The Easiest Way to Teach Your Dog Not to Jump on People
As a dog trainer, I get hired to teach dogs to stop jumping up on people more than any other behavior modification plan I have. It’s typically from well-meaning dog owners who used to let their puppy jump up because we all know how cute that is. Then, before they know it, their dog is 120 pounds jumping up on people who could potentially get hurt.
What’s so sad about dogs that jump up on people is that many of them end up in shelters because their owners just can’t deal with the behavior. Lets be honest–its annoying, frustrating, embarrassing, and can be dangerous. Nothing is worse than trying to entertain at your house with a dog who is all over everyone who walks in the door.
Yes, you can always crate your dog if his jumping isn’t under control, but most of us consider our dogs to be a big part of the family and want them to enjoy our guests and vice versa.
So if you have a jumper, you need to tackle this issue before someone gets hurt and your dog becomes a liability.
1. Pick a New Behavior
The first step to getting your dog to stop jumping is the easiest one, but hardly anyone thinks to do this. Pick a behavior that you want your dog to do instead of jumping. For example, when you come in the door after work and your dog comes to greet you by jumping up as high as possible so he can get to your face (that’s why dogs jump), what would you rather him do?
Do you want him to sit, lay down, spin in a circle, give you his paw…? Pick any good behavior to replace the bad behavior of jumping.
Let’s say you pick that you want your dog to sit and stay when you come in the door to replace the typical jumping. Assuming that your dog has a rock-solid sit and stay, come in the door and ask for a sit-stay. If he continues jumping and ignores your request, turn the tables and ignore your dog completely.
Move around and do your thing while ignoring him completely. That is the punishment–no attention from you until the dog is sitting. As soon as your dog does get four on the floor, which he usually will eventually as he comes to realize the jumping is no longer being rewarded, turn and calmly praise and give a treat. You’ll repeat this many times. So anytime the dog jumps up, ask for an incompatible behavior (sitting), then praise and reward with a treat.
2. Stop Rewarding the Bad Behavior
One thing that is critical to the success of this behavior modification protocol is that everyone in the house is treating the jumping the same way. If the dog starts to jump and you knee him in the chest, yell, push him down, or let him kiss your face, you’re rewarding the bad behavior. And if that continues, it will never go away. Even your negative reactions of yelling or pushing the dog reinforces the bad behavior. Remember, jumping is a natural behavior for dogs that we’re asking them to stop. It takes time and requires 100 percent commitment and consistency from everyone in the house.
3. Practice a No-Jump Exercise
This video is a great exercise of teaching your dog to to sit and stay when being greeted. You can start this training as soon as you start working on no jumping in your own home. This training protocol allows you to start teaching your dog what he should do when others approach. When you’re walking your dog and people approach, you want to make sure that your dog sits and stays for a greeting. Practice this exercise often and try and get other people to be the one to approach the dog. It’s a great way to practice and reinforce the fact that people coming to greet the dog should expect a nice sit-stay.
4. Practice No Jumping at Front Door
So at this point, your dog should be working on not jumping up when people approach him and not jumping in the house to greet the household members. All of this gives your dog an awesome foundation for when we start practicing no jumping at the front door.
If you’re hosting a party, your dog needs to know he cannot jumping up when people come in the front door. Again, this is a situation in which you need to decide what you want your dog to do when the doorbell rings or someone knocks or there’s just a constant stream of people in and out the door.
Since we’ve been working on the sit as the default behavior, I would stick with that. However, I’ve trained dogs to go to their crates as soon as they hear the doorbell or go to a bed right away.
If we use the sit-stay, the final product we want is that when the doorbell rings or someone knocks, the owner has the dog on leash, opens the door, and the guest walks in and calmly greets the sitting dog. Simple, right?
Depending on how your dog reacts to the doorbell or someone knocking on the door will determine how long you need to practice this exercise. If your dog goes beserk barking and jumping at the sound of the doorbell, this exercise will take some time, but can certainly be done. If your dog couldn’t care less about the doorbell, you’re one step ahead.
This video shows you exactly how to teach your dog door manners. Again, know that this will take some time and some volunteers to help you get to the point that your dog can handle more people coming. Just remember to praise and reward your dog often.
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