When you walk into your home after a long day does your dog greet you by jumping up on you? Does it seem like your pup all of a sudden grew springs under his feet to help give him a little extra boost? While jumping dogs can be somewhat annoying to some people (me being one), it's actually their natural instinct. Your pooch is just trying to reach your face and say hello!
So what's the issue?
Many pet parents unknowingly encourage dogs to jump. Simply by giving them attention, so it's important to teach your dog not to jump when he's greeting you, your family, or friends. Your dog can accidentally scratch or bruise someone. Also, they could potentially knock a young child or elder adult down, causing series injury.
Can this behavior be corrected and how?
Of course this behavior can be corrected! There are a couple things you can do. I am going to break up the tips into sections. The first section will be how YOU greet your dog. The second will be how OTHER PEOPLE greet your dog.
Tips to stop your dog from jumping on YOU
1) Keep Greetings Low-Key
As caring dog moms and dads, we love to greet our dogs with high-pitched voices, lots of hugs, and plenty of kisses. The problem is, if you're giving your dog this type of attention when he is jumping on your then your pooch thinks you want him to jump. You are actually encouraging the unwanted behavior. The first thing you should do is modify your greetings. The calmer you are, the calmer your dog will be.
2) Get your dog to sit
Once you walk in the door and your dog seems calm, tell him to sit. Once he sits then give him attention. Make sure everyone in your household follows these training tips every time they greet the dog. Behavior can't be modified for just one person or on certain occasions.
3) If your dog jumps on your when you're sitting...
Stand up and ignore your dog until he is calm and has all four paws on the ground. Then reward him. Again, the goal is to teach your dog that he won't get any attention until he is calm and has all four paws not the ground.
Tips to stop your dog from jumping on GUESTS
One great way to practice calm behavior with other people is to get help from a friend. Complete the following:
1) before your friend approaches your dog, give your dog the "sit" command.
2) Once your dog is sitting, have your friend approach. (no petting just yet)
3) If your dog stands up, have your friend turn and walk away.
4) Then give your dog the "sit" command again and repeat until he remains sitting.
5) If your dog remains seated then reward him with a treat and verbal praise!
Don't just do this exercise once. Keep training until the behavior is consistent!
Have your friends give low-key greetings
Just like how you need to stay calm when greeting your pooch, so do your friends. Ask them before they arrive to avoid high-pitched voices and overly excited body language when first seeing your dog.
Don't give your dog the opportunity to jump
Until your dog is trained, if you have dinner guests over or host a larger party then it's important to make sure your dog doesn't have the opportunity to jump on people in the first place.
You can do this by:
1) Confining your dog in another room
2) Putting a leash on your dog until he is calm
Lastly, Be Patient!
I'm going to be honest with you, training your dog to do anything can be frustrating at first. The younger you start, the better. But still, some dogs take longer to learn than others. No matter how long it takes, try your best to stay calm. Yelling at your pup won't do any good. Just keep working with your dog and stay positive! (Refer to Post #1 about positive training techniques.)
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