Basic Dog Training Online Course

Problem Areas – Jumping

Introduction

One of the most common complaints about dogs – especially puppies and adolescent dogs – is jumping on people. While some people don’t mind it, or perhaps even enjoy it, most people do not. Most people do not want their own dogs jumping on them or other people. And other people rarely like someone else’s dog jumping on them. While it is often less problematic with smaller dogs, it’s good for dogs of any size to learn to use polite manners when greeting people, whether familiar or not.

The first thing we need to do in resolving a problem is try to understand the issue a little better. Sometimes with a bit of detective work, we realize that the issue at hand is a symptom of the actual problem. We always want to address the real or underlying problem because addressing only the symptom will often cause us more frustration in the long run.

We will utilize our Problem Solving Model to walk through this issue.

PROBLEM SOLVING MODEL

1. Define the problem. What specifically is your dog doing? In this case, your dog is jumping on people. We will dig further into when and where it’s happening below.

2. Determine when and where the behavior is happening. Does your dog jump on you? On the entire family? On visitors? On everyone he meets or only certain people? Some dogs jump only on the people they know or only on favorite people. Others jump only on new people.  Does your dog jump on you only when you arrive home after you’ve been gone? Does he jump on people when he wants to play? Does he jump on you as you are preparing his dinner? Detail under what specific circumstances it occurs.

3. When is it a problem: all of the time or only at certain times? Does someone in your dog’s life encourage and reward jumping behavior? Does one person like it when the dog jumps to greet? Do you encourage jumping during play but not when you are dressed for work? Are there times when jumping is ever acceptable?

4. Can you define the trigger? What sets off the behavior? You might already have the answer to this question from your response to #2 above defining when and where it happens. The trigger might be someone arriving home, a visitor entering the house, or when he gets overexcited during play.

When answering this question, also consider how you have been responding to your dog when he jumps. Is it possible you have been reinforcing this behavior without realizing it? Every time your dog is given attention for jumping, the behavior is reinforced and it is likely to happen again the next time the dog is in that situation. The initial trigger, for example, might be you entering your home. However, if the behavior continues and has not been decreasing, then more than likely something you are doing is reinforcing the jumping, so your response might be an additional trigger beyond the initial trigger of arriving home.

If your dog only jumps on certain people, look at how those people are approaching or reacting to your dog. For example, if some people ignore or are calm around the dog and he doesn’t jump on those people, but he does jump on anyone who says, “Hi Fido!” in a higher-pitched “happy” voice, then that happy voice might be a trigger for your dog. For some dogs, eye contact will be a trigger. Your dog might have all four feet on the ground until someone makes eye contact with him and then the jumping begins! For social dogs, making eye contact sometimes serves as an invitation to interact. I see this often with clients’ dogs. As soon as I make eye contact, the dog gets very excited as if he’s thinking: “You’ve acknowledged me! Clearly you must want to interact with me, so let me jump up and get closer to your face so we can get to know each other better!” Certainly, I am anthropomorphizing here, but if you have one of those dogs, you know what I am talking about.

For some dogs, jumping might be triggered by the way a person approaches. If people approach by making eye contact with you instead of your dog, then ask to interact with your dog before actually making any direct contact with your dog, your dog might remain calmer and not jump. If people approach directly and reach over the dog’s head, dogs might also be more likely to jump. If people approach from the side and touch at the shoulder or chest instead of over the head, some dogs will also remain calmer. If your dog only jumps on some people, note how they approach and interact with your dog and whether it affects how your dog interacts.

People who do not like dogs jumping on them will often push the dog away and tell the dog no, off, down or no jump. They might raise a knee to the dog’s chest either to punish the dog or protect themselves, or grab and even squeeze the dog’s paws. Others will step on the dog’s toes. I do NOT recommend any of these, by the way! While you might think of these things as punishments to discourage your dog from jumping, your dog might see some of these actions as interaction and attention. It might not be exactly the form of attention he was looking for, but his behavior did get you or someone else to interact with him, so he considers himself successful! Take note of any responses by you or others that might actually trigger or exacerbate the jumping behavior.

5. Is the problem you defined in Question 1 the real problem or only a symptom? If it is not the real problem, determine the real problem and proceed based on that issue. Jumping certainly can be a problem, but based on your answers to the questions above, have you determined that jumping might be a symptom of your dog seeking attention? If the true problem is attention-seeking behavior or perhaps lack of self control when over-aroused, then you will need to address those issues, not just the jumping itself.

Look at it this way: let’s say jumping is an attention-seeking behavior. I can teach you how to get your dog to stop jumping. However, if you don’t address teaching your dog what to do when he wants attention but only address the jumping, your dog will find another way to get your attention. It’s likely his alternative will not be something you like any better than the jumping. Now, your dog might start barking, pawing at you, nipping at your heels, stealing your shoes or getting into the trash. If any of those work to get your attention instead of jumping, you will have resolved the jumping issue but not the attention-seeking problem.

6. Determine how you can manage the behavior. The first step to ending an unwanted behavior is to prevent it from happening whenever possible. If your dog has been jumping on people for quite some time, then it might be a strongly-ingrained habit by now. You will have a much greater chance of success if you break that habit by preventing it from happening while you are in the process of changing the behavior.

If your dog jumps on visitors, for example, you might manage the behavior for now by having your dog behind a baby gate when people enter your home. You might have him on leash. You or someone else in your household might hold his leash while people enter. If it’s just you, and you need to open the door, you might tether him by his leash to a sturdy object such as a piano leg, a banister or something else sturdy enough that your dog cannot pull the object to the door with him or break it.

If he jumps on you when you arrive home, where is he? Is he in a crate, loose in the house, or somewhere else? If he is in a crate, then you are already preventing him from jumping on you when you immediately arrive home. However, you will need to work on what he does when he exits the crate. If he is loose in the house, you might need to find a way to manage his jumping while you get in the door. This might mean putting up a baby gate (assuming he can’t jump over it) at a doorway away from your entrance point so you can get in the door and then address him. Depending on where your dog is in the house and your house layout, your management plan might be something different. Sometimes you need to get creative with your management plan!

If your dog jumps on you during play, one of your management steps might be to change the way you play with your dog. Do you play chase and have him chase you, which causes jumping in his excitement? If so, you might stop the chase games and find something that is less likely to get him jumping on you. A game of fetch, hide-and-seek, or other games that do not direct his energy and excitement at you might be better choices.

No matter how good your management plan is, there will still be times when you simply cannot prevent your dog from jumping. Along with managing the behavior as well as you can at this point, you also need to ensure that your management plan includes NOT rewarding or perpetuating the jumping when it does occur. You need to ensure your dog gets no attention for jumping. If jumping works to get what he wants, your dog has no incentive to do anything else. Attention could include touching, talking to, or even looking at your dog.

Do not turn your back to your dog, as many dogs will simply jump on your back. If your dog is on leash, the person he is jumping on can step out of reach. If your dog is not leashed, it’s better to step toward your dog. Fold in your arms, turn to the side, and step into your dog. Don’t step on your dog, but toward him so he has to back out of your space. Now that your dog has all four feet on the ground, what do you do? That answer comes in step #7 below.

If your dog is jumping on people you meet out on walks, stop and wait for people to approach who want to pet your dog. Stand on your dog’s leash to get better control over him and help prevent jumping while he is learning to sit politely. If you are holding the leash in your hand, your dog can still jump up. However, if you stand on the leash and give your dog just enough leash length to be able to stand, sit or lie down (but not jump up), he will have no upward mobility, helping him learn to keep all four feet on the ground. You’re not forcing him to the ground, only preventing him from moving up toward people’s faces. This is particularly useful if there are small children, elderly people, or others with limited mobility who might more easily be knocked down or injured if your dog jumps, especially if you have a large strong dog. Just be careful that your dog does not knock you off your feet. For very strong excitable dogs, this might not be the best choice, especially if you are not strong enough to hold your dog’s leash under your foot.

If your dog is jumping on others, whether at your home or out in public, manage the way people are allowed to approach and interact with your dog. Ask people to focus on you first instead of your dog. Ask them to remain just out of reach of your dog (assuming he is on a short leash or otherwise managed so he can’t approach the person) until your dog is calm enough for interaction. When people do interact, ask them NOT to make direct eye contact. Ask them to approach from the side rather than head on at your dog. Ask them to pet your dog on his shoulder, back or chest, but not over the top of his head. By managing the way people interact with your dog, you can sometimes manage how your dog reacts. When we teach people polite ways to interact with our dogs, our dogs can more easily learn how to manage their own behavior

If your dog is jumping during play, the game should end immediately. If you continue to play, even if you’re telling your dog to stop jumping, you will encourage more overexcitement and jumping behavior.

7. Determine what behavior or job you want your dog to do in place of the unwanted behavior. If jumping is attention-seeking behavior, then you want to teach your dog a more appropriate behavior to gain attention.

This step is the one people often miss: replace the unwanted behavior with an alternative behavior. If jumping no longer works to get attention, what will? If you don’t teach your dog what you want him to do instead of jumping, he will create his own alternative behavior— barking, nipping at you or pawing you—and you probably won’t like this new behavior any better than jumping. You get the idea; you will end up with another behavior to eliminate, and your dog will return to jumping if the new behavior stops working. The ideal alternative behavior is one that is incompatible with the unwanted behavior.

Having your dog sit in place of jumping is a good alternative. He cannot jump and sit at the same time. If your dog has already jumped, ignore the jumping. Once your dog has all four feet on the ground, ask him to sit. Preventing the behavior from happening in the first place is an even better alternative to ignoring it. Rather than wait for your dog to jump, ask your dog to sit BEFORE he has a chance to jump. If you allow your dog to jump before you ask for a sit, you risk creating a chain of behaviors where your dog jumps and then sits. Even asking for a sit while your dog is jumping on you is giving him some sort of attention for jumping!

Another possible alternative might be teaching your dog to go lie on his bed and wait for people to approach and pet him. Another example is having your dog bring a toy and drop it at your feet. He is inviting you to interact but in a way that does not involve jumping. You are telling him what will be more effective than jumping.

If your dog is jumping on visitors, ask your dog to sit while your visitors enter your home. Visitors should ignore your dog until he calms down, as he should only be allowed to greet and be petted if he is relatively calm. This might take some time but it will be worth it in the long run. When visitors arrive, you could manage your dog by closing him in a back room or outside. While this could be necessary sometimes to prevent your dog from making poor choices, your dog will not learn how to behave appropriately if you always separate him from visitors.

Even though it can be difficult, you do need to practice or your dog will never learn what you want him to do. You don’t need to wait for visitors to arrive in order to practice. Even if no one is at the door, your dog can practice by sitting politely back from the doorway while you go to open it. Ring the doorbell and have your dog go to a spot back away from the doorway. Have a family member or friend stand outside and knock on the door or ring the doorbell. When you know that an understanding friend is coming over, ask her to help you with your dog’s door manners by waiting outside until your dog is ready for her to come in. Then have her go outside and repeat the process several times. By the fifth time or so, your dog should be calmer. Don’t forget to reward your friends for helping you out!

If your dog is jumping on people you meet out on walks, ask your dog to sit and wait as people approach. Only allow people to pet your dog if he sits calmly. If he tries to jump, have people stop or turn away and stay out of reach until he is sitting again. Most dogs will quickly learn that sitting is what gets people to approach.

If your dog is jumping during play, find games that do not encourage jumping. If your dog begins jumping only after he reaches a certain level of excitement, taking breaks during play is a good idea. The alternative to allowing his arousal to build too high is monitoring play so that he can be excited without getting overexcited. If he jumps during play because you are teasing him by holding a toy out of his reach, adjust your play so there is nothing for him to jump up toward.

8. Teach your dog what you want him to do, as determined in Question 7.  If you have decided to teach your dog to sit in order to be greeted, then first you need to ensure your dog understands and will reliably sit when asked. Keep in mind that dog’s tend to be very context specific, so just because your dog understands sit in the kitchen when treats are being handed out, it does not mean that he will automatically understand sit at the front door with guests arriving. You need to teach your dog what these cues (such as sit or stay) mean in the context you need them.

If your focus is your dog’s behavior at the front door, for example, practice sit there many times even without guests arriving or you entering the house before you work on asking him to sit when someone enter the house. Remember, not only are dogs context specific, but any time your dog is in a higher state of arousal, it makes it more difficult for him to respond. At least, until he’s had lots of practice. Start when he is less aroused and gradually work up to the higher arousal situations. For example, if your dog gets more excited about new people than people he knows, start by practicing with people he knows. Even if he does not jump on these people, this is the best time to practice the behavior you want him to choose with everyone else.

If you have chosen other behaviors, again, train those in less excitable situations first so that he is very reliable at responding to you when he is not so excited. If he can’t perform the behavior routinely without the excitement of a visitor he has been jumping on, he certainly won’t be able to perform it when he’s too highly aroused. It takes lots of practice and repetition!

9. Ensure your dog has an appropriate outlet for his behavior if it is a natural dog behavior that you are unlikely to eliminate entirely. Some dogs are jumping simply to gain attention or because they are in a high state of arousal and are not sure what else to do. If your dog is merely jumping to get your attention and you’re teaching him an alternative, then there might not be any need to give him an outlet for his jumping behavior. However, if you have a dog who truly just loves to jump, then find some appropriate outlets for him to jump. Let’s say your dog likes to jump during play. He’s just a very bouncy dog. Take one of his toys and hang it by a rope from the sturdy branch of a tree in your back yard. Hang it just high enough that he has to jump to reach it. Hanging it from a sturdy bungee cord might be even better as it will bounce around if he hits it. Make sure it’s set up safely so that he can’t hurt himself by playing with it. Don’t hang it so high that he throws his back out trying to catch it. But give him an outlet for jumping that is fun for him but does not involve jumping on a person.

Let’s say that you or someone else in your dog’s life actually likes having the dog jump up. While it is often easier to simply not allow any jumping on people at all, it is possible to allow jumping in specific contexts. Remember, that dogs tend to be very context specific, so you can teach your dog that jumping in certain situations is allowed. For example, let’s say there is one family member who wants the dog to jump when greeting or playing. In this case, I would suggest that you focus primarily on establishing the “default” or priority behavior of sitting politely – or whatever your jumping alternative you’ve chosen. Then teach your dog that jumping is allowed ONLY when it is cued. Even if the person who likes the dog jumping is the one being jumped on, jumping should NEVER be allowed when anyone has not specifically asked for the behavior. In this way, you can still allow jumping in some cases, but you control it by only allowing and rewarding it when you have specifically asked for the jumping behavior. For some dogs, this will be a bit more confusing at first, and it might take longer to eliminate the jumping in situations where it is not wanted. But in the long run, for most dogs, this can be an option that allows everyone to be happy.

10. If you are having trouble resolving the issue on your own, we are always available for consultation. Sometimes having someone to walk through the issue and brainstorm ideas that will work for you and your situation is helpful.

CAUTION! Be careful about punishing your dog for jumping. While you might stop the jumping, you might also stop your dog from wanting to greet anyone. In the worst case scenario, you might teach your dog to be afraid and be aggressive toward people when they approach. From your dog’s perspective, his best defense against being punished and subsequently feeling pain when people approach is to keep them away in the first place. Sometimes, fear-related aggression in a dog can be created inadvertently by punishing him for his behaviors. Work to prevent jumping and reward more appropriate behaviors. He can still be enthusiastic about meeting people. You just need to help him learn a better way to show it!

Videos (below);

1. Management & Training For Jumping When You Arrive Home
2. Teaching Polite Greetings With Visitors
3. Jumping During Play

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