Jumping and play biting

[Morgan]

Im bringing my puppy home in 3 wks... everyone says how awesome doodles r but many still have issues with their adult doodles jumping on visitors, kids, and themselves... any suggestions on how to prevent the jumping, especially on kids?? I would like to stop it before it starts:)

[Amy and Annabelle]

Its never to early to start training. Don't let her/him do anything that you don't want her to do as an adult. If she nips, gently correct her/him. Same thing with any other behavior you don't want them to have, like jumping up on you. They are like kids, they will test you. One of the first things to teach them is recall, it may save their life.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'll second "Don't let her/him do anything that you don't want her to do as an adult." 
The first thing you have to do is get everyone in the family as well as all visitors on the same page with this. Discuss the rules and make sure everyone understands them, adults and kids alike.

To prevent jumping, it's crucial that nobody ever does anything that encourages the puppy to jump. That includes when you are playing with her. It can't be okay to jump sometimes and not other times; consistency is absolutely key in training puppies and dogs. So, nobody ever holds a treat or a toy out above the puppy, which is encouraging her to jump up to get it. Kids are notorious for being slightly afraid to actually get close enough to a dog's face/mouth to hand her the toy or treat, and instead will tend to hold it just out of reach. That is going to encourage not just jumping, but also nipping. 

Nobody ever pats their thigh or any other part of themselves and encourages the dog to place her paws there and stand up for petting. (Husbands in particular tend to be the culprits with this one, lol.) The puppy should never be rewarded for having her paws up on a person (or anything else) instead of on the floor where they belong. So the rule is, no petting, patting, affection, treats, or any other kind of positive attention unless all four are on the floor. Again, this has to consistent at all times. If the puppy does jump up on anyone, that person should turn around and totally ignore her.

And of course, children should always be supervised with any dog of any breed and any age. 
I am very glad that you are doing your homework before the puppy arrives! 

[Morgan]

Thx so much! All great advice...especially ablut the kids not holding treata or toys out to temlt the puppy to jump up to get it!

[Adina P]

The kids WILL get it wrong.  By your profile photo some of your kids look very young and they just will, instinctively, hold things out of reach or above their heads or whatever.  Mine are 6 and 8 and they still sometimes do that, but my dogs aren't big jumpers in the house.  The hardest thing with little ones is that they do react before they think so do LOTS of practice before puppy gets there and after.  

The most common advice is to "make like a tree" and teach kids to wrap their trunks (arms) around themselves or fold them across their chest, root/plant their feet firmly, and look away when puppies start jumping.  And don't scream...haha.  Good luck!

Check out the Training group and do a search for "jumping" for old discussions on the topic.  Also join the Puppy Madness group--tons of valuable discussions there too.

[Morgan]

Thx! Great advice...and yes i have five kids, ranging from 2 to 12:) i may have to seperate puppy from the littles until we can get some of the basics down...def dont want to allow bad habits to develop!

[Leslie J]

When Cocoa was a puppy I had young children. What a trainer suggested is to let Cocoa gradually earn her freedom.  We kept her contained- in a crate, in a room with a gate, or tethered (some people use puppy pens) , not the run of the house. 

If kids ran around the house, she would certainly start running, jumping and nipping if I let her.  It was a matter of mostly training my kids to not act like puppies around her! It was a lot of work the first year. By keeping her tethered they could move away if she started nipping. She learned not to because she wanted them nearby.  

When Cocoa was young and bouncy we would crate her when guests arrived. She could watch them and hear them for a few minutes in her crate before we let her out to say hello.  They were often sitting and the room was calm before we let her out. 

All the training paid off... she is now the most amazing, calm, sweet dog!

[Morgan]

Thanks! Ive been doing a lot of research about how you bring the puppy in to your home the first time makes a difference and keeping the environment calm with immediate rules...im hoping hard work will yield good results, as in ur case:)

[Ginny Nightingale]

I am afraid I have failed at this one--but I know someone who succeeded--she kept a leash on the dog when someone was coming over and stepped on it to prevent jumping--you could see the dog's feet going up off the floor about an inch and that was it! She learned over time that no jumping was allowed! My three are very bad--I just did not keep up with the training--they are so excited to see people and all three jump up--it is terrible--my bad!

[Morgan]

Thx for the honesty and tips! I want to hear the good and the not so good:) my hubby and i were just talking tonight about how much work its gonna be bringing home a puppy but i plan on sticking with the early training, hoping for good things later on! Thx again!