How do i stop my 9 month old pit bull from jumping on me?

Question

Someone told me not to pet him because that encourages the behavior but, I cant make him stop.

Answer 1

Everytime the dog jumps kick him in his chest...not to hard but hard enough to knock him down. Besides this action ignore the dog. When the dog comes up to you and DOESNT jump bend to the dogs level and give lots of love!

I better rephase..I meant to KNEE him in the chest not KICK..sorry!!!!!

Answer 2

I have a 2-year old pit who has been in an Animal Rescue League since she was 6 months old, found as a stray. She has no impulse control, which is what it sounds like you are dealing with. I have to disagree with the pinch collar suggestion because Pits tend to have fair skin and that could cause nasty skin problems. My trainer told me to give Jubee the length of the leash. If she pulls, stop walking. After a while she learned that if she sits down and looks at me, she gets the slack in the leash that will make me start walking again. It's a great idea to use many many treats during the process... I have combined leash training with "come" training. So when she sits down to look at me, I say come, click the clicker when she gets to me and give her a treat. He will react better if you reinforce the good behavior of sitting and coming that trying to admonish the bad behavior. He doesn't have a clue what your problem is. But if you teach him that if he will pay attention to what you want him to do, he will get treats and goodies, then he will quickly become a great walker! It took Jubee about 2 weeks to figure it all out and now I can go for a walk without pulling a shoulder out of a socket or anything!

Answer 3

You have two weapons, reward/punishment and domination. The reward punishment option is best if it works, but I think with puppies you have to try domination at some point. (Everyone's knee-up suggestion is good, but I think it stops that instance of jumping--the dog will still jump on you next time you come home.)

Reward punishment method would be--when the dog jumps on you you tell it to get down. You don't pet it as soon as it listens. If it jumps on you a second time, completely ignore the dog (I know it will chase you, but act like you are focused on getting to another room or something). When the dog is being good, or stands by your feet to get attention, you have to be sure you give it some love then. If the only time the dog is guaranteed to be pet is when it jumps on you, you tell it to get down, and then you pet it, you are teaching it to jump on you! Dogs love attention, and often don't care if they are yelled at--it is better than being ignored.

The other thing is domination. A young pit puppy is trying to find his place in the pack (your family) and needs to know if he is the boss or not. You have to be careful here, because habits you start now could make this dog hard to control when it gets stronger. Occasionally, you may have to wrestle the dog to the ground, put it in a headlock, or something else that proves that you are bigger and stronger than the dog. Don't strike or act in anger, but dogs understand force and you have to make it clear that the dog is not in charge. Another thing, under no circumstances should you allow the dog mouth you--my roomates pit puppy would lightly grab your hand with its mouth to get your attention. A few weeks was all it took to break that habit--when it did that, we'd pinch the dog's jaw shut and hold on a few seconds so it would know it can't act this way, and the habit was broken. Never be mean, but don't tolerate misbehavior. Words may not be enough--a dog's english isn't so good.

Answer 4

I would say PEARLZ's advice is the best so far. I wouldnt recommend putting your knee in this chest as this doesnt teach the dog anything other than maybe jumping up at you to your side or your back where your knee does not get him. Dont spray water at him, this also is not teaching him anything other than when you see him you spray water at him.

Follow pearlz's advice and if that doesnt work you can teach him an 'all paws on the ground' command. To do this you actually want to teach him to jump up on command first. Get it on cue using the cue 'jump' and reward him when he does it. once he has learned this you can teach him the opposite by giving him the cue 'say hello' when his feet are on the ground after he has jumped and reward him. Once both behaviours are on a command it will make the dog understand what you want him to do.

It sounds a bit confusing, but it is very effective if you are able to train these behaviours. Do some research on the internet about dog training.

Answer 5

When he jumps up, tell him "off" in a stern voice. It's good not to pet, but allowing eye contact is still reinforcement. So it is also suggested that you turn your back on the dog until he is down on all 4's again, and then you can turn around and praise. He will come to understand that jumping up is not getting him the reward he wants and that staying down does. This worked great on training our Border Collie puppy not to jump.

The hardest part for us was making our family and friends that came to visit also do the same and reinforce discouraging the behavior.

I had a previous trainer tell me to knee the dog down (this was many years ago with an older dog we have in our home) and it NEVER worked for her. She just jumped up again anyway.

Answer 6

When he goes to jump up, in a firm but low voice say "off" and at the same time lift your knee so that he runs into it. When he sits or stays down, pet him then. Soon it will become a habit to stop jumping. Pits are very smart and learn quickly but they are also headstrong and need a lot of consistency.

Answer 7

KICKING your dog will only make it more agressive.

Putting your knee up when your dog starts charging at you is a way to fend off any dog but never kick, the dog might retaliate.

Do this and repeat it exactly:

Say NO in a firm voice, while taking the dogs collar and guiding him to lie down, holding them in place. Making eye contact and repeating NO in a strong firm voice (look the dog dead in the eye). When you think the dog has got the message, let him get up, and if he tries it right after repeat until he understands but keep looking him in the eye, so you have his attention.

Dogs need a strong tone and eye contact to make sure they are listening; any good dog trainer will tell you this.

Dogs react to tone of voice more then anything, and if you repeat this and be consistent with your dog they'll get the message within a week.

Your dog is testing you to see who's boss, so be consistent so he gets the message.

Answer 8

Well... What I do when I had a dog was to put my knee up so that when he tried to jump on me and the rest of my family, he would jump on our knee! This will usually make them stop jumping on people!

Answer 9

I was told by a friend that when a dog jumps up on you you should bring your knee to his chest and that would stop this kind of behaviour

Answer 10

I have a blue nose pit... And I sent her threw obedience school.... She is wonderful now.... But she use to do the same thing.... The owner of the school told me every time she leaps up to bring my knee up (basically knee her in the chest)... And tell her NO!!!! or DOWN!!!...She'll associate leaping with an unpleasant feeling... Well needless to say she doesn't do it anymore....