How do you teach a dog not to jump on people?

Question

Besides kneeing them, which is most of the advice I find.

Answer 1

You know, I was told to knee my American Eskimo when she was younger and it NEVER worked for her. She'd simply jump again when the knee went down. So I don't have much faith in that method myself.

Now with our new puppy, a Border Collie now 9 months old, we tried the lack of attention method which worked very well for her. A dog will often jump up to gain attention and when they get it, it reinforces the behavior. So when our puppy jumped up, we said "off" (some use the word "down", but you shouldn't if you want to do any kind of proper obedience training as "down" means lay down and using it for both things will confuse the dog) and turned our back on her. When she returned to all 4's,we then turned around and praised and gave her the attention she was looking for. She got reinforced for the desired behavior and soon learn that jumping up got her ignored. Now that she's a bit older, we have also worked in for her to "sit" to greet.

The one thing about using this method is consistency, which can be hard when a friend says "oh it's okay, the puppy's happy to see me right now". Sure, that's fine for them, but what about the next person who may not want your dog jumping up? Any time someone comes to my home, I instruct them on how to handle the behavior, I even have asked an electrician who came to do some work. Fortunately, I've been lucky in that everyone has properly addressed it and our puppy is much better now.

Just be sure to never allow a jump up to be rewarded and not addressed properly and you will see good results soon.

Answer 2

I find kneeing the dog in the chest will only get you so far, if there's inconsistency with dicipline in the household it will be very tough to get your dog to stop. You may have to keep your dog gated off from the front entrance until it learns not to do this (I'm assuming the dog jumps up when people come in the door and no other time).

Here are some of the recommended ways to teach a dog not to jump up:

1. Step lightly on its hind toes.

2. Bump it gently in the chest with your knee.

3. Grasp its front paws and push it backward so it is off balance.

Any of these should be accompanied by the command, “No!” Then, after the dog gets down, walk away and ignore it for a few minutes.

After a moment, when you’re sure your pet has got the message and has stayed down, pat and praise it. Remember, be consistent. Don’t confuse the dog by letting it jump up just this once, and then pushing it down and saying, “No!” the next time. And don’t give up.

Do your best not to make eye contact with your dog when they jump up because that's exactly what they're looking for.
Try to completely ignore your dog until it calms down, this will give the message that this type of excited behavior will not be tolorated and will not get them any attention.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

One thing that helps is when you get home do not pay any attention to the dog until it is sitting then pet it. If it stands back up, then stop petting it.

When the dog jumps up you must reprimand it and not pet it until all fours are on the ground or its sitting(whichever you would require). Saying NO and pulling it off with a leash is one way. I don't recommend kneeing it in the chest. I've heard of this but kneeing hard enough could abrupt the heart. Putting your knee up before the jump up is OK though.

Answer 4

Jumping on people is an attention thing. They do it to say "look at me, I'm here. or I'm in the house, so watch it! or Aren't I cute????????"

It's a pain in the butt, i'm still going thru the training myself. But I've found that if you exersize them enough, and give them obedience training, it works great. You don't need to actually knee them, just throw up your knee when you see them coming. It's uncomfortable for them, and hard for them to get ahold of anything to stay up on you.

You need to find somewhere that is quiet, and begin to teach him sit and stay. Then gradually move to more distracting areas, until you can be on a bus with 40 dogs, a screaming baby, a nagging granny, and a threatening influence, and tell him to sit and stay, and he obeys. Clicker training is pretty good. Dogs tend to pick it up pretty easy, so it won't be to difficult.

Get a book called "The EVERYTHING dog training and tricks book"......you should be able to find it at a local bookshop. In the first few chapters, it talks about dogs jumping, and how to correct it.

When someone comes over, go outside, and tell them that you're training your dog, and ask if they'll help you. When they come in, throw the knee, and yell down, or off, whichever you use/prefer. Yell loud enough to scare the dog down, but not to make it afraid of a loud human voice.

Try the book. I have a pit bull and terrier. It's helped me alot!! GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

~EDIT~
DON'T SPANK YOUR DOG!!!!! It only teaches the dog to be afraid of the human hand! If you're going to smack it, use a rolled up paper. Also, put a leash on the dog, and when someone comes over, and it tries to jump, give the leash a quick jerk, and tell him no, sit and stay. Be consistent in it tho.

Answer 5

Put the leash on the dog, and drop it to the ground and stand on it at the point where it hits the ground.. Just enough length so that the dog can stand naturally but he can't jump up. Then call him up to you, after a few times of being unable to jump up, he'll quit. Don't allow your friends / family to allow the dog to jump up or no matter what you do, the dog will continue to jump up.

Answer 6

Well, kneeing them is key, you don't need to do it hard if your getting that type of response, but anyway, when you knee the dog, tell him "NO, stay down!" in a very strong voice, and when the dog responds by staying down, reward with a treat. Soon enough your dog should learn that that is what you want of him.

Answer 7

DP and Melissa are on the right track. Be patient and consistant. Ignore the problem behavior and reward the good behavior. This combined with the leash (as DP described) always works for me. You may want to use a command such as "off," when you use the leash. Good luck. Also, don't listen to the idiots who recommend spanking, smacking, yelling, or starving your dog. Good luck.

Answer 8

Ignore him when he jumps, give him attention when all four paws are on the floor. You can tell him to sit if he just won't calm down on his own. With consistency (meaning NO ONE gives attention for jumping) most dogs learn this in just a few days.

Answer 9

By putting them up until the people are sitting down.
OR
what works very well is to give them a command like sit or lay down.. give them something else to do in place of becoming excited and jumping on people.

Answer 10

Twisting away from the dog as the dog jumps causes the dog not to be able to land on you and so they drop back down to the ground.