Prevent Your Dog from Jumping Up

It can be rewarding to see your new puppy running towards you and leaping up at you in such an excited manner. It's good to know your puppy is so happy to see you! Encouraging this behaviour helps to reinforce in your dog that jumping up is a good thing. After all, the results speak for themselves; your dog receives lots of positive attention and physical contact. Unfortunately for your dog, it doesn't understand that as it gets bigger the jumping isn't so much fun for you any more. Training your dog not to jump up needs to start when your dog is a puppy. Puppies are much easier to manage and by preventing your dog from jumping up from an early age and reinforcing this as unacceptable you will feel confident about your dog's behavior in any situation.

What causes dogs to jump up?

It's pretty simple really; excitement. Your dog can get pretty excited about seeing you, particularly if you're out all day. This excitement can result in jumping up on you when you return. Your dog is letting you know how pleased it is to see you, a sign that your dog is happy! In some instances a dog will jump when it wants to dominate you or believes it has dominance over you. Jumping up can be a display of physical superiority. If this is the case you will need to remind your dog who is boss and reinforce that it is a lower ranking member of your 'pack'.

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What can I do about it?

The easiest and most effective way for you to prevent your dog from jumping up is to ignore your dog whenever it happens. This will be reinforced as negative attention and your dog will soon get the message that jumping up doesn't work. Whenever your dog jumps up on you, turn your back straight away. Dogs understand body language a lot more clearly than they do the spoken word and by using your posture to convey the message that such behavior isn’t acceptable, your dog will catch on quickly that this behavior doesn't get the desired result. Praising your dog when it has all four paws on the ground will on the other hand reinforce that this is a more acceptable way to behave. Make sure that you give your dog lots of praise when it behaves in the way you expect it to.

For more information on understanding and solving canine behavioral problems, you’d probably be interested in reading about Secrets to Dog Training.