No Jumping Class

[Yvonne N]

Okay friends I'm going to try and put this into words. Astro and I attended a no jumping class last night. It was good! This is funny...you use no words/commands/hand signals. Our trainer explained that dogs learn best when they make the decision to do something on their own and are rewarded for "it". No pushing down their bottom, no yelling out a command, no bullying them.

To work on this you need your dog, lots of very small (think tic tac) sized treats, a leash, another person.

First scenario - walking your dog outside. You have your dog on a leash at a length of say 3 - 4 feet freedom. You are there only to hold onto dog to make sure he/she doesn't run off. You are a statue....no expressions, noises, pulling, etc. The other person (with treats hidden) approaches you and your dog...eye contact should mostly be person to person - - don't stare at dog. Person approaching should keep their arms in close to their chest. And no talking at first. If dog jumps/lunges person approaching immediately turns around and walks away. No words, just walk away. Try same steps again. It was amazing but only one dog out of the group last night did not get it by the third time. The person approaching IMMEDIATELY rewards the dog when his/her bottom hits the floor. Lots of treats - - treat dispenser. Ruffle their head. Good Job! Again and again and again - - repeat these steps. Now you don't want to set a dog up for failure, so if your pup isn't catching on give him a single command and immediately reward when his/her bottom hits the floor. Then try again without verbal cues. As you continue repeating steps the person approaching uses more animation...higher voice...acknowledgement of person/dog by name...waving arms...shaking hands...etc. Dog sits - - reward reward reward. Dog doesn't sit - - walk away and try again.

Second scenario - guest/you coming in a door. Use same steps as above but you need a door. Go outside the door and knock loudly. Person holding dog says, "Come in." Repeat steps above.

The other stuff we learned was ignore. Ignore the behavior. For example: you are letting your dog out of his crate and the jumping begins. Ignore. Turn back while still being able to see dog out the corner of your eye...go about your business....as soon as the bad behavior stops....reward, reward, reward. Trainer warned with this technique the behavior most likely will get worse b4 getting better. Be strong.

Good Luck!

[Carol and Banjo]

Yvonne.....it's been a while now.....wondering how this technique has worked out in the long run. Sounds very good.

[Anna and Achilles]

I can't wait to try this because nothing else was working with Achilles!

[Alice Bedard]

Any instructions on when the dog jumps up to look at the coutertops? Our 7 months old, Oliver is now big enough to see over the counter when he leans on it in the kitchen and is forever jumping up and putting his front paws on the counter, looking for food. He knows this is where I do all the food preparations and so he is eager to try to get the food. I continually have to say "OFF" and am not in the habit of ignoring the behaviour because he can get at things sometimes. Any suggestions,
Alice in Alberta

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I'm going to try this immediately. The ignoring has been helping with Roo, but I will add mini treats as he is a food hound. This way of thinking - that the dog thinks of what to do is also used in clicker training. Thanks for going to this class and passing it along.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This sounds great. I did have one question...does the person with the leash give a verbal sit command? I get that the reward comes when the bottom hits the floor, I'm just not sure when the sit command is given.

[Kyoko]

Sounds good! I like this kind of approach.

[Kathy Spyker]

Lilly needs help with this too!! Thanks=))

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sounds awfully good!

[Ann Kendig]

Thanks for posting this Yvonne. I'm going to print this off and have DH read it to.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Thank you sooo much for writing this! I can't wait to start working on it with Timbow!!