How To Stop Your Dog from Jumping

Aug 12

Jumping dogs might be cute when they are puppies or very small dog breeds, but it becomes a problem when they are medium or large sized dogs. Jumping may feel people uncomfortable or even cause injuries. This blog post will help you to prevent these situations and feel a stronger bond with your dog.

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When I first got my dog Luke, he would jump on people whenever they come in. I always felt embarrassed when he did because I could see how uncomfortable some guests were. Once I trained him to stop jumping, I felt that we are a team and work together instead of independently. I want you to have this bond with your dog which is why I will break down why your dog jump and teach you how to stop your dog from jumping.

Reasons why dogs jump

Puppies and young dogs typically jump as a way to greet others. Older dogs may jump to appear taller in order to establish dominance within the pack. The pack may include visitors in your house or family members. Other dogs may jump as an attempt to receive attention from you.

While some people enjoy the jumps as an expression of joy, not everybody will like your dog jumping on them. Especially kids and elderly folks may have troubles keeping up with your dog. I am sure your guests do not appreciate paw prints on their white clothes either.

But this does not mean your dog is never allowed to jump anymore. For some dogs it is an indispensable instinct to jump. Give your dog an appropriate time and space to jump. This might be during playtime, during a hike or an agility course. You can even turn “jump” into a command to signal that it is appropriate to jump.

Tips on how to stop jumping

1. Prevention

Have you ever heard: “Prevention is better than cure”. That is definitely the case when it’s about dog training. We can focus your dogs attention to perform another command before he even thinks about jumping on you. This might distract your dog from his excitement and reinforce a positive behavior (especially when you come inside hands full with groceries).

If your dog knows how to sit, ask him/her to sit before they come to greet you. Even if you open the door crack a bit, just to tell your dog to sit might help to prevent the jumping.

Pro Tip: Do not get frustrated! Dog Training takes time and effort to achieve the desired behavior.

2. Turn Your Body Away

If prevention is not an option or does not work four you yet, try to turn away your body. Whenever your dog tries to jump on you, try to ignore his behavior and turn your entire body 90 degrees to the side. Your dogs’ paws will slide off your body and bring her paws back to the ground. It is an easy way to make sure your dog stops jumping on you. The most difficult part is to tell your guests and other family members to do the same.

3. Ignore the gaze

This also plays into the ‘ignoring the bad behavior’ part. Ignore your dog’s gaze when he/she jumps up. Looking at your dog might encourage the jumping and can be seen as a reward.

4. Freeze

Have you ever played the game freeze tag? Well this is a similar game, whenever your dog jumps on you, you turn your body and then freeze until he/she stops. Freezing means, no movement and absolute silence to discourage the jumping. This is a good way to teach kids a behavior that will stop the jumping.

4. Reward

You turned your body away ignored your dog’s gaze and froze in place, now what? The moment your dog stops jumping, and bring all of her paws to the ground for more than 2 seconds, you should reward him/her. You are now encouraged to look at your dog, give them a good pet on their head and maybe even reward with a treat. There are many way to reward your dog. Try different things to see what works with your dog (from experience a good treat almost always works).

Happy Playtime!

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