How to deal with a Jumping Dog
Jumping
is a really common problem among dogs - or should
I say among dog owners? It’s rarely a problem
for the dogs themselves – in fact, jumping seems
to act as a reward in itself. It’s a different
kettle of fish for the exasperated owner, who’s
forced to deal with a new set of muddy footprints/gouges
in their skin and clothes/offended guests/scared children!
Many owners inadvertently encourage jumping behavior
from puppyhood: when a small puppy comes gamboling
up to us, wiggling with excitement and making small,
clumsy leaps at our knees, it’s almost natural
to lean down and respond in kind.
Effectively, we reward that puppy’s “jump-y”
greeting by reacting with exuberant affection, hugs
and kisses. The puppy learns a fast lesson: jumping
is a good thing, because it results in plenty of positive
attention and physical contact.
Your dog doesn’t understand the difference
between a jump as a small, cute puppy, and a jump
as a huge, hairy adult. To a dog, a greeting is a
greeting, and just because he’s aged by a few
months is no reason to stop jumping – at least,
not voluntarily.
You’ll need to take matters into your own hands,
and make it perfectly clear to your dog that jumping
is no longer an option.
When is jumping not appropriate?
Obviously, whether or not you’re prepared to
accept your dog’s insistence on redefining verticality
all comes down to personal preference.
Many owners of smaller dogs actually expect them
to jump up – among toy dog owners, jumping seems
to be viewed as a sign of excitement and affection
on the dog’s behalf. The good news is that these
dogs aren’t likely to knock anyone flying when
they’re feeling rambunctious, and they’re
small enough that their size usually won’t intimidate
any but the youngest of children.
On the other hand, there’s rarely a scenario
where strangers will actively welcome being leapt
up on by an unknown dog, regardless of said dog’s
size; really, it’s just plain good form to teach
your dog the “off” command, so that you’re
prepared for those incidences when you’re not
directly on hand to stop the jumping behavior.
For owners of large-breed dogs, the “off”
(or “no jump”) command is mandatory. Big
dogs are often taller than humans when they rear up
on their hind legs (and just imagine the experience
from a child’s point of view, with a dog’s
slavering jaws looming above your own head!) –
they’re often heavy enough to knock smaller
adults tip over tail. At the very least, a large dog’s
paws are heavy enough to gouge long rents in cloth
and exposed flesh. Bruising and scratches are unpleasant
enough to deal with when they’re your own problem;
but they’re much worse when your dog’s
inflicted them on somebody else!
Really, any kind of jumping that involves anyone
apart from yourself is just bad form. All owners with
even pretensions of responsibility should arm their
dogs with a reliable recall to the “off”
command – just in case.
Why does jumping happen?
The main reason that most dogs jump up is simply
out of excitement: it’s an enthusiastic greeting,
reserved for times when adrenaline’s running
high and the dog’s happy about something.
Many dogs don’t jump at all, apart from when
their owner returns home after a relatively prolonged
absence (like the average workday). If your dog is
leaping up on you in these circumstances, there’s
no sinister motivation at work here: he’s literally
jumping for joy.
A less common, but more serious, reason that some
dogs will jump is to exert their dominance over you
(or over whomever they’re jumping on). Dogs
are pack animals: they live in designated hierarchies
of social rank and order. When a dog needs to assert
his dominance over a lesser animal, one way of doing
so is to declare physical superiority, which is usually
done by “jumping up”: he’ll sling
one or both paws over the other dog’s shoulders.
You’ll be able to tell the basic reason for
your dog’s jumping simply by considering the
circumstances surrounding the event. If he only jumps
up in periods of great excitement (like during play-time,
or when you return home from work) then he’s
clearly just demonstrating an exuberant frame of mind.
If the behavior occurs in a variety of situations,
then it’s more likely that he’s expressing
dominance over you, which is a more complex issue
– the jumping’s just a symptom of an underlying
attitude and communication issue. Essentially, you’ll
need to make some serious adjustments to your overall
relationship with your dog, and brush up on your alpha-dog
techniques (tip: SitStayFetch has some fantastic resources
on coping with a dominant dog – there’s
a link to the site at the bottom of the page).
Four paws on the ground, please!
How you react to your dog’s jumping plays a
big role in whether or not that behavior gets repeated.
You’re going to need to make a prolonged effort
to be consistent in how you choose to deal with this
problem: for your dog to stop jumping, he needs to
be taught that it is never ever acceptable for him
to do so.
This means that you can’t allow him to jump
sometimes, but forbid him from doing it at other times.
Your dog can’t understand the difference between
a playful and an irritable mood, or your work and
play clothes: all he understands is that, if you allow
him to jump up on some occasions, he’ll try
to jump up on you whenever he feels like it, because
he doesn’t know any better.
Stopping the jumping
Most trainers agree that the most effective way for
you to weed out unwanted behaviors (like jumping)
in your dog is also the easiest: all you have to do
is simply ignore him whenever he jumps up. The idea
is to give him the cold shoulder: withdraw all attention,
even negative attention (so no yelling, shoving, or
corrections).
Here’s how to implement this training technique:
whenever your dog jumps up on you, turn your back
straight away. Since dogs understand body language
a lot more clearly than they do the spoken word, you’re
going to be using your posture to convey the message
that such behavior isn’t acceptable here: fold
your arms, turn your back, turn your face away from
him and avert your eyes. ‘
This is where a lot of people make a mistake: they
confuse ignoring the behavior with ignoring the dog.
You’re not ignoring the behavior - i.e., you’re
not carrying on with whatever you were doing as if
the jumping wasn’t happening; you’re ignoring
your dog. You’re still going to react; but your
reaction is for you to actively ignore him.
The cold shoulder is a really effective way of communicating
your displeasure to a dog – he’ll catch
on very quickly. Without the encouragement of your
attention and your reactions to his behavior, he’ll
calm down very quickly indeed.
When to praise
When all four paws are on the ground, then –
and only then – you can praise the heck out
of him!
Don’t be confused by the proximity of the positive
reinforcement to the negative – dogs have a
very short “training memory”, and are
only capable of associating a reaction from you with
whatever behavior it is they’re exhibiting at
the time of that reaction.
So, it’s perfectly OK for you to react with
wild enthusiasm the very second that his paws touch
the ground, even if you were cold-shouldering him
the split-second before.
Recommended Reading
For more information on understanding and solving
canine behavioral problems, you’d probably be
interested in checking out Secrets To dog Training.
It’s a complete how-to manual for dog owners,
and is packed with just about all the information
you’ll ever need on dog psychology, canine communication
how-to’s, practical advice for dealing with
problem behaviors, and detailed step-by-step guides
to obedience training.
To visit SitStayFetch, just click on the link below:
Visit
Secrets To Dog Training
|