Jumping while walking.... ugh! Any ideas?

[Margot]

Woof to all - my 10 month old Mini Goldendoodle is a JUMPER. Not in the house, but on walks... and he jumps on me, despite his collar which the trainer suggested (so it must really hurt). We'll be walking and he will begin to hop all over me, as evidenced by the front of my down jacket. Sometimes it will take several minutes of this over and over and over again to stop (and it is embarrasing as well). Does anyone have any ideas?

[Margot]

Jane - I hadn't thought of the shorter leash, which I do have! I will try that later on today, and since I live in a quiet area of Boston, I might try the dropping the leash thing too (Jennings freaks out if he cannot see me, so I don't worry about an escape). I have some "super high value" treats too, so I am open to everything. Thanks!!!!

[Moose&Mica]

Is your pup obedience trained? Moose is a puller and Mica can be. If they get out of control or try to pull our arms out of our sockets we can put them into the heel (or the "side") position and that helps get them under control for a bit (and gives our arms a rest). We also tell them to "walk nice", but if they are really excited it doesn't always last long. Moose and Mica mostly jump when they see someone they just LOVE (and think they can get away with it). Sneaky doodles! :) I've seen folks cross their arms and look straight ahead or turn their backs when a dog starts to jump on them. However, that's kind of hard to do if you want to keep walking....unless you have built in side mirrors.

[Richard Crowe]

I have always corrected jumping dogs by butting my knee out to catch them in the jump. I DO NOT knee the dog! I just place my knee out so the dog contacts my knee rather than my body. I reinforce this by a stern "NO JUMP!" If the dog is on a lead, I snap the lead down to reinforce the "NO JUMP" command.

We don't even allow Holly to jump on us when we return home froma trip to the store. We realize that this exuberant behavior is just because she is elated seeing us however, we don't allow jumping in any circumstance. Holly is a big dog (60-70 pounds) and we needed to have her trained because of her size. It is often easy to overlook certain behaviors in smaller dogs but, training will help them become better companions also.

However, in reality, jumping is just one trait which obedience training will overcome. Whenever Holly becomes excited or agitated, I put her in a sit and then in a tight heel. This seems to focus her. I have found the "SIT" command to be one of the most versatile commands to teach a dog. It can squelch many unwanted behaviors.

The "SIT" command is very nice when Holly greets people, before we cross any streets and before I allow her out of the car. The last two are safety measures so Holly won't run out in the traffic, pulling me and to ensure safety leaving the car. Holly once tried to bolt from the car but now knows that she is to sit when I open the back door to let her out. This is a safety measure.

A tight heel is just a continuation of the attention getting "SIT" command. I usually have Holly walking on a loose lead except in a crowd when I have her in the tight heel. However if she is excited, the "SIT" followed by "HEEL" on a tight lead will normally calm her down.

[Cam & Oski]

I found some really helpful strategies from PAW (Partnership for Animal Welfare) site, it's non-profit that tries to facility dog & cat rescues. They actually have multiple links to different problem behaviors (likely due to having to help people train their rehomed pets. Here's the link for jumping, Oski doesn't jump now (he's 15 mo) but he did when he was a puppy. I've found the stepping on the leash trick pretty helpful but they also have another where you can practice stopping jumping behavior especially if it happens with strangers on walks.

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_DogJump.php

[Renee]

Taffy and I are in puppy classes and we are working on leash training, we use treats as rewards when they are walking by our sides. This didn't always hold Taffy's attention so they are having me use a plastic mixing spoon with frozen peanut butter or cheese on it. When we walk I can hold the spoon at her nose and give her lots of praise if she is walking at my side. This seems to be working so far. Just another idea . Good Luck.

[Cam & Oski]

Wow, yet another use for peanut butter! What would we dog people do without it? LOL

[Ginny Nightingale]

I agree with all the comments so far. I always keep the length of the lead in the other hand (away from the dog ) and have just about 6 inches of lead between the hand leading the dog and the dog. I can give a short jerk back and stop the dog. But my girl is pretty exciteable and i have been using a "gentle leader" brand harness that goes around her body and closes up around her chest (rather than her neck) when I give it a tug--she has really calmed down on walks with that lead. She hated the gentle leader that went around her nose and would drop to the ground to rub her face on the grass or whatever. So, this harness has worked much better.
I did use the spoon and cheese trick when training Mattie, and it works fine until you get them used to walking nicely. If you have tried all this, I would get the harness.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

My aptly named Roo was a jumper also. At 14 months he is now really good on walks. Still working on the people coming in the front door thing. Two things really made a difference in keeping Roo settled on his walks. # 1 The "Watch" command. Teach this at home and outside on a leash while he is quiet. Use very small amounts of high value treats. Face the dog with the treats in your hand behind your back. Say "watch". As soon as he makes eye contact with you (no sunglasses) take one hand from behind your back with a small treat in it. Repeat six or so times in a session being sure to vary the hand which provides the treat or he will start watching the hand. When you are sure he understands "watch" increase the time he must watch before he gets the treat and begin having him sit in the heel position. This sounded to me like it would take forever, but took less than a week. #2 When walking start using "watch" in non distracting situations. Then start observing him for the SMALLEST increase in level of excitement and say "watch".. You can add "sit" "watch" and "down" "watch" . Giving your dog something to do "watch" really distracts him from other things going on. It does sound tedious as I write it but it really wasn't - in fact it is kind of fun to have your dog look longingly at you on command even if you know it is about the treat! Roo was a confirmed jumper, barker, dancer on our walks and now he is a delight to walk. He, too, was about 7 or 8 months when he began to go from an obedient walker to a distracted goofball on walks. I agree - very embarassing! Good Luck