Training my puppy to stop jumping up! 17/06/09
Whether your puppy is jumping all over you, you kids or visitors this easy guide will show you how to curb the behaviour.
Jumping up
The key to training your puppy to stop jumping up is having patience. It is going to take a bit of time and many repetitions and your whole family have to be on board, as well as the visitors who come to your home. The good thing is that with this method you will teach your puppy to be calm when someone enters the house and they will have a healthy respect for those in your home, which seeps through into many other parts of puppy behaviour and training which means you will have a well balanced, happy dog.
Ignore on arrival
When you enter the house your puppy will be very excited to see you. It is important that as soon as you walk in you resist the temptation to pet your dog / puppy. Ignore the puppy, especially eye contact. When visitors come around ask them to do the same.
When your puppy jumps up
Turn your back and fold your arms – you are not reinforcing any excitable behaviour.
When the puppy brings you toys / jumps on furniture you are sitting on
When you begin this training process there is going to be what is called an extinction burst. Extinction is the eradication of a learnt behaviour so when the puppy is jumping up we are ignoring it therefore using negative reinforcement (taking away something good i.e. attention) to train the puppy. When using extinction there is often a point where the behaviour increases before it goes away. This is actually a good sign and if you stick to the method the behaviour won’t be seen again quickly after this. Do not be tempted to give in because your puppy has upped his game. He will begin bringing you toys and doing cute behaviours to entice you to give him attention. It is at this point you have to stay firm (i know it is difficult). Do not give eye contact and brush him away without speaking to him.
Wait for your puppy to lie down and settle
So you have been in for a while and you are ignoring your puppy to stop them jumping up. They will quickly get bored and go and lie down or chew a toy. This is the perfect time to give them a fuss, positive reinforcement (adding something good to the situation). This way you are praising the calm behaviour and therefore making it more likely your dog will repeat it.
TOP TIP: All family members must follow the same method in order for your puppy to generalise the behaviour. This way when someone new comes round they will not expect to be allowed to jump up therefore won’t even attempt it!
Just remember to be consistent. If one day you cuddle for jumping up and the next day chastise or ignore your puppy will be highly confused and likely to jump up more, so be vigilant and you will reap the rewards as your guests walk in unscathed and your family remain scratch and slobber free!
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9 Responses to this article
My puppy has developed some issues with jumping up, mostly when we’re walking. I know he thinks it’s fun because he wags his tail when he does it, but he jumps at me and tries to grab his leash up high, near my hand. NO doesn’t really work, but ignoring him slow gets him to settle down, but when we move along, he jumps again. It’s been scary before when he jumps at me, because he basically bounces off of me and lands hard on the ground, usually on his side. He’s done it before inside the house when he gets very excited and wants to play rough and rowdy. Any other help or suggestions? Thank you!
Can I ask if he is a Shepard or collie type dog? This is quite common in these breeds due to them often being insecure, hyper active, attention seeking or demonstrating a herding behaviour. So there are a lot of options in how to treat the behaviour. If you feel he is insecure, low tail carriage, excessive yawning, panting or lip licking then it may be you need to make him feel more confident out on walks, which can be done with the use of a DAP collar or spray (from your vet) and rewarding him for positive behaviour. Try walking on the same route each day so he becomes familiar with the area.
If the problem is attention seeking or herding i would try a water pistol. When you see him preparing to jump or grab the leash a quick spray and a sharp no should break the cycle. Try to keep the pistol concealed as many dogs know when you don’t have it they can get away with jumping. Let me know how you get on and further information on him might help. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for the help! He’s a very mixed boy I found and took home, but he has a very “shepherd” face – a black mask.
Thank you again!
I can’t help but think it has to do with his leash, because it’s usually paired with him chewing and trying to tug-of-war with the leash. I think sometimes it’s connected to me pulling him along when he wants to run off or stay put and sniff and sometimes it’s really like he thinks jumping to catch his leash is a game.
I’ve been trying to “Good boy” a lot when he’s doing the right thing on his walks, and I think it may be helping. I guess the water gun is next
no problem
you could also try putting some bitter apple spray on the lead so when he chews it, it tastes bad to him. Glad to see you are making progress.
Starting bringing my pup for longer walks recently, in certain parts of the walk he start to whine and jump on the back of my legs? How do I stop this.
Also while whining and jumping on the back of my legs, he keep walking in and out of my legs and seems to always change sides to the side the lead is not on. If I have the lead in my left hand, he starts to walk on my right, if I have it in my right hand he walk in my left.
Keep your lead much shorter to prevent this winding behaviour and ignore the whining at all costs, no telling off, no eye contact just don’t give any attention to that kind of behaviour or the jumping up. A shorter lead should also help with this. – sorry for the delay I am without internet for another week !
Hi There,
Our 8-9 week old goldendoodle pup is on the whole really good and quite calm for her age and is doing well with the small amount of training we have tried so far. The only real problem is in the evening when the kids go to bed and we sit down to watch tv / read the paper she keeps jumping up at us nipping and barking. We turn our backs on her if she does this when we are standing up and this works well but when sitting down and we pu ther down she seems to go for it even more.
I am sure she is looking for attention and not being aggressive but I don’t want to play with her when she does this as it will juust encourage her. We tried putting her out the room for a short while but she was a bit growly when we took her collar (gently), she calms down when out the room and I invite her back in but she just starts again. I don’t want her to be excluded from us all evening as want her to be part of the family but it is not pleasant and I certainly don’t want her doing it too the kids. She has done it to them when sitting on the couch as well but I don’t leave them together unsupervised at the moment so if they are watching TV she is in the kitchen with me or in her crate asleep.
I know she is very young but I want to nip it in the bud before she gets too much bigger!
Any advice greatfully accepted!
C
This can be a fairly common problem especially with anything with retriever in it. They can be stubborn and you right to be twice as stubborn with her. As she is only a pup when she growls as you take the collar be very firm with a vocal ‘no’ and continue to put her out. If she learns that you take her collar, she growls and gets what she wants it will quickly get out of control. You will find she will resist you a fair bit as goldens do like to push the boundaries early on. You need to stay very firm.
I am not sure what you mean about putting her down (i think you mean into a down position)? This will only exasperate her. I would ask her to sit for a few moments then give her a chew that she can take off to enjoy. Once she gets the hang of it start asking her for a longer sit whilst you read a little etc. Then give her the chew. Then start keeping half an eye on her so when she lays down next to you etc, without you giving the sit command she gets a chew. Eventually she will learn being calm gets rewards. As I said before though, stay strong with the growling but don’t panic about it, as it is very common in the breed and if you remain firm they will grow out of it.
My little girl is a boxer/sheppard mix about 6 months old. I can not get her to stop jumping on people. I’ve tried ignoreing her. I’ve asked my guests to ignore her, but she continues to jump and it lasts for awhile. My father stopped over the other day and it took us both 45 min of ignoreing her and saying “no” in a firm voice before she would stop and even then she didn’t leave him alone. What do you suggest?