familyservicehub When your dog jumps on grandma or almost knocks a stranger over in the street, it can be frustrating. How can we stop our dogs from jumping on people?
Let’s first think about WHY people jump.
- It’s fun! It’s fun!
- Over time, you’ve learned to do it. Your dog got pets and attention every time he jumped up on someone. They’ll continue to do it. They might say no or push them away in some cases to attract other people’s attention. Even this kind of attention is still attention! Find out more about and the control of dogs’ impulses.
- Jumping can sometimes be a sign that you are stressed or excited.
Management can be our friend.
- We can’t let them continue to jump if we want it stopped!
- Keep your puppy on a leash when he wants to jump. You can also keep him behind a gate so he cannot practice jumping.
- You can try to catch the dog before it starts jumping by giving them treats or pets low to the floor, scattering the treats, and asking for other behaviors.
What are we asking them to DO instead?
- What would you like your dog to greet people with? What do you want your dog to do when greeting people?
- Teach that behavior using positive reinforcement! Try clicker training .
- It is important to practice this behavior A LOT, so that it becomes “the default” for your dog.
Training opportunities
- You’ve managed to eliminate unwanted jumping. What now?
- Choose a person who will FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS!! This is the most important part. This person will not help you with the initial training if your friend says, “Oh, it’s fine, I don’t mind if your puppy jumps” or shouts at your dog to get down when they do.
- You should start with the dog on a leash and the person approaching. Play “red light, Green light”!
- When your dog displays the behavior that you enjoy, such as four paws down on the floor, the human may approach to offer treats or pets.
- When your puppy begins to jump, take a step away (outside the range of the leash, so that the puppy cannot jump on you).
- You want this to be as enjoyable (and stress-free!) As fun (and not stressful!) as possible for your dog. If attention is too thrilling, you can instruct them to perform a behavior such as a sit and then focus on the person giving treats instead of attention.
Add more humans once your dog has mastered the game. They will learn that the game is for ALL humans and not just one.There will be instructors and class participants available to you!
This can be done off-leash as well. It may be enough to ask the person to turn slightly away and wait, rather than taking a step outside of the leash’s range.
The horrendous Jump Sit Treat Chain
Your dog has learned to sit nicely and jump up if you ask them. Yikes! We have created a “behavior-chain” that we do not want. How do you break the chain?
- Catch your dog BEFORE it jumps!
- You can reward polite behavior by working on “default behaviors”. When your dog thinks, “I want to be noticed,” he will choose one of these behaviors rather than jumping.
- Wait a few moments before rewarding your puppy if you’ve already missed the training and it jumps, then sits. Your puppy should know that the treat is only for politely sitting, and not for jumping after sitting. It usually only takes a few seconds to break the association.
- If you find yourself at this point often, return to the first and second steps and continue to work on them. If your dog doesn’t jump often (because he or she hasn’t had the opportunity), it’s less likely that they will do so in the future.