Jumping up to humans is a way for canines to say hello in addition to wagging their tails and smiling faces.
Though cute, this greeting doesn’t seem to be pleasant all the time. What if your visitor is in a neat dress but spoiled by a jumpy puppy who just got out of the mud? A large dog can even knock over an adult with an over-welcome jump.
But phew! Training a dog not to jump is a possible lesson. This article will let you know how to train a dog not to jump.
Why the jumping greeting?
Dogs greet their owners for the ultimate reward called attention. The closer they reach you, the more attention they will gain. Thus, this repertoire is repeated to guarantee the win of your best focus.
You will need to discourage this behavior every time it happens, and I mean in an educated way. When a puppy got springs on their feet for you, it’s super cute; but don’t let them repeat over time.
It could be your fault to let the jumping dog training spontaneously happen when your dog is young. And the jumping isn’t just a greeting to humans, but it is also your dog showing excitement and jotting on the couch, bed, and other furniture in the house. This can cause tears and damage.
How to train a dog not to jump
This puppy obedience training should start with stopping the jumping behavior. To alternate this action, you need to choose how you want your pup to greet you.
The hard thing to know is that you don’t know when your dog is going to jump. In general, puppies are likely to jump on people, counters and grab rewards. If you give your dog something to do besides getting excited about jumping on things, they will stop repeating the jump.
The techniques
Many people mistake dog behavior training is to ignore what you don’t want the dog to do. That is wrong!
In most cases, when you give your dog a push, he considers it a wrestling game. Turns out it is an inadvertent reward for a lot of dogs. Giving a canine a physical interaction means an invitation to play.
Leash on
So, the first thing you learn not to do is not to grab on the paws, squeeze and hold tight for the dog to fight to get away. That is a kind of bad discouragement as it signals the dog not to paw at you anymore, not to stop jumping.
Leash training is a better tool for not jumping dog training. In this method, you need to get some people, ideally family members, to knock on the door, being the guests. You are inside preparing a leash on your dog and some good treats in hand.
When the guest comes inside, let your dog sit by any of your sides and give him some treats instead of allowing him to charge on the door and the people. Remember to keep the leash loose unless the pup is too resisting.
The point is to give your dog a choice between the food and banging on the others. If the pup gets up, you have the leash to guide him back to sitting. Now, reward right away that smart choice.
One thing to note is the distance. You want to keep your pup at an appropriate distance from the door to be heady in controlling a too-excited dog. You also need to encourage your friend to ignore the dog when they come in. That way, you and your dog have time to focus on the reward.
The key thing in training a dog not to jump on people is your attention. You are giving your dog a lesson, so focus on him, and give him your attention.
Once this session is successful, you may try to decrease the distance. Ask the roled-visitor to come closer and greet the puppy when he sits in the position. That encouragement will reinforce puppy obedience training.
Leash off
How to train a dog not to jump on people when the leash is off?
Life goes on with lots of surprises. That means you don’t know when people are showing up in front of the door, at the time you don’t have your pup leashed.
The fastest way to improvise is to crate your dog. You can pop the dog in the crate with some chewable toys.
Advancing
Once your pup gets to the point of not rehearsing the jump, you should give him something else to do.
You can lure the dog to another place using the treat and making him lie down. Don’t forget to reward the dog when he is in the right position.
So, when you know somebody is coming, just practice positioning your dog on his bed by placing some treats on the bed. As long as the dog is holding his position, let the guest in, while keeping an eye on the dog, giving the reward.
The more advanced your dog gets with this, you can place a bed at a corner near the door and tell the pup to lie down every time there is a visitor.
Teach the dog not to jump on the kitchen counter
Food on the counter is attractive to any dog. One way to teach your dog not to jump on the counter is to put no-interest things there. But it sounds unreasonable for a kitchen not to have food there.
You can apply the same technique to the door. But this time, place the treat on the counter and let your pup know about it. When he’s about to jump up for the food, redirect him out with the leash, ask him to lie down, and reward him with another treat.
The point is you have to make the dog pay good attention to you instead of the good treat on the counter. It is your job to allow your pup to make a decision, and the right one is to focus on you and win the treat from you.
You can make it more challenging by using a more attractive treat like a cheese slice or piece of bacon. And when the dog makes the right decision not to take the piece off the counter, he gets an even more rewarding treat.
Wrapping up
Jumping up is a natural dog behavior that you can modify. Some owners just let it happen and consider it a normal thing. However, imagine if the dog, or a large dog, jumps up on a kid and knocks him over. Isn’t it scary? Even small dogs can make it worrying when jumping into the face of a little kid.
That is why you should learn how to train a dog not to jump from the early stage. This process may take some time, but it’s worth the effort. Once your pup knows the rules, he no longer plays the wild rules.
