Jump up on us

[Theresa Washburn]

I thought we had this conquered but , Freddy at 6 mths is jumping on us. Its ok he is only 50+ pounds but as he gets bigger we will have some issues.   If you have any ideas I would sure appreciate this.

We did try the paw holding, and the turning around and ignoring.

Help :)

[Adina P]

You've tried a couple of things...what do you do when you aren't actively trying something?

[Ginny Nightingale]

I Have this issue too--This goes on for a looong time--and is very hard to stop--some people keep a leash on the dog and step on it--some put their back foot under the dog and push their back feet a bit causing them to lose balance and get down--I would love it if they just didn't jump in the first place, but my three compete to get close to me when I get home (or people coming to the door) and it becomes a contest to see who can jump higher--if I get one to stop, one of the others takes their place!! So, I wold love to hear solutions--right now, when I come in the house, or if someone comes over, I run over to the cookie jarwhich is close to the door and get them to sit for a cookie--if i keep them in a sit for a good 10 seconds, it calms them down a bit and there is less jumping.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

There are lots of different theories about how to cure jumping.  If he's six months and still doing it then I'm thinking it has become a habit.  First of all, don't ever give him any positive attention when he does this no matter how much you've missed him or how cute you may think he is.  Don't get sucked into the emotional trap of thinking he's missed you and so you don't want to make him "feel bad".  It's easy to let that happen, but it's pretty self defeating.  When I come home I never look at the dogs until they're sitting calmly....they know now that there will be no "hello" loves when they're excited.  When he starts to jump I would just keep right on walking...right into his space.  If you do that with determination they'll back off.  When they jumped at my back I turned around quickly, stepped into them, held my hand up and said firmly but calmly "stop".  If you do it with lots of conviction they usually get the message.  You have to be consistent to be fair to Freedy.  I think it's important to do the exact same thing every time until he gets the message.  I read somewhere that over 50% of puppies jump on their owners and visitors, so you're not alone with this.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I so agree with this. It's also important to have all family members and visitors on-board with this.

My rule is "nothing good ever happens unless all four feet are on the floor." No treats, no playtime, no affection, no attention, nothing. Giving them attention or anything else only reinforces the jumping.

I also think it doesn't matter if the dog weighs 50 lbs, 100 lbs, or 10 lbs., jumping up on people is not acceptable. I am just as annoyed by someone's 20 lbs dog jumping up on me as I am by a bigger dog doing it.

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

I agree with the above Karen about the all family members and visitors be on-board.

  Unfortunately, getting a 6'3 -  24 year old man-child (my son) living at home to follow through on not jumping has been almost impossible!!!! I am almost wishing he was still a toddle

[Jenna Burnett]

My dogs had been doing this for a while, but stopped thanks to a new tactic. Not only would I not give them attention, but if they would continue, I'd stick my knee out before they landed on me me. As they'd come in contact my leg, my knee would hit their chest. They would stumble backwards, shocked from the blow. I didn't kick them or anything, I just let their jump land on my knee. It may sound cruel to some, but they haven't jumped on me for a nice long while now.

[BG and Gavin]

Please be careful with the knee method.  I would advise against using it as the chest can be a delicate area and it would not take much to break a rib.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this.  It's one of the first things my trainer taught me.  Not only can it be harmful if they hit it the wrong way, he believes they don't really understand it the way you want them to.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I found the knee thing to be ineffective and didn't like doing it anyway--but I will be more consistent with the things you suggested earlier Jane--I do have one that sneaks behind me and jumps on my back side if I move toward the three of them--the little rascal!But I have not tried the technique you suggested--hope it works for Freddy too!

[Jenna Burnett]

I understand.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Auggie is a jumper as well. He even clears the ground many times. He does not jump on me or my DH when we come home, but he jumps on people in dog park, or our visitors. How do you handle that?

I should add: when we got Monty, I had no clue about dog training. I signed him up with the first dog trainer I saw advertised in the area. During our very first class, the trainer demonstrated how to make a puppy stop jumping. He encouraged Monty to jump up on him and then he stepped on his hind paws. Monty yelped and the trainer said: oh what a sensitive guy, I barely stepped on his paws. I was appauled, but kept quiet. We lasted several weeks in the "Nazi training" before I finally realized this is no fun for the puppy and enrolled in a positive reinforcement clicker training.

[Sheila & Finnley]

Finnley just started jumping up since my DS came home for his Christmas break from college. He thought it was fun to pat his chest, and encourage her to jump up with her paws on his shoulders when I wasn't around. Now she is doing it more. I guess it's back to serious training after he leaves on Tuesday ! Grrrrrr

However I will never use the knee. That is how an in-law of my daughter's lab was injured. The father used his knee and broke the dogs rib !