jumping up on people

[DougG]

I'm sure this topic has been covered before as it's a typical problem with dogs.

Greta loves to jump up and greet people when they come in. What's the best way to stop this? We've just started turning our backs and ignoring her when she does this to us. Of course, then she jumps up on our backside. Even tougher to train when other people come in the house.

Suggestions?

Also, we don't allow Greta up on the furniture, but she'll jump up with her two front paws. Suggestions on stopping this as well? We are consistent with saying OFF! and push her off. She's not quite getting it though.

Greta is only 5 mos. old, but I want to make sure we're doing the right thing now for when she gets even bigger.

Thanks!
Doug

[Natalie]

As for teaching "off", I managed to teach that to Trip pretty quickly. What we did was this:

First - I sat on the couch and invited him to join me (didn't name it- just patted the space available next to me) Then, I got up off of the couch. As he followed me off of the couch, I said "off". We repeated that several times. Then, I'd say the word first, then get up from the couch. If he followed me or started to get off before I did, then he got a treat. He started to pick up on the word meaning, at which point I started pointing at the couch and he'd get on it. I'd say "off and he'd get off of it. Every time he got off of the couch, he got a treat. Period. Once he had it, I weaned him off of them. We had a few practice sessions the first two days and he's had it down pat ever since. Now, he only gets on the couch or bed when invited and he always promptly gets down when asked to.

As for the jumping up, when you turn your back on her, do you ignore her? Slightly take a step away from her? I used that method some, too. I'd turn my back in a huff, stare at the cieling and completely ignore him until he got down. Then, I'd ask for some other behavior (sit or down) that he could not do while jumping (although he got a little creative with a bouncing sit he sure tried LOL). If she knows that if she sits, say three feet, away from the door when someone enters the house that she might get a treat (slot machine theory here - might get one - might not) but if she jumps up on them then she'll get ignored, then she'll be more likely to sit on her "greeting spot" instead of jump on whoever's at the door. So I'd try teaching her to greet people with a sit or down first, then pick a spot - have a friend come in and out of the door a few times and you call her to that spot, ask her to sit and give her a treat. If you practice it enough, she will automatically go to that spot when folks enter the house. Someone else here taught (very successfully) their Brit to do that - so they may have a better method of teaching it.

I'm sure you'll get more input on this. The folks on this board give some great advice.... Good luck!

[adele]

I started with Lola when she was a puppy so maybe its not the same but when I first got her kept her on leash when people were about. If she tried to jump on people I pulled her back (gently I never jerked her), said "off", and when her 4 feet where on the floor said "good girl". The guests were only allowed to pat her when she was sitting. This part was an accident - but eventually I started saying "now you be a good girl, sit" when people wanted to pat her. Now I simply say "you be good" and she'll sit to receive the pats and scratches that are her due. Now that you make me think about it ... things are getting a little lax and she does occasionally jump on a few friends. Guess its back to work on that.

As for staying off the furniture. Well, she was never allowed on so it wasn't an issue. However, I got tired of bending over to pat her or sitting on the floor when I wanted to cuddle so, I gave up on that. Now she has a blanket on the end of the couch and she considers that her place. She stares and cries if someone is sitting in her spot Spoiled, spoiled dog.

[swillow66]

Now she has a blanket on the end of the couch and she considers that her place. She stares and cries if someone is sitting in her spot Spoiled, spoiled dog.

That's funny! Madison can pout like you cannot believe if she doesn't get her spot!! Those silly girls!

Natalie and Adele both have the perfect idea! Now if only my DH would quit encouraging "hugs" from my two!

[Lisa]

That's funny! Madison can pout like you cannot believe if she doesn't get her spot!! Those silly girls!

Britty is so sure of her spot on the couch that if someone is sitting in it, she'll just climb up and squeeze behind them, and lay down. Once she's kinda in her spot, she'll shove with her feet until the intruder moves! Yeah, she's a brat.

As far as jumping...yup, what Natalie and Adele said. I always just make my two sit for attention, and they don't get any until they are sitting. We practiced on leash, and I would frequently tie their leash to a chair so that if they tried to jump on me, I could step back out of their range, and then when they sat, I could approach them to pet.

[DougG]

If she jumps up on us, we turn our back to her and walk away. But she' keep jumping up on the back our legs! So we walk away. She gets the hint, but it doesn't keep her from doing it the next time.

When we're at the dinner table, she'll jump up on us, so we just ignore her and turn away from her. She's starting to get the hint about that.

For jumping up, we say OFF!. She does it usually, but it's not stopping her from doing it again. This has been going on for some time now. We are now in obedience classes and we'll see what the instructor recommends.

The instructor talked about sit as the good behavior. So anytime Greta sits after she's done something incorrectly, it's cookie time. She'll learn. It's just going to take some time.

Thanks!

[kat]

We have left a leash on the dogs (only under supervision) and then when they tried jumping up, we could step on the leash and prevent them from being able to jump. This also worked as a training exercise when we could have someone come to our door and help with this.

[Lorie]

Britty is so sure of her spot on the couch that if someone is sitting in it, she'll just climb up and squeeze behind them, and lay down. Once she's kinda in her spot, she'll shove with her feet until the intruder moves! Yeah, she's a brat.

This happened to my hubby I would not say Britty is a brat she has a royal heir about her and she is soooo sweet the way she does it, that the humans give in. Britty makes people understand it is my way or no way at all.

[harleygrl1219]

Have you taken her to obedience? Synder was a jumper and we learned not to jump in class. It was constantly saying off and turning our backs on her and eventually she got the hang of it. I must say it did take a long time.

[britsrfun]

I've trained the people to ask for a sit when they come in to the house, they give a treat, and life is good.

[acaila]

It was constantly saying off and turning our backs on her and eventually she got the hang of it. I must say it did take a long time.

I'll say what takes somewhat less time, though you need buy-in from everyone in the house and the occasional guest at first.

Also know that some people might not like doing it this way, but I needed an immediate fix after my wife's beagle broke the skin of her 88 year old grandmother. There's nothing like seeing that kind of thing happen to get buy-in from someone. When they think about not following the plan and letting the dog jump and get petted, a simple "What about your grandma?" goes a long way.

When you open the door and you know they are going to come barreling into you, just lift your knee. The dog will jump and hit the knee and bounce off. At the same time, use the command, "off." But that isn't what the dog wants, it wants to be in your lap. At that point you can do the ignoring thing that other people have posted with.

This worked really well with my Brittany and now when we visit people, he just gets excited and rubs up against their legs to get petted. He's so good looking he always gets petted. I suppose I could train him to wait patiently, but I don't mind the rubbing, and others generally don't either. It is a lot different than jumping.


This training was over a year ago and I haven't had to do it since with my dogs, though if a friends' dog (70 pound lab) or a relatives dog (90 pound lab) comes at me when I open the door, I use it on them. If they can't train their dog not to jump on people, I won't let it jump on me. In fact, with the relatives dog, they alway remark how better behaved their dog is when I'm there because after our initial greeting, it just wants to lay at my feet.

Another friend's puppy tried jumping on me when I went to let it out for him and we did the same steps. The next day I went to let the dog out again and he didn't jump at all, just waited patiently for me to poor his food.

That is the proper time to show affection, when the dog is waiting patiently, doing exactly as you want it.

[Trunnell]

I've trained the people to ask for a sit when they come in to the house, they give a treat, and life is good.

What about when the person doesn't have a treat to give the dog?

[Barb Wright]

Usually in training where you are using treats you are also using a verbal expression, such as "good dog", "yes, good", or just a "thank you". If you find yourself without a treat the "atta girl/boy" will have to do as a reward. When using treats for training there does come a time when you will begin to phase out the treat and just use the verbal reward. This is necessary for just the reason you questioned, you don't always have goodies in your pocket, and of course they need to learn to obey your command regardless. Dogs adjust to this "sometimes there is a goodie, sometimes not", as they should.