- May 3, 2019
- Posted by: optimaadmin
- Category: Coaching The Handler
| I am writing about this question because it is one of the most common reasons people call and ask for my training help. Usually by the time a client calls me they are so frustrated with their dog because it is jumping on all family members, guests and delivery people. Basically, anyone who walks into the house.
There are a few reasons why dogs jump up. Did you know that when they are pups, they learn to jump up on their mother and lick her face to ask for food? To her, the pup is asking in a very nice way for food because it is a natural instinct to do it this way. Another reason the pups jump up is to rise above their litter mates and get mom’s attention first. |
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| Because people usually get their new puppy when they are around 8 weeks of age (and they are absolutely so adorable), we take them home and accidentally train them that its ok to jump up on them when they come home or into the room where they are. We think it’s so cute to see them come to us and say ‘hi’. They are usually only as tall as your calf muscle so it’s not a problem, right? Many times, the new dog owner will also use a more excited voice when greeting their dog which can elevate the dog’s actions and all of a sudden, they are jumping multiple times a minute and it’s starting to get annoying.
With this in mind we can see how the young dog has had two rounds of ‘training’ in jumping at a very early age. The good news is that it’s not too late to help their skills evolve into more adult and socially acceptable ways to greet humans. It makes me think of my niece and nephew when they were toddlers and started eating Cheerios in their highchair. They started out using their little hands to get one Cheerio at a time to their mouth. Slowly but surely the child learned that food in the hand can get food to the mouth. That worked for a while until mom and dad decided it was time to add a spoon into the mix. At first, the child didn’t understand what to do with it because the hand worked just fine. But with consistent coaching they both learned that mom and dad wanted them to use the spoon instead of their hand to accomplish the same goal. The praise they received kept them trying and before you know it, they were on to forks and knives and eating all kinds of food.
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Here are a few suggestions to retrain your puppy/dog so they take the next step in greeting you and others in a more grown up, polite manner:
After that you can do what is needed for the dog such as go outside to do ‘business’.
You can do the same procedure when you know people are coming over or the kids are coming home from school. Have your dog in its crate or confined area first, let whomever enter the home for a few minutes then you can calmly release the dog to calmly greet the person/people. You can also practice Meet and Greet on walks. We practice this in our Intermediate and Advanced Training Classes and the owners find it very helpful. This is a skill every dog owner wants to have because they want to be proud of their dog and confident that he/she will have good manners at home and in public places.
I hope this helps you have a better understanding of why your dog is jumping and what you can do to redirect the behavior. If you need more practice or instruction opt into one of my upcoming classes.
Cheers! Julie |
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