Does your puppy or dog jump up on you? Does he jump up on your house guests?
Does he jump on strangers he meets while out on walks?
Would you like some help changing that behaviour?
Before you change this behaviour (slap on a bandaid that will eventually fall off,) stick around (pun intended) and learn one of the reasons why he jumps up in the first place.
If you take the time to view the world through your dog’s eyes, you’ll improve your relationship and be able to prevent the jumping up too.
If you watch a pack of dogs interacting, you will notice that excited (I’ve-been-in-a-crate-all-day-and-now-I’m-here-at-the-dogpark-Whhhheeeeee!) energy is not tolerated. Dogs who enter the dog park with no rules, boundaries, and limits are quickly checked by the other dogs. They get chased away from the pack. If they don’t settle down, they get jumped on, growled at, bitten (at an appropriate level to send the message,) nipped, chased away again, ignored, and as a last-resort: pinned. The humans misinterpret this, blaming the dogs who chase away, growl, snap at, or pin this excited newcomer. It is not their fault. The dog’s owner who just allowed their over-excited dog to jump on/mouth/bite/nip/mount the other dogs is the issue in this situation. It’s not the dog’s fault.
Dogs correct each other to bring each other back to a balanced state (Photo: a snarling, tan-coloured dog and a black dog wrestle on grass)
In the dog world a follower is not allowed to jump on the leader of the pack. It is considered disrespectful. If you allow your dog to jump up on you, you are sending a message in his language “dog” that he is the leader (and a P.S. that you have no boundaries and he can feel free to keep testing you.)
Now that we understand that dogs do not tolerate rude, excited, jumping-up behaviour, we can begin to understand why our own dogs struggle when excited humans using baby talk are rushing toward them (and you) to greet. Humans greet each other using a lot of things dogs don’t use when they greet each other. We make high-pitched gleeful sounds, we run toward each other, we hug, we shake hands, and make direct eye contact. Dogs do none of this.
Humans greet with way more excitement than what is natural to dogs (Photo: a man sweeps a woman into a hug - she is lifted off the ground and smiling)
You have likely noticed that there are one or two people in your life who get your dog way too excited when they arrive at your home and all your training goes out the window. Your dog jumps on this person. Maybe mouths them. Pees on the floor. But when your calm friends come over or your indifferent-to-dogs parents pop by, your dog is calm and doesn’t jump.
Wait for it….
There’s the lightbulb moment.
Dogs simply require calmer greetings. They correct excited energy with their mouths and with jumping on the other dog (if required) to calm them down.
You have the power to help your dog succeed with greeting guests in your home, strangers on the street, and people who arrive to your friend’s cottage. You must educate the people around you on how to properly greet a dog. Speak up.
Tip to educate your friends and family:
Put a sign outside your door that reads:
Pickles is in training. To help her succeed, please practice: no touch, no talk, no eye contact until she is calm.
Use a leash when guests come over to prevent your dog’s feet from reaching your guest.
Why?
Because if the person pets your dog or greets them with baby talk when your dog’s paws are on them, they’ve just rewarded him for jumping up.
It’s very confusing to your dog if they get rewarded for jumping up sometimes and punished at other times.
Be consistent and you’ll reach your goals.
Happy training, Dog Leaders!
Alyssa
Photos by: Ronan Furuta @ronan18 (Shepherd mix jumping up with his tongue sticking out,) Guillaume de Germain @guillaumedegermain (a snarling, tan-coloured dog and a black dog wrestle on grass,) HiveBoxx
@hiveboxx (a man sweeps a woman into a hug - she is lifted off the ground and smiling,)