Copyright 2002

Question: How can I stop my dog from jumping up on me and my guests ?

Considering we are the ones who have taught the dog to jump up, this particular behavior is a very hard to extinguish! How many times did you reach down to pet your puppy when he stood on his hind legs and asked for attention? Did you reach down and pick your puppy up and cuddle him?

All a puppy or an adult dog wants when they jump up is attention! Eye contact, getting you to stop and give some form of acknowledgement that you see them, and attention, of course. And that is exactly what we do! We stop when they jump up, we give them that eye contact as we begin to tell them to "STOP," "Get DOWN," "OFF," giving them the attention they want, though it is negative attention.

I like to start this behavior modification after a puppy knows to sit or down for a treat. That way, when they do offer either of these two behaviors, they can be rewarded and then later directed to assume one of these positions which is incompatible with the "jumping up" behavior.

Step number one: Let’s say your puppy will sit or down for a treat, then my first step in teaching the puppy "Off" is to take a small treat, and as the puppy is nibbling at my fingers, I gently push my hand towards the puppy, causing the puppy to take one or more steps away from me. I’m looking for the pup’s hind feet to move. I allow a larger tidbit to go into the puppy’s mouth on each of those steps with the hind feet.

Does your puppy try and sit when you do this? The position of your hand with the treat is too high above your dog’s nose. Lower the treat until your dog’s muzzle is level or slightly pointing towards your dog’s chest.

Step number two: When you puppy readily begins to back up a few steps when you do Step One, it is time to add a command. The word "Off" is a good one. But, the command doesn’t matter as long as you, your family and your guests are consistent. I use "Down" to mean to "lay down," so this is not an acceptable word for me. One of my dogs responds very well to "Back Off."

Step number three: It is time to hold the treat behind your back! I stand with my weight on my left foot, and then take a step toward my dog with my right foot, moving only this one step as I give the command "Off." By now, your puppy has had so many repetitions, it should take a step away, just by the force of your one step towards it. GREAT!!! Now, immediately bring that treat to your dog and REWARD him for taking that step away.

The objective of these steps is to TEACH your dog exactly what it is you want when you say "Off." Now, your dog understands, so it is time to be PRO active! You know your dog wants you to give it some attention, so give your dog the command "off" BEFORE he jumps up. And be ready to REWARD his willingness to move away from you!

Teach your family how to enter the door, ready with treats in their hands, giving the command before he jumps. Ask your friends over, and give them instructions on how to enter. If by chance your dog does manage to jump up before the command, ask everyone to ignore it, look at the ceiling, cross their arms, until you have your dog back under control.

Now is when the sit or down behavior that your pup might offer in the beginning of their "Off" training comes into play. If your dog offers a sit/or a down in the training, be sure and give a reward. Now, you can be pro active again, by giving your dog the command to sit as someone walks up. If your dog immediately stands up to greet the visitor, instruct the visitor to turn away without looking at the dog, and walk a few steps away. Ask your dog to sit again, and instruct your visitor to approach again. It may help to remind your dog to continue his sit as they approach. If he remains in a sit… give your dog a treat or have the visitor give it to him.

Like all obedience exercises, there is more than one way to train a behavior. If this one doesn’t work for you or for your dog, don’t despair! There is another way that will work if you persevere!