If you have been a dog owner for any length of time you know that a dog jumping on you or others can be be frustrating and embarrassing. I know the situation all to well, you come home from a long day at work, you walk into the front door and boom, your greeted with a big wet kiss sharp paws running down your arms or torso, ouch! Or even worse your smaller child get caught in the excitement and gets knocked over and scratched as well.

Well guess what? Its all your fault.

Many unsuspecting dog owners encourage this behavior way before it be comes a problem and the next thing you know you have a dog with an unacceptable behavior problem. You see, you would encourage your cute little fluff ball of fun (when he was a puppy) to come running to you and jump on your leg. At that time he could barely reach your knee cap, if that. And then, like most everyone, you would reach down and pet him of maybe pick him up.

By doing this, your puppy just learned an important lesson: when I jump up on my owner I get the reward of love! Your dog doesn’t know the difference between the small pup that he once was and the large dog that he is now. All he knows is what you taught him early in his life, when dad or mom gets home I’ll run over and jump on him to show him how much missed him and they will love me back.

Is jumping ever acceptable?

You have to put your foot down and make it clear that jumping is no longer an accepted behavior. When is jumping O.K.? Many owners of toy breed dogs or smaller dogs expect their dog to jump up. This is totally up to you. But, when any dog jumps on an unsuspecting guest, it can cause a bit of an awkward moment. This is why teaching your dog the “off” command is also a good idea. You can train your dog to jump on your command; we will get into that later.

For larger dog breeds, there really is no debate on this matter. You should either never allow him to jump or at the very least work the “off” or “no jump” command in to their regular training. After all it is one thing to have to deal with scrapes or soiled cloths due to your own dog, it is quite another to have to deal with him jumping on a guest or stranger.

Why does dog jumping happen?

The number one reason dogs jump is most likely out of pure excitement after a long separation (returning home from work) or during playtime when adrenaline is running high.

A much more serious problem is when a dog jumps to display his dominance over you or whatever he is jumping on (another dog, a child or guest). Hailing from a pack mentality, dogs live by a hierarchy of social ranking and order. One of the behaviors a dog will use to exert his dominance over a lesser animal is to show his physical superiority by jumping up on or placing his paw or paws over the other dog’s shoulders.

That’s all well and good, but why is my dog jumping on me and how do I stop this behavior? First off, lets determine which type of jumping problem we are dealing with. This is pretty simple: If your dog jumps on you or anyone else out side of an excited welcome or high energy playtime, your dog is trying to dominate you or the person that he is jumping on. This will have to be dealt with in a much different way and you should bone up on your alpha dog techniques. (Tip: Secrets to dog training has a great course on dog behavior problems, you can find the link at the bottom of this page.)

Stop your dog from jumping on you.

How you approach your dogs jumping problem will determine whether or not you will succeed in ending your dogs jumping problem. You must stay consistent with your dog training routine, as with all dog training. To stop dog jumping, you must make it very clear that jumping is no longer allowed.

How you react to your dog jumping on you and others will determine whether or not he repeats this behavior. You will have to make a commitment to continuing effort and consistency in dealing with this problem. To stop dog jumping you have to make it clear to your dog that it is never acceptable to jump you or anyone.

The easiest way to stop unwanted behavior in dogs also happens to be the most effective way. Simply, ignore the bad or unwanted behavior and reward the desired behavior. No need to yell, beat or correct harshly, although your first instinct may be exactly that.

Here is the best way to stop dog jumping.

Here’s what you do

When you turn away from your dog, cross your arms and advert your eyes, totally ignoring his jump. You will see, by giving him the cold shoulder how quickly he will calm down.

Again, as soon as he has all four paws back on the ground praise him lavishly. Don’t worry that you may be confusing him, dogs have a very short “training memory” and they can only comprehend the reaction you give to his behavior at that moment.

Reinforce the good behavior, as soon as he keeps all for paws on the ground, reward him. If he gets excited again and goes to jump, give him the cold shoulder again. Don’t worry if the cold shoulder and the praise are within seconds of each other, dogs have a very short training memory and are only capable of associating the reaction you give with the behavior he is presenting at moment. So, it will work really well if you give extreme affection when he keeps his paws to himself and the cold shoulder a half of second later.

Suggested reading: For more helpful articles on unwanted dog behavior such as stop dog barking as well as dog training tips like leash train your dog in minutes check out Matt’s web site at www.ezdogtrainingathome.com

categories: Dog training,dog training tips,dogs,pets,animals,family