How To Stop 8-9 Month Old Puppy Jumping Up On Strangers To Say Hello A

[fainty_girl]

What can I do to stop my 8-9 month old puppy jumping up on strangers to say hello at the dog park?

Matilda is a kelpie X coolie who we adopted from the pound 1 week ago as a stray. We have just started to let Matilda go off the lead at an off-leash dog park, and today when I took her there for the second time today (first time she was focused on playing fetch with my other dog), she excitedly went up to a lot of different people at the dog park and jumped up to say hello. Obviously not everyone appreciates being jumped on, so what things can I do to stop this? Should I try her on the extender lead again and work on how she greets people?

She is a really friendly dog and seems to love every person she meets.

Edited November 19, 2008 by fainty_girl

[luvsdogs]

I have the same problem with Tilba, 10 mths old today. I've had her since 12 weeks & she has always jumped on ppl. The breeder was working on it, & she seemed to not be as bad as she later became. Tilba hasn't been to a leash free park yet, I'd be to wary of the other dogs that I didn't know. A lot of awful things can happen if the other owners let their dogs do as they please.

I try to stop her from jumping on ppl but they usually say something like, 'It's ok, I'm used to dogs,' & encourage her by patting her.

Does she jump up at other times? or just at the park?

The usual way to go is to turn your back, fold your arms & ignore her, no eye contact or pushing off. If she jumps on you while you're sitting down, simply stand up.

Tilba doesn't jump on me, but most other ppl & most of them give her a pat. It's so hard.

Edited November 19, 2008 by luvsdogs

[fainty_girl]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, Matilda also jumps on us at home, so when she does this we push her down. I will have to try turning my back towards her and ignoring her, like you suggested.

At the dog park I have noticed that the people that she has jumped on also encourage her to stay down and then pat her. I do apologise to them and they also say that its ok.

[Teebs]

dont allow her off lead till you can control her.

To stop my Bull Terrier jumping, i didnt give him the chance, if someone came over, he was on a lead, they could pat him ONLY when he was doing the right thing, if he started to jump, i would get the other person to get up and move away and ignore.

[Erny]

My little Ridgy Pup is the same ..... loooooooves to jump. I take control of the situation, whatever that situation might be. Moreover, I take control of him so that I can prevent it. From that he learns. If anyone told me "it's ok, I don't mind dogs jumping" I'd find it a simple matter of ignoring that or if I felt like commenting, to tell them I don't.

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

I try to stop her from jumping on ppl but they usually say something like, 'It's ok, I'm used to dogs,' & encourage her by patting her.

Does she jump up at other times? or just at the park?

Me too!!!

I was doing such a good job training her not to jump, but ignoring her when she did it. I tell people not to pat her till she sits, but it's like talking to a brick wall sometimes .

[Kyra]

Don't have any advice but I dunno if I would let her off lead while she does this, eventually she will jump on the wrong person and you'll most likely get an earful

It's so frustrating though, my 7 month old used drive me insane with jumping.

Good luck

[Anna H]

my 7 month pup also loooooves to jump. I make sure to keep him onlead in public - you just can't risk your dog jumping up on the wrong person these days; and it's not all that nice even for those that do like dogs.

Ignoring doesn't work (not before you are bruised and battered anyway - he's persistant!) with Ollie when he is overexcited, so I physically have to restrain him whilst doing long calming strokes down the entire length of his body.. once he 'settles' he is pretty good and wont jump. It is only then that I allow people to pat/greet him.

[cwm]

I think our 13 month old ridgeback girl would have stopped jumping on friends when they arrive a whole lot sooner if the friends actually listened to what we asked...

We get her to sit, she races around like a loony all excited, but until she sits, she gets no pat. From that she has learned..with us at least, and with some of our friends...with the others, we need to train our friends a bit better!

[fainty_girl]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

It must be harder when you've got a larger breed of dog too! Luckily Matilda is small (weighs about 12kg), but I still don't want her jumping on people, no matter what her size is.

I've never had a dog that was so friendly to strangers. My other dog and the dog I grew up with as a child were/are cautious with strangers, so i've never had this problem.

[Danois]

Personally I would not even push them down before turning away as that is giving them the contact - I would step back and then turn away.

You need to 'train' the other people in the dog park - tell them as she approaches to ignore her and turn away from her jumping. Hopefully she will soon get the idea.

With regards to a dog jumping as you approach, I was taught this approach.

Have one person holding the dog on a lead and you walk up and approach the dog. As soon as they start to strain, jump etc you stop - you will still be out of their reach. They should eventually sit - reward this and move off. Come back again and repeat. Do this numerous times. The dog will be learning to sit as you approach it and learning that jumping will not get it the attention/ reward it wants.

If the jumping is happening as you come home (ie no one there to hold them) then place a babygate in the hall between you and them. Wait until they sit behind the babygate and then reward.

Personally I do not think an extender lead is a good idea on dogs who do not know loose lead walking etc as they teach the dog to pull. There is also a risk that it could snap suddenly and dog will be loose.

[fainty_girl]

You need to 'train' the other people in the dog park - tell them as she approaches to ignore her and turn away from her jumping. Hopefully she will soon get the idea.

Thanks for your advice :D .

It is a bit tricky to 'train' the other people at the dog park, because it is a large park and Matilda does not stay by my side the whole time, so I am not always close enough to the people that she jumps on to ask them to ignore her. Its not their fault that Matilda jumps on them, i've got to take responsibility and train her not to.

Her recall is good now at this park, but being an energetic pup, she basically runs non-stop the entire time she is there. Obviously I do keep an eye on her while we are there!

Edited November 20, 2008 by fainty_girl

[tira_mia]

Does she jump at home?

When my boy was a pup, he would drive us all insane with the jumping - strangers, family, anyone.

An obedience trainer taught us that anytime he jumped, we should turn and back him. No contact, no reprimanding, no telling him to sit (sometimes when i got annoyed at the jumping i'd give a short grunt before backing him) - just ignore him and turn your back to him. If she's anything like my boy you'll be rotating around a circle trying to keep your back to her as she tries to make eye contact with you :D .

Then as soon as they stop jumping (i found my boy would just sit when he gave up jumping), you turn around and can play with them, talk to them, pat them and treat them.

It didn't take long for him to get the message

good luck though!!

[Mim]

Daina is a jumper (6 months old). If she jumps on anyone she is told to sit and gets praised when she sits. This has made a noticeable difference with family members but newcomers still get clambered on.

It's hard teaching the visitors what to do though, most of them bend down or bend over and pat her and get her more excited.

I can't think of how you can get others at the park not to praise her when she jumps but I hope persistence from you will teach her

Edited November 22, 2008 by Mim

[fainty_girl]

I've continued to take Matilda to this same park, and i've been playing fetch with her while we are there. She has not jumped on a single person since I started to play fetch with her there, so i'm pleased. She focuses her attention on playing fetch instead.

I will continue to work on her jumping at home.

[charli73]

Its prob not a popular suggestion but to stop my German Shepherd jumping on me I gave her one knee to the chest... it suprised her more than anything else but she hasnt ever done it again..

I had tried turning around but she would just jump on my back and walking off but it didnt work either.

Doesnt matter how excited she is to see me she knows she has to sit in front of me for attention......

[Ralphy]

Hey, sounds like you've had some progress.

Both of my pups are the same - love to jump on everyone - but thankfully are over it now.

I found that getting them to sit before they get any attention is a good start, and get angry at them if they do jump.

With my pups, they knew that jumping up on people was wrong but they would just get so excited that they couldn't help themselves - you'll probably find like with my pups, that as they get older they learn to have more control of this and get over it.

Good luck with it.

[queenslander]

My 4 month old Leonberger also loves to jump up on people, but its hard to train him not to because he never jumps up on family members.

And everyone pats him on the street so to him everyone is a cuddle waiting to happen.

We live in apartment so I hate to keep him on leash in the forest park where we live because its his only free movement he gets outside of the house.

Now i just have hawk vision and when i see someone approaching call Rox to me and releash.

I dont trust him not to jump.

Jaymee

[Jigsaw]

I find it's the people that are the hardest to train!! They bend over and talk in high fast voices even when I ask them not to pet my dog until she sits. I usually move away when I see people approaching at the park and ask pup to sit and wait till the people have moved past. I tell them I'm training her and most people are happy to keep moving. I have the most problems at home with visitors, but we're making good progress. She's asked to sit as visitors approach and she actually self corrects herself most of the time from an attempted jump into a sit, but is wiggling so much with excitement it's not a very stable sit! But I do often put her on her leash if visitors come to my home because it is much easier to control her and once she's said hello she's usually fine.