Stopping Your Dog From Jumping On People

  Posted on January 31, 2014  by joyofliving  No comments

Your dog is excited. He likes people and is happy when new people visit. Dogs are built to jump and it’s something they love to do. It may seem almost impossible to get your dog to stop trying to jump up in the faces of your family and friends at times.

When it comes to bad behaviors, jumping up on people is one of the easier problems to stop. Here are some tips to help you make the jumping stop.

Why Your Dog Is Jumping

There are reasons why your dog is jumping. Your dog wants to be dominant over any new people who enter the house. Your dog thinks he’s the alpha dog in the home, the leader of the pack, and he thinks he can do what he wants to do.

In some cases a dog jumps because he wants to be closer to people so they can greet them. Dogs sniff and smell other dogs’ faces as a greeting, so it’s possible he wants to smell our faces.

Dogs will also jump because they’ve been rewarded for jumping in the past. If you pet your dog for jumping you’re reinforcing bad behavior, which gives your dog the message that you approve of the behavior.

Stopping The Jumping

So, how can you make the jumping stop? First, do not make a fuss about returning home. If your dog gets excited and overly happy when people come in the house, your dog will show this same kind of behavior when strangers come in the home. That includes the elderly and children, and these are people who could be hurt by an overly excited dog.

Start waiting 10 to 15 minutes after you arrive home before you greet your dog. This will remove the excitement from your greeting and allow your dog to calm down. Get down on your dog’s level to give the greeting.

If your dog is jumping in order to get to your face, when you get down to your dog’s level, he will stop jumping. Your dog can smell your face and there is no jumping. You can teach your dog that he only gets to greet you when you are on his level.

You can also teach your dog to respond to certain commands. Teach your do to sit and stay before greeting them. Teach your dog the “Off” command so they get off you right away.

Teaching Your Dog The “Off” Command

Teach your dog the “Off” command by saying, “OFF” when your dog jumps on you. Your dog may not understand what you’re saying at first. If you give your dog a reward for getting off you as soon as they do, such as a treat or praise, your dog will start to learn quickly.

Be consistent with the command. Tell everyone in your home that your dog has to follow the new command. Allowing your dog to disobey the command is unacceptable. If everyone follows the same command with your dog, your dog will learn much more quickly the meaning of “OFF.”

No one wants their dog to jump on people and possibly hurt someone when they visit. This is a special worry with children and the elderly who can easily be hurt if they fall. You can avoid this kind of accident by teaching your dog from an early age that jumping is unacceptable.