Last Updated on March 20, 2024 by Denise Leo. Post first published on March 6, 2016.
Dogs absolutely love to jump on people. They’re excited, especially if you have been out all day and arrive home. Constant jumping can become annoying to you and any visitors you may have so here are some tips to help stop it happening.
Your first thought will most likely be to tell him off in a loud voice. You may also push him off but these actions often have the reverse effect, encouraging your dog to keep on jumping.
Dogs are extremely affectionate and close contact is the only way they know to demonstrate that affection. When you’re angry, he will usually try harder to show others he’s your friend.
A dog’s most powerful ability is smell. It’s hundreds of times more accurate than humans. As a puppy, his first eight months will be spent sniffing and investigating everything, whether it’s other animals, you and your family or guests. They smell everything possible, without fear of rejection.
The most powerful scents that humans project come from their mouths and genital areas. Everyone who encounters dogs, whether their own or other people’s dogs, will have had their genital region sniffed multiple times. Puppies stand on hind legs to get close and end up sniffing your mouth.
A dog may feel anxious and know that if he jumps up, you would probably pick him up, thus making him feel more secure and calming him down.
Negative attention is also a form of attention so when you focus on your pet, even if it’s to tell him off, he’s happy because your focus is on him again.
Training tips. If your dog jumps up, simply ignore him because that’s the only way he’ll learn. Don’t make eye contact with your pet and never speak until all paws are firmly on the floor. Then you can praise him, calmly and affectionately, while you pat him.
Turn your back on your jumping dog. Stay that way until he stops jumping. Then you need to turn around and pat him, while praising him.
Dogs learn very fast. They’ll learn that jumping does nothing but planting their feet on the ground gives them lots of attention and treats. So they remain quiet and well-behaved until they get the attention they so desperately crave.
Another tip is to always greet your pet calmly so you don’t entice him to become excited and active. This behaviour doesn’t encourage your dog to jump or get more excited than he should.
If you don’t stop your puppy from jumping up when he wants to, he will learn that jumping is an acceptable behaviour. Then jumping will carry on into adulthood when puppy has grown into a big heavy dog and one jump could push you to the floor. So you encourage bad behaviour and you can’t get angry if you’re not disciplining him properly.
While your beloved pet is a treasured member of your family, jumping up on people should be discouraged. Train him now and it will be easier down the track. Jumping or not jumping isn’t the end of the world. Just stop him doing it.
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