How do I get my doodle bear to stop jumping up on people?

[Amy Johnson]

My puppy is seven months now and has been jumping up on people, however, has learned to not jump up on my husband and I. He is about 50 pounds now, so this is a issue that will hopefully go away soon! I took him to a neighbor's house Sunday, and he was great with the other dogs and with the other people there. However, yesterday he was trying to jump up on some people in my neighborhood and nipped at them when they tried to pet him, and then he tried to jump up on my MIL and my daughter. He acts like a spazz around other people sometimes. I keep telling him to sit and then he just does it again. I correct him everytime he does this. When will he catch on not to jump up on people other than my husband or I? Also, I know that you are not supposed to pet a puppy until it is sitting and calm, but my puppy will lunge up when he is sitting also. I am nervous to take him to the dog park if he can't be somewhat under control in a public place. Any ideas?

[Moe]

I think teaching them to stay may work in certain situations but it doesn't fix the problem. Dogs want to greet / sniff people. You are never going to break them of this urge so they need to learn how to do it in an appropriate manner. If you have a house full of guests you are not going to put the dog in a stay the entire time. You may not be in the same room as the dog. Ultimately you want them to make good decisions when you are not there to tell them what to do. It takes a ton of training but so worth it in the end.

[Adina P]

I think it is useful anytime my dogs are leashed.  If a dog is out in public it is very useful.  In the house if I want my dogs to meet a guest or a guest to meet my dogs it depends on the guest.  If I have dog loving friends, I just don't care as much.  If my friends are on the 'shy' side when it comes to dogs or I know don't enjoy dogs getting in their space, then I will leash the dogs and tell the dogs what to do.  A 5 minute sit or down stay and most of the time they've chilled out, anyway.

I do think managing their greetings until they are more second nature works.  And since the original poster mentioned "people in the neighborhood" and her dog's trouble maintaining a stay, this is where my advice came from.  It doesn't 'fix' jumping but it does give you control once you take 'stay' to a high level of reliability.  No command is that useful if it is not reliable.

[Sally S Miles]

We are working much the same issue - at eight months it is the biggest issue.   Last week we had success in public that had us beaming!!!  Then absolute failure in the living room.

I don't consider an animal fully trained until further notice - seriously.  Selective hearing.... jumping - get back to me after age two (maybe) as they discover new distractions.

Bravo - just because you can't take a class you can teach and you are doing it!   We have managed to miss beginning of every darn class around, but she's no slouch on commands. Puppy exuberance is a liability - embarrassment - strain - that most dog owners can relate to in some way. 

Teaching friends is much harder than teaching the dog!

[Kate C Pappas]

He's young for sure, but at 7 months he obviously knows he can get away with it. IMHO, he has too much freedom he hasn't earned. I kept my girls tethered TO ME, on leash all the time and tethered to where I was sitting. They learned if their butts were on the ground, they got petted. Your boy is very very smart and he's testing the waters. If you practice this, I bet within a week, he'll be 'feet/butt on the ground.

When he is on leash, and I would only allow him to greet people on leash, step ON the leash so he cannot jump up. Use a word of your choice (I use off), click and treat.

They're anxious to smell and have eye contact. You can't be intermittent with this or it will confuse him. Good luck, I bet you'll have success in no time.

Kate and the "Y" Girls.