Jumping Dogs and How to Prevent the Problem

Jumping Dogs - you’ve experienced it before. You either go to a friend or family member’s home, and part of the ritual of getting in the door is to fend off the dog who is jumping up on you. While this behavior can be cute and is often tolerated in puppies, it can be dangerous and even terrifying if this behavior is exhibited by a 65 pound Standard Poodle or other large breed. For people who are smaller in stature (like children) or the infirmed, the very real possibility exists that the person could be knocked over, or worse, hurt by the encounter.

This serves both as a play activity and to teach them how to act as a predator or how to challenge other members of their pack in the dominance hierarchy. Since humans are their pack leaders and are taller than they are, and it’s perfectly natural for them to jump up on us to try to reach our faces.

In some homes, puppies are allowed and encouraged to jump up on their owners, but obviously, this is a grave mistake. While it may be seen as cute or as a sign of affection while the puppy is small, again, imagine that same dog as a full-size adult hurtling at you when it has reached its full size. Likewise, even if the dog is small, you do not want to risk them damaging the clothes of anyone coming to your home.

The other consideration is that our dogs age even faster than we do. Besides the complications caused by age, many physical problems can arise that make jumping up on the person downright dangerous. At some point in your dog’s life, this will become a hazard to the dog, and if properly trained not to do it, you make it possible for your dog to live with less risk of complications and pain.

There is a little bit of disagreement among experts as to how to deal with this problem, but in general, you'll find the following methods useful:

1. Generalize the training to include teaching the dog to stay off anyone entering the house by enlisting the aid of a trusted friend or friends to help you.

2. By using the leash, you can have the dog drag it behind them whenever anyone comes into the house. Use it to keep the dog under control until at least 15 minutes after everyone has come in and has been seated. This helps remove some of the dog's initial excitement and allows him to greet guests in a calmer manner. Only after the animal has calmed down can the leash be removed and the dog be allowed to interact with guests in a normal manner.

3. Teach the dog to sit and stay when you first come into the house. If the dog tries to jump up on you, turn away or face the wall the dog can't reach your face and say "off" in a firm voice. Pull your hands up away from the dog by your chest, say “sit” in a firm voice and wait for the dog to sit. When the dog does it, immediately acknowledge the dog, kneel down, and calmly stroke and praise the dog. If the dog does it again, stand up and repeat these steps. Only when the dog is in a “sit" position, with all four feet on the floor should you lavish praise on the animal and pet them. By learning to not jump up, the dog will be in for a lot more affection, which they're looking for in the first place. Some experts even go so far as to say that excited greetings every time you enter into your house can lead to separation anxiety problems, which brings with it a whole raft of other behavioral problems you don't want to start with.

For this method, you’ll need your recruited friend to help. Have your dog drag a leash. Stand tall, look straight ahead, pull your hands up by your chest, and tell him “sit” in a firm voice. If the dog jumps up onto you, say “off” all while the friend jerks down on the leash, in the direction of the floor. When the dog’s feet are on the floor, say “sit,” and after the dog sits, kneel down and calmly stroke him. If the dog does it again, jerk the leash down again and repeat the steps. If a friend is not available and you are physically able to do so, you can step on the leash yourself. As you stand on the leash, the dog will hit the end when he jumps up, and will correct himself back down toward the floor.

4. While experts disagree on exactly how to deal with this problem, they DO agree on the following:

• Do not become really excited when you greet your dog. Stay calm.
• Never shout at your dog. This can be a trigger to get him more excited and cause him to jump up even more.
• Do not try to grab the dog when he jumps up or push him away. The physical contact is likely to increase the behavior even more.
• Do not knee the dog in the chest, stomp on his back toes, painfully pinch his front toes, or otherwise cause him pain or discomfort, when he tries to greet you or other people coming into your house. By doing this, you can increase the behavior you're trying to correct and/or provide negative experiences that he will associate with people coming into his territory.

If diligent and consistent, this behavior can be eliminated from your pet completely in a week or less. By using the methods listed, you simply need to communicate to your dog that jumping up on people is not an acceptable behavior and should not be done. You know find that both you and your pet will be happier in the long run -- you, because the behavior will stop, and your pet because he will be receiving more affection for his good manners.

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