How to Stop Your Dog From Jumping

A dog jumping on people is a standard action that almost every dog does. It’s their way of greeting you and ensuring they have your attention. From a human perspective, this is seen as more of dangerous and annoying action. Nice clothes can get muddy and people can get knocked over and injured, especially kids and the elderly. There are much better ways for a dog to greet people, which is why Giving a Dog a Bone wants to help you stop your dog from jumping on everyone they see. 

Why Dogs Jump When They See Someone

Dogs will repeat actions that lead to rewards. One of the biggest rewards for a dog is securing your attention which jumping does perfectly. Even telling them “no” and grabbing their paws is still a sign they have your attention. Pushing your dog away will be seen as a sign of play. 

In order to prevent jumping, you need to remove any sense of rewarding them. That means managing your dog so they don’t continue to jump while you train them to use the new method. 

How To Train Better Greeting Behavior

If you ignore your dog when they start jumping, it should theoretically stop jumping over time. Not paying attention to them removes the rewarding sensation. The issue is that everyone isn’t going to know these rules which can be very frustrating for you and the dog. They should be taught what to do rather than having it disappear over time. 

How you want your dog to greet people is up to you. You can teach four paws on the ground, or you can have them sit or lay down. It’s important to remember that you need to tell them what to DO and not just what NOT to do. 

Training Four on the Floor

Keeping all four paws on the ground is an effective way to teach your dog how to properly greet people. This is done by placing treats on the floor during greetings. The idea is that your dog will feel more rewarded by keeping its paws on the ground rather than jumping on someone. The following steps can help teach four on the floor:

• Keep your dog on a leash and have someone approach your dog.
• Before they get to your dog, throw some treats on the floor
• While they eat them off the ground, have the person pet and greet them
• Before they can finish the treats, have the person back away.
• After several attempts, repeat the process but extend the greeting by throwing additional treats on the floor throughout the entire greeting.
• Once your dog keeps all four paws on the ground, let them greet the person before you place the first treat on the ground. 
• As your dog begins to learn, lessen the number of treats put on the ground.

The trick is to be quick with the treats. You should anticipate that your dog will jump and provide treats before it can happen. If you’re timing is off and the dog jumps, have the person turn around and walk away as you stop feeding the dog. As time goes on, your dog will realize that keeping its paws on the ground is more rewarding than jumping up on someone. 

Need Dog Jumping Help?

Training your dog to learn any new trick isn’t easy. It takes time, patience, and several different attempts before they start to get the picture. If you need additional help preventing your dog from jumping, contact the dog training experts at Giving a Dog a Bone.