Looking back on all our blog posts, you’ve got to wonder, how have we not covered this topic yet? Well, we honestly don’t know. Jumping is such a common behaviour in dogs that owners and other people try to discourage. Yet, a lot of the dogs you greet will give you a nice excitable greeting!
Jumping is a behaviour frequently seen when a dog is excited to greet someone, of course there is also other scenarios where this behaviour is displayed but, in this post, we’ll tackle one of the most common ones!
What might jumping look like?
So, what might jumping look like? Well, here’s two scenarios where you might experience your dog (or another dog) jumping:
Scenario 1: Your dog is at home and a person walks through the door into the room that the dog is in (This could be a stranger or someone the dog already knows). The dog then runs up to the person and starts jumping up at them!
Scenario 2: You’re out on a walk and someone walks up to you and stops to say hi to your dog. Your dog then jumps up on that person!
As you can see, both scenarios can be different, but they all resolve around one thing: your dog jumping up to greet a person.
The behaviour can also differ, your dog might also bark or whine, or run around and then jump up… All the situations however are basically a ‘crazy and excitable greeting’.
Why might jumping be a problem?
You may have a completely friendly dog who just wants to meet the new people, so how could this be an issue? Well, the jumping might not bother you, but it can become a problem in certain situations.
If you had some little kids, come over to your house, your dog might just want to give them a friendly and exciting greeting and jump up. However for some children this can be frightening and will not give them a great experience with your dog (even if your pooch is being completely friendly).
As well as this, if the child becomes scared of the friendly pooch they might try running away, a dog will see this as play and run after them happily ready for a game, but a kid wouldn’t see the dog chasing them as a game!
So, as you might be able to tell now, even though jumping up is usually a harmless behaviour, it can be scary for children and some adults! So, it is best to discourage this behaviour!
How to discourage your dog from jumping
Alright so let’s get to the solution! We could have shortened this and posted it in our Training Notes because the solution is so simple!
Ignore them.
That’s it! This might seem way too simple but trust us, it works!
Just ask yourself, when your dog jumps up at a person (whether it’s you or someone else), what does the person do? We can almost definitely guess that you answered this with ‘Tell them to get down’ or ‘Give them scratches’. In simple, you’re giving them attention!
Now to a dog, attention is a form of praise! When they jump up, they are jumping to greet you and to get you to say hi! Well, that’s exactly what you do! Unless your dog clearly knows what you’re asking them to do when you say ‘get down’, they’ll probably take that as praise!
Whether you tell your dog to ‘get down’, or ‘no jumping, or just ‘no’. They’ll most likely take that as a reward. You talking to them and acknowledging them is exactly what they want you to do! A stranger who doesn’t mind jumping might even completely ignore this behaviour and just reward them with an even better ‘hi’!
So, jumping up has basically turned into one of your dog’s commands. They jump up, you reward them with attention.
To discourage this, just ignore them:
So, the person walks through the door, and your dog jumps up. Then they immediately turn around with their back facing your dog. After a few seconds your pooch gives up and just stays with all fours on the ground. The person then turns back around and THEN gives the dog scratches and praise!
That’s the scenario you want! First off, when the person walks in the room, they turn their back to a dog that’s jumping. This gives the dog no attention at all and makes them jump for nothing. Even eye contact to the dog or moving around could give them attention and therefore praise.
Then the dog eventually realises that they’re not getting what they want and decide to stop. Once they are back on the ground, the person turns around and gives them scratches, cuddles, praise, and attention to reward them!
If your dog then jumps up again, turn back around till they’re calm and not jumpy. Then repeat! Take in mind that this will not just suddenly stop the jumping! Your dog will most likely keep on jumping up at people for a while but if you continue with this training then this behaviour should soon be discouraged!
How can you help other owners with dogs training to not jump?
Whether you have a dog or not, it can be super helpful for other owners if you are considerate towards their pooches training. You might be totally fine with a dog jumping to greet you but even then, try to turn your back to the jumping because even if you’re ok with it, the owner might be trying to discourage this behaviour!
After a while of doing this technique, a dog might be starting to get the fact that they’re not supposed to jump. However, one scenario with a person where they get attention from jumping can undo some of their training and start making it a behaviour again!
The best thing you can do to help others with their jumping training is to ignore their dogs when they jump at you until they are calm and then give pats (if the owner allows it) and praise!
Notes
- This method may not always work however it is highly effective and should work for most dogs!
- Your dog will not learn instantly, it will take time!