Does your dog jump up on you and the guests? Have you seen the ads on television showing a device that is supposed to break a dogs jumping habit? Well that device is a waste of money in my eyes. Training a dog not to jump it is not as easy as pushing a button on a device and pointing the high pitched noise at your dog. It takes time and repetition in stopping this annoying habit.
To stop your dog to stop jumping is more of a punishment tactic, not spanking or anything like that. Ordinarily a dog will jump out of excitement caused by wanting to be petted. That’s why it most often happens after you come or when a guest stops by. So the best way to deal with this behavior is with conditioning the dog to realize that it is not getting what it wants when it jumps.
Next time your dog starts to jump give it a sharp verbal discouragement like, “No!” or “Aahh!” The reason this works is when wild dogs or wolves are in a pack the alpha male will give it a sharp bark or growl when he is not pleased with the actions of his subordinates. This is one reason it is important for you to remain the pack leader at all times. Along with the sharp verbal discouragement, turn your back on the dog and keep your back towards the dog. This is not what the dog wants; it is looking for attention so over time this will discourage the jumping.
Ok now for the reward for a good dog. With training your dog not to jump the best reward for doing the behavior you are looking for is attention and love. So once the dog is calm and is not jumping anymore give it some love. And there is nothing like a “good girl/boy” to your dog they live to please you. Just to remember to always reward the behavior that you want from your dog. Never pet it while jumping that will just encourage the jumping.
Ok now what I feel is the hardest part of this all; getting all family members and guests to be on the same page with this training. Because people have a bad habit of petting a jumping dog because they want to be nice to it. So be sure to inform everyone that the dog comes in contact with that you are working with the dog and his jumping.
One last note I know a lot of people say “down” when the dog is jumping. But “down” is used for a command to have the dog lay down. Here is the basic list of commands that I like to use to teach a dog: sit, down, stay, here, heel, and leave it.
Remember to enjoy your dog today!
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