JUMPING ON PEOPLE

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Barbara Baumgarten wants to know:

"I am just looking for a way to stop Dunkin from jumping out of excitement. He just jumps on people that come in the house and it takes time for him to jump out his excitement to take a walk and we can get the leash on him anyone that has an idea I would like to hear from thanx."

[Kathy Wilson]

I have such hopes, Chris! SUCH hopes, LOL! In the distant past, I did well using some techniques taught by Matthew Margolies, now called Uncle Matty. I worked with Jessy, my 3/4 collie, 1/4 german shepherd mix and leash training her was pure joy. She was never one to jump up that I can remember, so that was not a problem. When she was a puppy, I'd carry her across the street when we were out walking, When she was full-grown, she'd still look up at me as if to say "well, mom, pick me up!"

As to what 'sticks', who knows....you make a good point there. As for my future babygirl, she's going to be perfect doncha know! (Yah, suuuuuure!)

[Barbara Baumgarten]

I was beginning to think that too. Adina Pearson wrote some good advise on here try to read it. Barbara Baumgarten

[Lynne B]

the treat has to be a really 'high value' treat, like liver or chicken, it works because getting the treat becomes more important than jumping up. In this case you don't give the dog the treat until you are sure it is not going to jump up, you use the treat as a lure to keep the dog in a sit or down in the area that you want it to remain.

[Adina P]

My suggestion is: A lot of management before the dog is done training and a lot of training till he's done =)

As far as management it just means don't let it happen...restrain the dog by a leash when people come over and step on the part of the leash that reaches the ground so that there is only enough room for the dog to stand but not jump. NEVER reward the dog (with voice, eye contact, touching, or anything remotely attentive) when he jumps. And for some dogs even "no, no, no jumping Fido!" can be very fun and rewarding.

As for jumping on ME...I have no trouble creating a very uncomfortable (but not injurious) situation by lifting my knee up in protection. The dog hits your knee a couple times and realizes humans have this really weird reflex that makes their knee pop up and it's not comfy to jump into that. NO reprimand or hard feelings, no yelling, because it is not personal. You're merely creating a law of nature that the dog will learn. This has worked great for US with all three of our dogs. But is useless if guests are too shy to do it or are worried they are being 'mean.' Since I've found (and I think most people will agree) friends and guests are awful students and almost always egg the dog on (on purpose or not), I have decided you can't depend on them to help you unless it was agreed upon in advance that THAT is the sole purpose of their visit.

So since guests are harder to train than your dog, your best bet is to train your booty off practicing sit stays and down stays at home, on the sidewalk, downtown, in parks, with a helper, with strangers, in Lowes/Home Depot...WHEREVER anyone will let you take your dog use that location and the people in a purposeful training event. Doodles are SUCH people magnets that you'll have no trouble finding volunteers. They will come up to you and ask "Can I pet your dog?" You must be careful to stay far enough away so that your dog won't be tempted to get ahead of you and jump and shout out "We are in the middle of training, if you would be willing to help us for a minute, would you like to help us?" Then proceed to tell them what to do so that you start off EASY and only gradually (over time and weeks) get harder later on. The step by step way to accomplish this depends on what training method or program you're using (clicker, treats with no clicker, corrections, etc).

But I do believe it comes down to managing/preventing so the dog can NOT practice the unwanted behavior when he's not done training...AND working your booty off toward solid obedience so that your dog can hold a sit stay with a troop of girl scouts running around him in a circle, or a boy with an ice cream cone standing near him and petting him.

[Barbara Baumgarten]

Thank you for your very good advice. I we will be working with him much more.

Barbara

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I would also like to know who had doodles that started out being overly enthusiastic greeters and jumpers towards others and when exactly the doodle actually calmed out of this behavior , and what they think accomplished this. Training or just age. I do all the stuff Adina says in her post but it is like restraining and holding in a sit position the Bugs Bunny Tazmanian Devil. She is sooooooooo overly excited that she is in a state that is not receptive to learning - I literally hold her close with the leash and have her butt pushed down in sit saying ''ABBY SIT TO HELLO" but she is like a prize fish on a hook and it is exhausting.

[Adina P]

Calmed down enough is calmed down enough and may or may not happen regardless of training. I consider a trained dog one that might still be excited but has developed self control to hold a stay as needed.

I think Abby just needs practice with people less up close. Going from nobody at the house but boring Mom and Dad to GUESTS! GUESTS! GUESTS! is going from zero to 60 in half a second. It IS too much to expect when the doorbell rings. Ill have to write out my plan for how I got Rosco to sit stay for petting later today. It starts off easy and as the dog shows progress it gets tougher.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Well I will definitely follow it when you write it down. I know that all my dogs started out ecstatic and with age (and training) evolved to a "hey man hows it hangin" LOL!! This ecstatic stage is exhausting, I am going to blow a bicep! lol

[Adina P]

I wrote it as a separate response...see below:

[Shelly Gouvas]

I know.Jake is so excited I feel he does'nt hear me at all.

[Adina P]

NOTE THIS IS LOOOONG

Okay here is my plan for teaching a dog to sit stay for greetings. NOTE this is not super method specific (you could probably do it with treats as reward too, although I did it using corrections and praise). It's more the set up for it.

A dog that can sit and STAY on command, reliably, can NOT jump on people while in a sit stay. It is utterly incompatible. It's like trying to keep the door wide open and dead bolted shut. Two incompatible scenarios. So by working toward a SOLID sit stay as the goal (rather than a negative like "not jumping" or "not running off" or "not rushing to the door") the things you do not want will fall into place. So if your dog can NOT sit and stay in position when someone pets him/her, then that's not a jumping issue...that's a "doggy needs more time in obedience training" issue.

I had it a bit easier with Rosco as he wasn't really a jumper to begin with. BUT that doesn't mean he could hold a sit stay when people reached over to pet him. No way...he would get up and rush over and maybe half hop up and bounce around and invade their 'bubble'. I couldn't just walk over to where other dogs were and have him be calm and controlled.

BUT the pinnacle of our training came when I could heel him to a doggy play area (not quite a dog park per se) and he could hold a sit stay by my side (wasn't quite ready to do so with me at a distance) while another dog rushed over to him and sniffed him all over. Since then we've slacked some...but I think most anyone else can get there too with a lot of hard work.

First, you need to be pretty darn sure your dog understands 'sit stay' and can do it with YOU as a distraction and in normal household scenarios. Practice lots. Can you dance around your dog while your dog is in a sit stay? Can you leave the room for 30 seconds and return to a dog STILL in a sit stay? Can he hold the stay for 1-3 minutes with you near or far? Your dog's stay needs to be pretty strong outside of challenging situations (at home, in parks, and other places that are semi easy) before you can expect your dog to manage in the super tempting and exciting moments. So assuming this is in place...here's how we did it:

(You'll need a helper: stranger, friend...any human that normally would get your dog very excited. We did this at first in the middle of a big soccer field that wasn't at the moment being used for soccer and got lucky that someone wanted to pet Rosco and I recruited him for help).
1) In heel position we walk for a few steps and come to a stop (where Rosco sits automatically) and I give him the verbal and hand command for "stay." I'm RIGHT next to him, he's on leash, I'm ready to correct in a split second and ready to praise as well...it's Rosco's choice. (you don't have to heel into position, that's just how we did it).

2) With Rosco in a sit stay, I had the helper walk toward us, from the side (less intimidating) and stop about 6 feet away...parallel to Rosco...and facing the same direction Rosco was facing. Not looking at him or talking to him. Just standing there. Before I think Rosco's been overly challenged (don't make him sit stay forever) I praise him for holding his stay and heel away a short distance. If he broke his stay, he'd be corrected back into place, I'd wait 10 more seconds so he'd have a chance to get it right and then praise. ALWAYS give the dog a chance to get it right/be correct. Sometimes that might mean realizing you've set him up in a situation that is way too hard...make it easier then.

3) This was repeated the exact same way 1-2 times if he succeeded the first time...just to give him a taste of success/right behavior. If he failed a bit...I'd repeat (possibly making it slightly easier, but you have to be the judge of this) a bit more often to give him more opportunities to succeed and receive praise and clarity on the issue.

4) After I thought he 'understood' the demands so far...I'd have the person come closer for another few repetitions. It's a judgement call...let's say 4-5 feet away. Same scenario exactly except 1-2 feet closer. No eye contact or tempting of the dog. Then same repetition schedule based on the dog's response. Each time praising and then giving the dog a 'break' by walking/heeling away before trying it again. I might even extend the duration of the stays if the person's distance is easy so far...stretching the dog's understanding a bit. Perhaps even moving myself farther away from Rosco. Again, play it by ear, and challenge, but don't push too hard to make it impossible. Dogs learn from mistakes and from getting it 'right." But if the ratio of mistakes is too high and the dog has little success it is confusing the dog will give up trying to get it right because to him it doesn't seem to matter he always fails. So work him to make the ratio of success to failure be higher.

5) Okay...so the helper works his way closer and closer until he's about 2 feet away...at this point if the dog does well, I'd have the helper look at the dog for a few seconds and then walk away.

So far the level of increase in distraction has been relatively gradual. But when you start bringing in 2 ft or less proximity and start adding things like eye contact, maybe even a word...the level of difficulty increases big time and randomly. So you have to be SUPER careful and SUPER attentive to your dog so that you move slow enough yet fast enough. You might even stop at #5 and take a break for the day and work on other things. Come back the next day and start at #4 and spend more time working variations on the themes above.

If you can get to the person standing RIGHT next to the dog (within 6 inches) ... see if you can have the person move forward or backward. Or do a semi circle around the dog. Or ... stand in front of the dog or in back of the dog. Maybe walk by within inches (moving from behind forward) ever-so-casually touch the dog on the head or back while he walks away.

In other words...don't go from helper standing like a statue 1-2 feet away to helper bouncing over and petting up a storm and cooing to your dog. That will be just a huge overload.

So the point of my rambling is... break down the progression of steps in your mind from where your dog is NOW and what it can tolerate NOW to what you want your dog to be able to do as a final goal. Break down the steps and break them down more...work through them gradually with a few kind helpers (and do use different people when you practice, not just the same person over and over or else your dog won't generalize the task). Try to think of aspects of the excitement as separate things:

-- person in the same 6 foot radius
-- person walking toward dog
-- person standing near dog
-- person looking at dog
-- person saying something to you or dog
-- person reaching for dog
-- person touching dog
-- person standing in front of dog
-- Mom right next to dog while all this is happening
-- Mom a foot or so away...two feet away...far away
-- Other things going on
-- doorbell ringing
-- knocking on door

All of these add up to a HUGE blow up of excitement. Doggy needs to learn he CAN survive the culmination of events, but he needs to learn it by breaking it down into little parts that gradually are pieced together in easy to understand moments. That will make it easier for the dog...but I admit takes a LOT of time and patience and really requires you setting things up for training rather than winging it on the spur of the moment (at least at first). Thule is my project that I only occasionally practice with because I've gotten lazy. The only reason you never hear me complaining about her jumping is because I KNOW what I need to do precisely...it just takes time to plan and complete =)

Hope that was more helpful than confusing!!!

[Barbara Baumgarten]

That was great...gonna try it all