How to Get Your Dog to Stop Jumping on Kids and Guests

When a dog jumps on guests, it can be very annoying. When a dog jumps on children it can be terrifying. Rarely will you come across anyone who thinks your dog's jumping is cute.

What we don't realize is that we have trained our dog to jump on us for attention. Instinctively, a puppy will jump on his mother for attention. We reinforce this by picking up a puppy when they jump on us. Or, by petting our dog when they jump.

There are some things you can do to stop your dog from jumping on children and adults.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• leash

1. Make sure everyone in the household is on the same page when it comes to modifying this behavior. If one person in your house continues to allow the behavior, it will not work.

2. When your dog jumps on you, give the command "off" firmly. Do not yell or frighten the dog. Just be firm. If the dog does not get down, you can take his paws and place them on the ground. There is no need to be rough with the dog, just firm. Do this every time your dog jumps up.

3. Praise your dog and give him a lot of affection when he does a good job.

4. Place your dog on a leash when you are expecting children or adult guests. When the guests arrive, do not allow your dog to jump. Place your dog in the sit position before you open the door. If he gets wild and starts to jump, you can give him a short pull and put him back into the sit position. If your guests don't mind, it is helpful for them not to acknowledge your dog until he is sitting calmly and not jumping. Once the dog is sitting calmly, have the child or the adult guest pet the dog. If the dog begins to get wild again, the guest should walk away. This should be repeated every time you have a guest. It is real helpful if you have someone who is willing to help you work with the dog repeatedly.

5. Continue with the behavior modification until the behavior has changed. If your dog does not have other, major behavior problems, this should not be more than 7-10 days.

6. Remember that you will need to find another way to be affectionate with your dog. He can no longer jump up to you for play or affection. If you allow it once, it can undo all of your hard work.

Tips & Warnings

• A jumping dog can harm a child. This behavior needs to be modified immediately.

[edieness]

on 7/16/2009 Good tips on How to Get Your Dog to Stop Jumping on Kids and Guests.