Best Way To Stop Puppy Jumping Up On People?

[kiki]

My 5 month old lab loves to jump up at people.

I have tried the ignoring thing....it hasn't seemed to help at all

He is worse with visitors - nearly pushing them over!

I need a better method to make the message clear to him - jumping is not acceptable.

Any suggestions?

[my_sibe_owns_me]

Tell the pup no in a deep voice and push them down every time

OR

Place a leash and collar on the dog and when you come in to say hi ect. step on the leash to keep the pup from jumping up and when he calms down and sits pet him.

ETA: If niether work try to not make a big deal out of you or other people coming and going. This means dont say hi or bye to the dog when you leave or come just keep going on about your day and once the dog calms down you can pet it (You can do this by walking outside your front door, stand their for a min and go back in and ignore the dog and keep doing it over and over till he no longer makes a deal over you or others coming in)

Edited October 29, 2006 by my_sibe_owns_me

[Tonymc]

kiki, how long have you ignored the Pup when he is trying to jump on you?You need to keep ignoring the Pup as long as it takes.When the Pup is sitting or acting calmly then give it attention.

Tonymc

[Krystie]

and don't forget to make sure all you're visitors give your pup the silent treatment when it's jumping too! One incidence of a visitor patting your dog while it's jumping on them will set them back immensely...

[Scarlet]

K9 suggested this: Put a lead on the dog when visitors come and put your foot on the lead so the dog can't jump - then be consistent. Do it every time and reward when the dog is calm and not jumping.

[Nekhbet]

your pup should know not to jump - I assume he has other respect issues as well if he's still doing this.

When you ignore, put your knee up when he jumps so he cant ge close to you. Dont kick the dog, but enough that he is bumped back. Dont look at him but enough times and they get the fact that falling over isnt fun.

As for guests, puppy doesnt even get to meet them until you have better control. At the moment he's not paying attention to you so you are teaching him to ignore you and treat guests as a reason to go nutty! Put him away with a meaty bone, maybe when he's quiet walk him in to meet people ON LEAD but if he gets excited walk him straight out of the room, make him sit and settle then try again. If after 3 times he keeps being silly put him outside again.

He's a labrador and as such is by nature a very exhuberant breed. They need a lot of consistant obedience and rule laying so you have better control. Treats go down really well cos they're piggies so make sure you always REWARD THE GOOD behaviour! As soon as he does something good, especially without having to be told, reward it with heaps of quiet pats and 'good dog'. Reinforce what the right things are.

[Wynnlake]

I have a very excitable border collie. I too had the same troubles with her. I actually read on one of these forums and very good method to stop them jumping up. When your dog jumps up, grab its front paws firmly but not to tightly. Move him around on this back legs so that he is semi off balance and finding it really uncomfortable. Keep moving him backwards and forwards side to side etc at the same time as praising him. Do this until he struggles to get out of your hold. Make sure you do it everytime he jumps up, get your guests to do it also, or alternatively keep him away from them until he has learnt. It will only take a couple of day, and your dog will soon learn that its not fun to jump up on you anymore and hence wont do it.

My border collie sometimes hesitates and thinks about jumping up, but knows she will be put in an uncomfortable situation if she does, so she doesnt!

I hope that helps.

[Nekhbet]

Candice I would be careful with this method as it can frighten some pups. If the pup is struggling and you let go he runs the risk of falling or hurting himself. Conversely the pup can learn to nip you when it starts feeling uncomfortable. You are still engaging the pup but in a negative way.

I would never have strangers do this to your dog, especially pups, as they can associate strangers with feeling stress or pain.

[Wynnlake]

yeah fair call Nekhbet. My girl was 18 months old when doing this as no other method was working. 18 months old is old enough to read your dog and know how she is going to respond, so in that sence, this method worked well for her and me. As for a 5 month old, yeah, maybe not such a great idea. And as Nekhbet said, it is a negative training method. But at the end of the day, if my dog isnt jumping and putting dirty/muddy feet all over my white shirts, im happy.

Kiki, maybe use this idea as a last resort when the pups a bit older!

[Flying Penguin]

With Sam we just ignored her and she would stop, it only took a week or so and now she doesnt jump on anyone when they come over. We rewarded her when she didnt jump or no longer jumped once she was ignored.

Now we just need to fix her jumping when food around

[Tapferhund]

WOW all this negativity towards puppy wonderful excitment and exuberance

This is something I have never worried over as all pups do this and I love it. I have also found they grow out of it with time and obedience training.

Why don't you try enjoying it by getting down to the pups level, hug him heaps for a minute or two during his jumping then firmly but nicely get him to sit and give him a bicky or some type of treat for doing so and which will occupy him from further jumping .

Then each time the pup comes up for a jump, shorten the time for 'hellos' and hugs getting him to sit....then eventually as soon as he comes up to you,get him to sit straight away giving him his reward.

Now I suppose I better go and :D