Stop Dog Jumping Up
by Joanne Bauwens
(Strathroy ON Canada)
I would like to know how to stop my pup from jumping up on me, she is a med size dog when grown, it is not nice when dogs jump up with company or myself. Thanks.
Our Response
Hi Joanne, how strange, as it happens I recently wrote a complete article on this – here it is…
1. Ok let’s start – we have read some quite scary stories on the internet about some owners and even some dog obedience trainers using cruel and negative reinforcement techniques such as pinch collars and prong collars. Lets make it quite clear you should never ever use any form of cruel or negative behavior on your pooch – firstly they don’t work and by using this nasty techniques your dog or puppy will start to mistrust you, form negative even aggressive behavior and even lose his confidence – you don’t want to turn your dog or puppy into a robot ready to respond to your every move as you want you dog to WANT to and enjoy the obedience training process – it will last longer and keep your dog’s fantastic character intact. Dog obedience training is all about shaping your dog’s behavior not enforcing your beliefs and values on your dog or puppy.
2. Another nasty technique that we recently heard about was the use of the knee to stop your dog or puppy from jumping up. Please don’t use this technique as it will end up possibly hurting your dog – exactly what we don’t want!
3. Ok, a dog or puppy jumps up because they are excited and want you to pet him and stroke him. Consequently, the first thing that you need to do is as soon as the dog jumps up FREEZE – don’t pet him or stroke him as this is what your dog is looking for. You need to imagine that your dog is invisible – the more you ignore him the more your dog or puppy will be less likely to wan to jump up.
4. The next phase that you can use is as soon as your dog or puppy starts jumping up – freeze, ignore him and then turn your back so that your dog’s feet land on the ground.
5. As soon as your dog’s feet land on the ground repeat ‘Good’ to your dog or something short and snappy. Don’t get over excited otherwise this will get your dog or puppy excited and cause them to jump up again. If your dog jumps up again do the same – freeze, ignore and then a simple ‘Good’ (wait for five seconds) – only repeat the ‘Good’ command after all four paws are on the ground. Finally, increase the amount of time before you repeat the ‘Good’ command and before long your pooch will stop jumping up. Don’t expect to grasp it straight away as all aspects of dog obedience training takes time, repetition and consistency.
