Biting and Jumping

[Bridget]

How do you get a 6 month doodle to stop nipping and jumping up on everyone but my husband and I?

[Adina P]

Are you saying that he does not nip and jump on you and your husband? Or that you don't care if he does it to you?

Like with anything else, the answer is training. Think about how you do want your dog to behave around guests, and work your butt off the train that behavior.

For example, you might say "I want my dog to sit on command and stay while my guests greet him."

If so, then you will have to work very hard on practicing sit and stay in all sorts of circumstances. practice around the house, practice in the backyard, practice in the front yard, practice on your walks, practice downtown, practice in parks...make it a priority to work on this training anywhere you can go with your dog.

Have you been to any obedience classes? It might be helpful to attend some classes so that you learn techniques and how to train this successfully. Or perhaps you can hire a private trainer to work with you in your home and teach you the same things.

You will also have to teach your guests how to respond if they are jumped on. Any reaction from them will be rewarding to the dog and make the dog want to do it more. If they look at him or touch them or speak to him in any way while he is misbehaving, he will likely repeat that behavior. Your best bet, is to keep him from practicing the bad behavior by having when you have guests come over Until he has calm down for a while. if you are standing and holding the leash, step on the leash where it reaches the floor and put your weight on the leash and then your puppy can not jump up because he only has enough leash length for him to stand. He may still wiggle and try to jump, but your weight on the leash will keep him from actually jumping up. but this part is just prevention and management. It's helpful but it won't actually teach them anything. To teach them how to behave obedience training is an absolute must.

[Adina P]

One of my sentences is missing a couple words...

It should say: Your best bet, is to keep him from practicing the bad behavior by having him on leash when you have guests come over Until he has calm down for a while.

[Adina P]

P.S. I see that you are a member of our Doodle Spring Training group, but not sure if you've officially joined the program or not. If you don't want to go to classes, then our clicker training program is a great way to train polite behaviors towards guests! It's not too late to join as everyone is going at their own pace.

[Bridget]

He doesn't bite or nip at my husband or myself. Sometimes the kids but I think it's more playful behavior. It's when people come to the door or are in our house. I liked the suggestion of the leash. He is wonderful on it and walks great. I do need some obedience classes. I am also getting him neuter this Friday. Will that cause his behavior to change?

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I agree with Adina. I think all puppies should have at least basic training. Do it while they are young and it will be easier.

[Mommy2Max]

I have the same problem. Max is just about 5 months old now. I have him sit - down - stay until he can't stand (literally) it anymore - LOL. As he gets older, I hope his attention span will expand but, it is helping. I don't allow him to do it to anyone including family because I think it will become confusing to him.

My biggest problem is friends. They like to play with him in a way that encourages this behavior. I have told them what to do but, they don't seem to listen. Apparently, my dog is far more intelligent than some of my friends - :P

The other day a friend asked me why Max can't jump up because he is just being friendly. I told him that he can be friendly without the jumping and nipping. Then I told him to give me his opinion after Max rips/snags his $800 suit. I'm assuming most people wouldn't think Max is a cute fluffy puppy after that...well I would but, still.

~Danielle

[Lynne B]

Getting Beck to not jump up on people to greet them is the most difficult thing I have had to work with him on. He doesn't jump on me or anyone in the family, when he initially tried we would back away from him, turn away from him until he became calm. He figured that out pretty quickly and automatically sits when one of us approaches him. But with strangers, or even casual friends and neighbors it's a different story. I ask people not to reach out to pet him or bother with him until he is sitting calmly but they just don't listen, and everytime one of them goes 'oooh what a cutie' and starts cooing and snuggling him when he is jumping at them, they just undid about a week of the work I did teaching him not to do that...it's very frustrating.

[Bridget]

what else have you done? has anything worked?

[Lynne B]

I think we have tried everything, at this point it's not his fault, it's people who can't listen and do what I ask them around him. I tell them nicely "we are training Beck not to jump up on people, so when you approach him if he does jump up on you would you please back away from him and ignore him?" they say "oh sure" and then they just ignore me and let him jump all over them grrrr...

[Kyoko]

It was really cute when Charlie was very little to have her jump up in joy and excitment to see us.
But I changed my mind on that when she jumped on this nice lady with khaki shorts on at the dog park.
Because Charlie had just had so much fun in a mud puddle and her feet were covered with wet gooey mud.
The lady ended with muddy paw print on her pants...:(
I was just saved by her understanding saying " I came to the dog park, expecting to be dirty. So, Please do not appologize..." But it was bad. So, since then, I am really working on no Jumping....

[Debbie and Thomas]

Our 7 mth old GD is getting a lot better at the "greeting" jumping. He now stays down but is still excited to see anyone, but once they walk in he calms down. Our problem is these scarves that are so fashionable right now. All of the girls that come over(our two son's girlfriends or their friends that are girls) or our female friends seem to be wearing a scarf that is tied so beautifully around their necks. The dog loves these things and makes a grab for them every time, especially when they are taking their shoes or boots off. It is kind of embarrassing. But he sees this thing with fringe on it dangling down and makes a grab for it. Spring is here so hopefully it will be too hot to wear these darn things.