How to Stop Dog From Jumping Up?

The solution to unwanted dog jumping behavior include distraction with other cue words and commands. As soon as you are able to redirect the behavior of dog from jumping to something else, you will see immediate improvement to his jumping issues.

Apart from dog clicker and commands, other solutions include the use of leash and crates.

If you are a dog owner, you will have already noted that the dog is indeed a playful animal. They, just like cats, are playful, restless, and ordinarily cheerful.

They do greet one another using their noses and in many cases, want to extend the same to us. Given that our noses are way above the levels of theirs, they will often want to jump to get to us.

Have you noted that it jumps as though they have springs on their feet? It may shock you that it is, in fact, you to blame for this. That is because you not only permit it but also encourage it.

It is not advisable that you encourage this behavior at all. You will find a fuzzy puppy too cute to resist though not knowing that it can, in fact, turn out to be a real nuisance when it grows up.

You may also endanger the lives of those whom you allow your dogs to jump on too. This is because it may scratch and bruise them as well. Those adults who are frail may sustain serious injuries on the other hand. To solve this behavioral problem, you have to manage and train it at the same time.

Hello dog lover, in this article I’m going to answer a common question that I get every day. How do I stop my dog from jumping on people? I am going to answer that question today. I am a dog trainer also sometimes coach dog owners.

If this is your first time to my website then welcome. If you want to learn how to train your dog without the use of force or domination, you are in the right place.

What Triggers Dogs to Jump on Everything?

Even before we embark on solving this issue, it is necessary that we understand its root cause. We definitely have to note how and why it arises. This shall enable us to prevent it from happening again effectively.

As noted, most dogs jump simply because of them being sociable animals. They sniff a lot when they greet one another, smell and lick each other’s muzzles while so doing. Occasionally, they may also inspect one another’s private parts.

Most also grow to the same height. Achieving these ends is hence not so daunting a task to them. The problem arises when they try to do the same for their human friends or owners.

It hence follows that their jumping is a natural canine behavioral pattern. They use it to communicate and socialize with their human friends and family members.

As you are a dog owner, you have most likely noticed this behavior a lot from these canine friends of yours. My 12-year old German Shepherd abhors jumping on people regardless of how much love it might have for them.

Also do check this video:

The Real Issue is…

So how do you stop a dog from jumping on people and strangers and everything else like counter surfing tables? You can’t stop a dog from jumping using one technique or one thing. There is no magic pill, there’s no magic technique that I can offer you to stop this behavior.

The reality is that your dog has already learned that behavior and you have to undo it. You can’t just do this or do that and the dog is going to stop jumping.

The problem is that your dog has practiced this behavior and he’s now learned this behavior and it’s going to be harder to undo it. You just have to undo it now.

Is Dog Jumping on People Really that Much of an Issue?

Whereas a jumping puppy is cute, one that is fully grown may be quite annoying or even inflict injuries on people. This problem is intensified when larger breeds like a Lab are affected. Additionally, one that weighs 60 pounds or more may be tricky to deal with.

The elderly persons and small children alike may find these pets quite difficult to deal with. Further to this, some people who naturally fear these animals may find them troublesome.

To guarantee the safety and comfort of everyone who interacts with your pet, this is a behavior that definitely needs to be corrected.

Could there be any other underlying issue besides mere excitement?

Generally speaking, there is hardly any other underlying psychological or medical issue associated with dog jumping.

In most cases, it might have acquired this behavior from its previous owner. It could also be that it is just not getting enough exercise and needs to dissipate extra energy.

Understandably, your canine will often feel insecure or anxious from time to time. It could hence be that it is simply seeking safe embrace and reassurances.

Your puppy will usually shed off this behavior with time. If however, the pet in question is elderly or fully grown, there could be a serious underlying problem.

How do you undo it, so there are some steps that you need to take. There are about 4 steps that you need to take:

4 Step Approach to Stop Dog from Jumping Up

Step one is to create a cue word or keyword that your dog responds to. When he hears this word, he will think that I’m going to have to stop this behavior which is jumping. So you have to say this word and your dog is going to respond and stop that behavior.

So when I want to control my dog’s behavior, I have the word “Bella, no good” taught to her.

Second step is, you have to redirect the behavior. When your dog hears the cue word, then you have to redirect your dog physically and mentally. The best thing to do is pull the leash to the side. You want to do so just before he goes and jumps on people, just pull him to the side.

The third step is to ask your dog to do a behavior that is wanted. A behavior that your dog knows how to do. That behavior could be to teach your dog to sit and stay. It’s a good idea to teach your dog to sit in a state instead of jumping just over.

The last step is putting all these techniques that you have learned together. So if your dog jumps, you just say no. Redirect your dog from jumping to you and ask your dog to sit and stay and then you praise your dog.

So your dog understands that every time I jump, I get corrected. Every time I get corrected, I get rewarded so basically that’s how you stop a dolphin jumping.

It takes a lot of work, a lot of steps until you get to the results that you want. It just doesn’t happen overnight you need to work on all these steps in order to see result. While you are dealing with a dog who would just jump on everything, its crucial to know various household hazards which could be life threatening for the dog.

Bonus Tips

The last bonus tip that I have is if you have a puppy, please don’t let them jump on people. It may look cute but when your puppy grows, and if your puppy has learned this behavior then it is more work for you. Then you need to go through all these steps in order to undo that behavior.

So prevention is the key. Don’t let your puppy or your dog to jump in the first place in order not to practice and learn this behavior. Also since puppies are so excited about everything, its important to make a lost puppy emergency plan. It will take some time to prepare the plan but it will help you and your puppy for the years to come.

Some videos which should also help you out are:

How to Act When Other People are Involved

Having learned how to stop dog from jumping on you, we now need to know how to act when the visitors are involved.

These animals do find strangers almost as exciting as their owners. This is due in part [to the fact that they do greet dogs with gusto. Here comes the question: ‘How do you make your dogs behave better for the others as they would to you?’

Enlighten Your Visitors

The first and foremost step is to enlighten your visitors. Encourage them to modify their behavior.

In the course of training them to maintain calm when greeting your visitors, it is also important to let your friends and family members know what your aim is.
Prevail upon them to help out by discouraging this bad behavior courtesy of their own actions. Have them also uphold calm while greeting the pet.
Encourage them to desist from paying too much attention to it in case they might be experiencing a hard time staying calm.
Needless to say, not everyone who pays you a visit may have been prepared in advance. Moreover, there are also strangers in the streets to take care of. You will hence have to train your dogs how to behave under these circumstances as well.

You also Need to Check Your Behavior

We have touched on those good ways to discourage your puppy from jumping. It is now vital that we examine behaviors which you will also have to refrain from to discourage the canine from jumping.

Speaking in Too High Tones

Just like it is necessary to prevent your canine from barking, you also do not want to yell at them or speaking in too high tones.

Many dogs misconstrue this to mean that you too are enjoying their jumping. This encourages them to jump even higher or more. It is necessary to remain calm approach all the time.

Thoughtless Responses

Many people have this mistaken notion that raising your kneed to the level of the chest of your dogs is the best way to discourage them from jumping. However, this is strongly discouraged.

By standing on only one foot, you will find yourself off-balance. This might in turn trip you to the point of falling.

You are also more likely to injure your canine which may discourage them from approaching you later. This is not really what you might want to achieve, is it?

As a matter of fact, approaching this issue from a physical standpoint is always likely to be counterproductive in some shape or form.

Moreover, most of them will often view the act of shoving or grabbing it as a way of playing. You should hence make do only with the praises, treats, and other verbal commands.

Crating

Some people are of the opinion that you have to craft your canine when you receive guests. This, they argue, gives it time to get calm before they eventually resume socializing.

I have personally noted that my dog winds up before proceeding to burst forth as the Tasmanian Devil does in a Bugs Bunny cartoon!

This approach, however, has one serious limitation. It does not really address the root cause of the issue. To some extent, it even appears punitive.

The technique is hence relevant only as a stop-gap and more so when you happen to receive visitors in your household. In the meantime, you might have to engage a professional trainer to address the cause of the problem.

Keep an Eye on Real Life Experiences

You have already trained it on how the greeting game works. We now examine how to stop it from jumping on strangers who may not know how to handle such kinds of dogs.

Whenever you are out in the open, you should leash your canine to guarantee its safety as well as those of the others around you.
While walking with it where there are others around you, shorten the leash to maintain it as close to you as possible. Let it never get ahead of you. It will never get to jump on any stranger in case the said person smells good.
In case you are approaching someone you are familiar with or the other way round, cue your canine to sit before the two of your meet close.
Encourage the canine to remain in the sitting position all the while as you converse with this colleague of yours.
If and when a stranger attempts to pet your canine, prevail upon it to sit down.
In the event that your dog attempts to stand while being petted, prevail upon it yet again to sit back down.
Develop a habit of telling others, ‘Yes, you may pet it; but it is on training. I would thus wish that he sits in order for it not to jump on you.’

I have personally deduced that people are always eager to know that you are planning to raise a polite canine that is also friendly to the general public. What’s more? They are often always happy to even play with the ‘Greeting Game!’

Jumping Behavior – Troubleshooting Techniques

If in the course of training your canine not to jump on people you experience difficulty, below are a number of added tips which might be of help to rectify your problem:

During the first several training sessions, do so in an area that is devoid of any distractions for your canine. The existences of any disturbances like kids smell and squirrels will make it difficult for your canine to stay focused on the cues you are attempting to inculcate on them.
Do practice the ‘greeting game’ each time you arrive home and notice your dog. You will require only a few more minutes to do so.
Alter your behavior to aid in calming your dogs whenever you get home. For instance, if your canine begins to jump each moment you say, ‘I am Home,’ stop saying anything when you arrive at home.
The sound of your voice will usually trigger his excitement. Definitely, the more excited he gets, the more difficult it will be for him to regulate his jumping nature.
For better outcomes, repeat the above steps every now and then.
See to it that each member of your family practices the steps outlined above. On the same note, ensure that they fully understand the entire training exercising procedure.

In the unlikely event that one member of your person allows your dog to jump on him/her, and pets on the dog, the pet shall receive mixed signals.

Don’ts Regarding Jumping Behavior of Dogs

We have clearly pointed out that some forms of dog training are punitive. The knee-to-the-dog-chest is the most outstanding of these.

Another one is using the leash inappropriately. In particular, yanking or pulling on the leash is not a great way to go about the issue at all. Below the associated problems:

You might injure the pet if you correct the leash or knee it harshly or inappropriately
If you employ the knee-to-the-chest approach, you may knock it down also. It may, unfortunately, misinterpret this to mean that you are initiating plays.
In response, it might jump up yet again and ‘continue the game’ because you have in effect reinforced its behavior.
It is possible that your pet may learn not to jump while leashed, granted. Given that they are not leashed all the time, it will still have many other opportunities to do so later.

Learn More With the Help of Video

Here is a video which should help you with dogs jumping on the glass in your home:

Conclusion

If you want to become an educated dog lover and have a healthy and happy well behaved dog consider bookmarking to my website. Until next time have fun with your dog.

References

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