Dogs may naturally jump on people as a way of saying hello and getting attention.
While this can be an excitement for your canine, the behavior can be annoying and sometimes dangerous.
For example, your dog’s jumping can endanger older adults, people with physical disabilities, and small children.
If you’re looking to tame your puppy from this behavior, this guide got you covered. Here you’ll discover practical tips and tricks to keep your dog from jumping, including:
- Don’t reward your dog for jumping
- Let others help you with training
- Don’t involve your dog when playing rough games
- Teach incompatible behavior
- Exercise your dog thoroughly
- Management
- Command your dog and be consistent
Don’t Reward Your Dog for the Jumping Behavior
Since dogs jump on you for your attention, when they do so, ignore them completely.
You need to avoid eye contact and remain silent. Ensure you wait until it stops jumping and offer immediate positive attention. If this gets your dog more excited, you may want to try a different reward, such as giving it food.
If you think food can work best for your dog, provide it with a few treats as soon as the jumping behavior stops.
Ensure you turn away the moment your dog jumps on you and be patient, even if this feels repetitive. The more you focus on doing this, the quicker your pet learns its jumping behavior may not be appropriate.
This can help your dog understand they get attention when they remain calm and don’t jump on anyone.
Let Other People Help You
While continued practice can be effective, doing it without involving other people may not be a great idea.
Let your family members get involved in the training. You don’t want your dog to stop jumping on you but continue doing it to anyone else.
Letting other people help you with your training can allow your dog to keep calm regardless of who they meet.
Don’t Involve Your Dog When Playing Rough Games
Some people may find it fun to play vigorous games with their dogs, such as wrestling, but this can impact the canine’s behavior.
That’s because your dog will learn it’s appropriate to play and jump up on people. It can also lead to unpleasant behaviors with your pet, like attacking and biting people. Roughhousing isn’t something you would want to engage your dog.
Teach Incompatible Behavior
Learning an incompatible behavior can be one of the best ways to keep your dog from jumping on you and others.
For example, a puppy can’t lie down and jump simultaneously. Your dog can learn much faster when you teach it to do something than not to do.
You want to teach your dog a behavior that isn’t compatible with jumping. This could be training it to stay down or “look for a toy.”
Teaching an incompatible behavior can be smart, especially for puppies that aren’t inclined to jumping. It will prevent the development of the natural sequence of jumping.
If your dog gets too excited to sit, you can consider a different trick like scattering treats on the floor or teaching them to “look for a toy.”
The bottom line is that training your dog in an alternative behavior can work better than forcing it to stop jumping on people.
Exercise Your Dog Thoroughly
Ensuring your dog gets enough exercise can work wonders. A tired canine is likely to behave well.
Experts recommend 30 minutes of aerobic exercise for adult dogs daily. Besides achieving the desired behavior, regular physical activities can improve your dog’s mental stimulation, making it happier and healthier.
Caring for your puppy well can also reduce its need to gain attention.
Management
Management involves controlling the situation, meaning your dog won’t get the chance to jump on anyone.
Utilize management tricks until you train your puppy not to jump. For example, if it jumps on your visitors, you may use one of the below techniques when you get a guest:
- Using a leash to restrain your dog
- Confining it in a different room
- Putting the dog in its crate
This will ensure your puppy won’t jump on your visitors as it learns an alternative behavior. It also prevents your dog from rehearsing jumping, ensuring the behavior doesn’t get stronger each day.
If you decide to put the puppy on a leash, you may want to step on the leash or bend down to give attention when people are passing by.
This may eliminate its need to say hello by jumping. You may also tether your puppy when you have visitors and try to train it on approaching guests without jumping.
Things to Avoid
If you want to stop your dog’s jumping behavior successfully, you need to avoid several things such as:
Rewarding Your Puppy for Jumping
Giving your pet attention when it jumps on you can enhance the behavior, and it’s something you don’t want to encourage. Focus on activities that don’t involve jumping.
Don’t Say Off or Down
If a puppy jumps on you, it means it has already acquired and rehearsed the behavior you could have prevented. You also don’t want to give it attention for jumping.
Unfortunately, trying to reprimand some dogs for jumping may mean rewarding them. This may enhance their behavior. You need to understand this is natural, and the best way to handle it is by offering the necessary training.
Don’t Punish Your Dog for Jumping
Jumping for dogs may signify appeasement and submission. Punishing your puppy may enhance the behavior because it may jump more trying to appease you.
Command Your Dog and be Consistent
Always try to lead your puppy in the right direction without inconsistencies. For example, allowing it to jump on you certain times and reprimanding it other times can confuse it.
Your dog may learn it is okay to sometimes jump on you or other people. That’s why you should stick to your training until the behavior stops completely.
Conclusion
While dogs may jump on you to say hello or show excitement, the behavior may annoy some people or hurt others, including older adults and children.
However, you can train your dog or puppy to stop jumping on people if you follow the necessary techniques. The tips outlined here can help you achieve this without much trouble.
