Training A Dog

Question: How do you train a dog to not jump up on people?

(Posted by: on 2010-09-01 22:32:44)

She is only a 4 months old puppy and very energetic. She just wants to meet everybody but wants to jump up on them which is rude. She especially does it when I get home from work and wants to jump up and lick. I don't mind that now cause its sweet but I feel like it may be a problem in the future and am trying to figure out the best method of training.

Posted by: Kelly + Eternal Universal Energy on 2010-09-01, 23:40:00

There are several ways to go about it.. every dog responds differently. What works well for one dog may not work as well on another. In general I put up a knee and say "Down " to stop them in the act. That is more of an emergency response than true training.. To train the dog not to jump up I generally put my hand on the back of their neck right over where their front legs are. When they start to try and jump, you just put pressure there so they can't while saying the command "DOWN " and then praising when they don't try any more. I usually use that on the more hyperactive type of dog, because they will keep trying to jump up over and over when they are excited and happy to see you. Eventually doing that though, they learn not to jump up.. and having your hand on the back of the dogs neck has a somewhat calming effect.. it's a dominance thing so it helps to assert your authority while at the same time preventing the jumping. Then a good thing to do right after that is to get the dog to sit before you really pet them and greet them when you get home. So you come in the door ignore the dog.... if it tries to jump up, put your hand on the back and say "Down ", when the dog stops trying to jump and calms somewhat then you give the sit command and then and only then do you give the dog affection and petting. If the dog doesn't calm down it's best to turn your back, ignore the dog until it does calm down.. use your knee then if it tries to jump.. but stay quiet, don't look at the dog, talk to the dog or pet the dog until it calms.. Then when calm go back, get the dog to sit and then pet the dog. If you do that the dog learns it won't get attention from jumping, or freaking out.. nothing.. the dog learns that it only gets attention when calm and sitting.

Posted by: Miss Sone on 2010-09-01, 22:36:36

I saw this on t.v..when she jumps on you when ur standing up..turn around the other way and keep doing it..she will c that if she continues to jump on u then she will not be petted..but if u pet her when she jumps then she thinks its a good thing to jump on u..and if she jumps on u wen your sitting down get up..and then sit back down..and keep doing this. i know it seems like repeating the same thing but it will work!

Posted by: Kathryn on 2010-09-01, 22:37:50

My puppy does this too and its been tough working with her. Shes a work in progress even though shes around 7 months. Someone told me that if she jumps up on you to squeeze their paws, not hard enough to hurt them, just to make them uncomfortable? I try not to get overly excited when I get home and it calms her down a little. Also, I've started getting down on her level to greet her and it really helps her chill out faster, she gets her attention and then shes happy.

Posted by: Michael R on 2010-09-01, 22:39:44

No, it isn't sweet. It is obnoxious and will only get worse unless you train her to be polite. Luckily, this is actually one of the easier behaviors to extinguish. Be ready when situations are created that will lead to her jumping up. When she jumps, bring your knee up sharply into her chest. This won't hurt - it just knocks her back down. At the same time you bring your knee up, say "NO " in a command voice. She should quickly associate the jumping with the knee and your disapproval. If you can, have some friends primed to help you. Have them come over and, when she jumps, up comes the knee and out comes that terrible word. It shouldn't take very long to break her of jumping up. When she starts greeting you appropriately (staying down) give her lots and lots of praise and petting. Let her know she has done something right.

Posted by: ' on 2010-09-01, 22:40:25

For large dogs that try to jump on me, they get a knee in the chest - HARD. For small dogs, I just pick them up and stare them in the eye and growl at them. If neither works the dog is removed to another room.

Posted by: Liam Smith on 2010-09-01, 23:01:06

Since she is still a puppy, it is actually good that you train him now while he is eager to learn and easy to be taught. You can start with giving him the basic training such as sit, stay and heel - Use positive training which has always been effective to most dogs ( check out antileon-ent.com/ dog/ to find different training methods you can try on your puppy)

Posted by: Jenny Manyteeth on 2010-09-01, 23:21:32

Put a nice wide collar on her, leash her to something solid. Walk toward her, when she goes up on her hind feet to jump on you, stop. Say, “Pup, sit.� Stand quietly and watch her. Let her struggle all she wants. When she gets tired and sits, say, “Good girl. Good sit,� and take a step forward. When she breaks the sit, back up till she can’t reach you, saying, “No. Pup, sit.� Wait till she sits. Repeat until you can walk over and pet her and she stays on all fours.

Posted by: labrador_lover on 2010-09-02, 09:21:39

Yeah, later it will definitely create a problem. But I think you won't find any difficulty of training your dog not to jump up on people. If your dog knows what you mean when you say, NO, then you can teach your pet not to jump up to people easily. It means a simple dog house training will do. Reward and punishment formula may also be effective but this depends on how responsive your dog is in punishment or reward process of teaching.

Posted by: TWaggy T on 2010-09-02, 10:11:31

Hello, It's quite simple actually, and you don't have to use harsh methods like the knee on the chest, or yelling at her. When the dog jumps on you, just grab is feet and don't let go until the dog starts to get annoyed or "panicking " and wanting to let go. She will then associate jumping to a feeling of disconfort and won't do that anymore. After this, you can even tap you own chest in a way that she thinks it's ok to jump, and do that again. She will then see that even if people want him to jump on them, she can't. This way you won't be using harsh methods, won't hurt your four legged best friend, and will teach her that this behavior is not acceptable. But remember to be consistent, if you let her do that once in a while, you will throw all the training down the drain. Hope it helps, TWaggy