20 lbs and can jump to my nose. She gets crazed and I can’t get her to stop. I’ve done two different kinds of training and turning doesn’t work. Any other suggestions?
My 2 year old pug mix jumps and nips at our legs when we come home. She acts like she is angry we left her. When she has her kong in her mouth she is better but sometimes she drops it and wants to jump and bite. I tried turning away from her and got scratched by her jumping up the back of my legs and trying to bite my butt. I’ve tried bringing treats in with me and asking her for a sit but she is so hyped up she sits for a millisecond takes the treat then back to kljumping and biting. She doesn’t do this to strangers, she barks and acts afraid instead.
My nearly 6 month old german shepherd jumps up on everyone she meets I tell people who come into my home i.e family to turn around and not give her any attention until she calms down but she still gets so excited and then she wets her self, she is getting better with people that come often and with me but with anyone else its jumping around getting excited jumping up i get that shes still a puppy and even though its not someone new to me and she has met them before its still all new to her, and she cannot control herself around children particularly boys i dont know what it is but she just doesn’t calm down around them no matter what i try to do
You can work on having your dog go to a crate or matt to down when guests arrive, starting with building the skills until it can be done each time ~you~ come home. That’s going to take some time working through all the steps and patience building.
In the meantime you might try one we did with a similar dog – First practice many greetings staying calm on leash. Then, when guests arrive, we went out the back door, leash on, to meet them outside. There you can practice the sitting and down (with guests side to your dog and ignoring) while they chat with you and you treat for a sit. Accidents become irrelevant, and the space of the outdoors gave a calmer, more equal footing which seemed to help. It’s worth a try for now.
We turn away to discourage Ruby jumping on us. She’s almost two and rarely jumps on anyone now. We do cue ‘stretch’ allowing her to put both paws up and stretch. She loves it and so do we. On your podcast ‘Shaped by Dog’ I learned never to knee a dog as they jump up. I never have but had heard this advice before.
Hello! Hawk had been terrible! Jumping with a nip! Not good at all! We understood it was excitement at seeing us driving his behavior. Not wanting to diminish that we made sure he had a toy or bone ready to grab when we greeted him. The toy divided his attention just enough for us to manage his excitement and engage in play rather than jump and nip! Hawk is a 15month 60 pound full of muscle Belgian Terv…this strategy worked for him…I hope sharing it will work for others.
Hi Susan,
My 18 month old bulldog,28.5K,gets excited when he sees people he knows and jumps on them in greeting.Its very annoying n he is reprimanded each time,but continues to do it.
He doesn’t jump on me,as I won’t allow it,but with others,the training goes out the window.
How do I stop him jumping on others?,he’s getting so bad,I have to put him in another room when people come,because not only is he jumping,he’s starting to nip for attention also
I need help,please give me some advise
Many thanks,Peter and Buster🐾
Jumping at other people is the issue for me too, especially if i have not seen the person in time to be able to distract my dog or put him on a lead. His recall is improving but sometimes when a person appears out of nowhere and close, (forest for example), recall is not enough, the stranger is is more appealing especially when they are jogging or biking. I know I just have to keep on working on reinforcing behaviour I want so continue to do this. He is still young and will learn in time, but at 25kg its not pleasant for strangers having him jump. Any tricks or tips to speed up achieving this in training would be great.
She is a 20 month female border collie I’ve had for 3 months. Never socialized or trained. Unlikely to have gotten much positive attention except at foster home. I’m her 4th person. Unequivocally (I think) saying “ see I’m a sweet good girl. Please love me!” I would like her to sit, not lie down as I use that for another request. Have been using your approach. She’s learning, as are my friends. I tell them the process and help my girl a bit if she’s too wired to control herself. Initially I instructed say nothing so not even a negative reinforcement such as off. We began stalling so I thought maybe saying off might help. Just started this. Can’t honestly say it makes much difference. If I really shouldn’t say off someone please tell me!
I would like her to paws up on request but I think I need to solidify the sit first. I found your comments about the word don’t truly fascinating! I’ve been saying it as did foster mom when she tries to get Halti off for first bit of our walks. For some reason I have started using a sound instead- that I can’t spell (lol). Effective with other BCs I’ve had the privilege to share life with when they were about to do something silly-stupid. This long before discovering you Susan. As far as “words” go, I try to not use same word for multiple situations. Each has their own word. I have only used the word No when she growled at me a couple of times while trying to brush her and I forget the other thing I was doing. I get that a growl can be a fair warning that a bite might follow if I continue. Rightly or wrongly I don’t give in. She hasn’t bitten me. Not to say she won’t. This girl who needs a job is keeping me busy and on my toes. I know I’m making some mistakes. I’m glad I’m not perfect. Nowhere to go from there. 😀
Love your wisdom, methods and generosity Susan.
I want my girl to keep 4 on the floor when greeting strangers. She jumps and barks like a crazy girl.
Hi Susan, thanks. I have a i year old gordon who doesn’t just jump, but hits me in the face and head with her paws, I must admit I’d forgotten about putting behaviours on cue. We’ve been working on 4 on the floor, so now I’ll try adding controlled invitations to put paws up. Hopefully we’ll make quicker progress. Thanks again
Great info! Thank you. I want my dog to stay all pawns down upon greeting without any jumping.
Hello, my dog knows not to jump up on me and sits for a pat. He also sits and waits until he’s invited to come out the front door. But if a visitor comes to the door he stops listening and rushes out and jumps on them. How can I teach him to show them the same good behavior that he shows me?
My dogs jump at the deck door when they see a squirrel at the feeder. Not sure how to get them to stop jumping at the glass….afraid it might break one day. I have tried calling them and rewarding them for leaving the door, but then they just run back to it…any ideas?
Hi I have a 4mth old staffy and he crazily jumps up like a deer on people when they visit. Some visitors try and ignore but he is all over them. He has the hot spot and he tries to use it but his want to jump over powers and I have to physically hold him. He does calm down after a while but the initial jumping goes for like 10min
I’m just glad to hear that someone else WANTS their dogs to jump up when invited. It’s something I really like and seems to build the connection between us. It doesn’t take long to teach them it’s only upon invitation. Thanks!
Hi Susan. I have an almost 1 year old cocker spaniel. She doesn’t jump up on me but when off lead she will run off to say hello to people and dogs. Generally she jumps. Last week she spied a toddler about 18 months old with her daddy. Rosie ran off before I could catch her. Switched her ears off so she couldn’t hear me and jumped up at the toddler. Fortunately no harm was done and the daddy was understanding. The child was brilliant and wasn’t upset. But this can’t happen again. What do I’m so?
I have a 7 month old black lab/golden retriever. He is doing well with most of his training. We are getting sit on command and stay (hold) but the jumping is the hardest. He does not jump on us just strangers as we walk or even when he goes to day care. He gets so excited. I have tried sit and hold at the door before going in but if they are at the desk he goes ballistic. Jumps and pulling. We have been working on this for a few months. Hi value Treats are not always enough to get his attention back to me Suggestions?
My dog is always jumping and no matter what I have tried she continues. The big problem is she is always jumping on my young grandsons who are scared to death of her for that reason.
I’ve been doing the trae on the knee and my dog not only locked my hand but puts my whole hand in my mouth and chews on it. This is painful and if he doesn’t do that he claws at my hand. He is a Goldendoodle one year old. Help
Hi Cathy, sounds like your Goldendoodle is getting TOO excited with paws up cue. Stick to Four on the Floor for now. Play Susan’s awesome impulse-control game, It’s Yer Choice (find it on her blog or search YouTube), so your Goldendoodle learns how to think in the face of excitement. A thinking dog makes good choices, like not chomping on your fingers for the treat. Good luck!
I follow this advice with puppies and older dogs and it works beautifully. For people who really want no jumping at all, ever, I play “stump the dog.” Pat your leg and of course the dog will jump. Then you immediately turn away. Quickly do it again and again. Jump–no face, no treat. Dogs are not stupid, so very soon, within about three trials usually, the jumping bean will try something else, such as sitting or lying down or just standing there–all stuff we reinforce with tons of hi-value food. The speed of the trials gets the message across very fast. What you have to look out for is that the little smartypants will build a behavior chain–jump, sit, get a cookie, so you never feed if he’s jumped first and then sat. The “four on the floor” must come first and get the reinforcement. Thanks, Susan. Your stuff always, well almost always, works when applied correctly.
Do you have any tips to stop counter cruising?
I would like to know how to stop this behavior too!
It’s Yer Choice.
I have a 4 month old lab puppy who tries to jump on and sometimes nips (I’ve been working hard on that) when she sees new people or the grandkids.We are making good progress but the one I am having trouble knowing how to stop is jumping up on the counters. Tonight she jumped up when my back was turned ( before I had her go to her HZ ) and stole my hamburger off the counter. That was a first! Any suggestions would be appreciated.
HI, I am training my dog these days and this will really help me Thank you for this. Hopefully, now I will be able to solve the jump problem of my dog it gets quite frustrating some times.
Hello. I was very successful at teaching my dog not to jump on me. Problem is, he will jump on anyone else entering the house. The worst part is that the people that come more often is my grandmother who lives just bellow me, and my mother who comes eat with her twice a week. They hate that he jumps, but they reaction is always reinforcing the jumps and it doesn’t matter how many times I explain, it doesn’t matter that I actually show that if they change their reaction he will stop jumping (I actually made them have the appropriate reaction for them to see the results), they still keep doing things their way. Is there any way to teach him in a way that the behaviour will change for everybody, or as long as the 2 people that enter the house more often act this way will be impossible to teach him? In the end, what he learned was that choosing to jump on me doesn’t give the result he wants, but jumping on other people does. 🙁
Hi Tania, I have the same issue.
Hi Susan, I have tried all those things with my Rosie. She is a 8 year old German Shepherd. No matter what I try…she will not stop jumping on me. Especially when I come home. I try turning and turning so I am not giving her attention…but she just turns too..and keeps jumping…I have tried giving treats when all her feet are on the floor..and she is just sitting. She will take the treat…then start jumping again…We are retired..so she is not alone for any length of time…She is perfect…except for the jumping..Any ideas would be great…Thank you.