When you first bring home a puppy, it’s easy to let them get away with seemingly innocent behaviors, such as jumping on you with excitement. As your puppy grows, this behavior can be problematic. A leaping dog can be intimidating to some people, while others, especially the very young or the very old, can be easily knocked over and injured.
Why Do Dogs Jump on People?
When a dog jumps on someone, it’s typically the animal’s way of showing happiness at seeing the person. It’s also instinctive for dogs to want to lick the faces of their “pack members,” especially around the mouth. This is, in fact, how wolves greet their fellow pack members.
Jumping is a behavior that many owners accidentally reinforce in their puppies. For instance, who hasn’t picked up an excited puppy because it was jumping up for attention? Unfortunately, this behavior can become an issue as the puppy grows bigger. By that point, your puppy has learned that jumping is a great way to get your attention.
How to Stop a Dog From Jumping on People
Dogs crave human attention, and it can be used to reward or discourage a pup from engaging in certain behaviors, such as jumping. That means you should not yell at the dog or push it away (which your dog could perceive as attention or even playing around). Instead, experts recommend that you should simply ignore a dog jumping on you until it settles down.
Of course, it’s important that everyone in your household is on board with ignoring your dog when it jumps. Otherwise, it could be very confusing to a canine if one person is okay with jumping, but others are not.
How to Stop a Dog From Jumping on a Stranger or Guests to Your Home
In addition to teaching your dog how to behave with you and your family members, you’ll also need to know how to stop your pup from jumping on people that they aren’t familiar with.
For these situations, experts suggest teaching your dog a behavior it can do when greeting a stranger, such as sitting down. Why? Because it’s usually easier for a dog to learn how to do something versus trying to understand the concept of not doing something, such as jumping.
The following is one way you can train dog to stop jumping on visitors.
- Leash train your dog by your side and ask it to sit.
- Next, have a friend approach your dog.
- If your dog gets up, have your friend walk back to the starting point. Then ask your dog to sit again.
- Repeat until your dog remains seated during your friend’s entire approach.
- Praise your dog quietly or reward it with a treat for behaving.
New arrivals can generate a lot of excitement for humans and dogs alike, which could cause your pup to forget its training. So, until your dog is fully trained, it is best to keep it crated or on a leash when new people enter your home. Once the initial excitement has died down, you can then allow your pet to meet the new person.
The best way to prevent a dog from jumping on people or engaging in other unacceptable behaviors is to train them while they’re still young. That’s why every dog sold by Recherche Doodles goes through a puppy training program before leaving for its new forever home. During this training, Recherche’s professional trainers work on such things as house training, socialization, and obedience.
