There are few things more annoying than a dog jumping up on every person he meets. Such behavior often leads to dirty clothes, disturbed guests or even health risks if the dog jumps on children or elderly people. Luckily, with the aid of proper and consistent dog training, it’s not too hard to stop your dog from jumping on people.
Why Dogs Jump on People?
Often the dog is simply excited to greet you or your guests. Dogs identify each other by smelling the region around other dogs’ faces, so they naturally try to do the same with humans. Your dog doesn’t know that jumping up is unwanted, so you must make him know that.
The dog is jumping to seek attention. It is possible that someone has rewarded the dog for jumping in the past (either on purpose or inadvertently), so the dog is jumping to get rewarded again. It’s very important that you never reward the dog for jumping up.
Sometimes the dog may jump on people to assert dominance. This is probably the worst case, because dominant dogs, in general, are a lot harder to deal with. To prevent this, make sure that the dog gets no attention after jumping.
7 Ideas to Stop Your Dog from Jumping on People
#1: To stop your dog from jumping, you must make sure your dog knows that jumping is undesired. The best way to do this is to completely ignore your dog when he displays such behavior. If you see that the dog is about to jump, turn away from him, avoid eye contact and do not say a thing. Alternatively, use the SIT command when the dog is about to jump. This should keep him busy and prevent him from jumping on people.
#2: Make it clear that the dog will not get your attention if he jumps. Never reward your dog in any way when he is on the hind legs as this will create a positive association with such behavior. You shouldn’t scold your dog for jumping as well, because scolding is also a form of attention.
#3: When you return home, try not to make a big deal of your arrival. It’s better to ignore the dog for some 10 minutes until he gets used to your presence and greet him afterward. The same should be done by your guests. Whenever you or your visitors are greeting the dog, they should lower themselves to the dog’s level. This effectively removes the need for jumping as the dog can interact with people without having to jump up.
#4: Once your dog no longer jumps when greeting you, make sure to reward him for such behavior. Lower yourself to your dog’s level to pet and praise your dog. You must not only ignore your dog for jumping on people but also create a positive association with not jumping.
#5: Always be consistent with your dog training. You cannot allow your dog to jump on you but scold him for jumping on other people; your dog just won’t understand that. Instead, you must clearly communicate that jumping up is bad in any situation, even if you are just playing with each other.
#6: You should also avoid wrestling or playing any other rough games with your dog. These not only encourage dogs to jump on people, but also make them more aggressive in general.
#7: If you own a puppy, don’t let him jump on you as well. Even if a jumping little puppy causes little trouble, remember that the puppy will grow into a larger dog that will already be used to jumping on people. Breaking this habit later will be a lot more difficult.
If you use these simple dog training techniques, you should see some progress in a matter of days. Consistency and persistence are the key factors that will help to stop your dog from jumping on people.
Sharing Is Caring 🙂
