How do I stop a young lab from jumping on people to greet them?
By burt from West Islip, NY
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
We learned this from taking our dogs to obedience training.
When a dog is a "jumper" each time he jumps up at you speak loud and clear. No down and as the dog is still standing as they will not know what this command is to start you walk directly towards them causing them to loose balance and fall over at times backwards but it wont hurt them as they know how to fall, but it is unexpected movement towards them and it will startle them. After they are off of you tell them "Good Dog!" Do not reward with treats only words. Each time they go to jump up repeat the same thing exactly, starting with the LOUD, NO DOWN and wald directly into them.
It will take only about one or two days to teach them as they will discover that each time they jump up they fall down and as we all know a dog does not like to get embarrassed so they will stop and it is not harming them in anyway what so ever but they do learn and they learn it quickly as well. Good Luck and remember the words, never change them or they will be confused as to the appropriate action that you want from them. No! Down! and walk forward. It works believe me, we have 200lb Newfoundlands and you don't want them to jump up on you as they will knock a good size man down if they wanted to. A good dog is a trained dog.
In obedience school with my German shepherd, we learned that jumping on someone got a firm (not painful, just uncomfortable) knee to the stomach. Asking family and guests to do the same thing works miracles. A couple of days and you have a good dog! Have since trained several dogs in this way and it always works.
We also learned this advice for anyone with a large-breed dog: Anything the dog does now (puppy stage) that is cute or funny, ask youself if it will still be cute or funny when the dog weighs 100 pounds. LOL This applies to jumping up, lap-sitting, getting on furniture, nibbling fingers, licking, etc.
Hope this helps! Sarsi
Dogs jump on people for attention. You have to learn not to give any attention to your dog when he jumps on you. When your dog jumps, fold your arms, look pointedly away, frown, turn slightly away, brace yourself, and imagine making the room temperature drop with your disapproval. Do not respond to the jumping, don't touch the dog, say anything or look at him. After a few jumps, the dog will back away in puzzlement and you must immediately praise, smile, open your arms, imagine making the room sunny with your pleasure in his company. He will probably immediately jump on you again and you immediately freeze him out again.
The faster your responses, the faster the dog learns. Most dogs will learn to keep their feet on the ground in just minutes, because they only get what they want from you (attention) when they are on the ground. Some stubborn dogs take more repetitions, but they learn if you are consistent and it is the quickest method as well as the safest. Some people, including (sadly) dog trainers recommend stepping on toes, kneeing the chest, the stomach or grabbing the paws and holding the dog so they can't get down.
These methods don't work for many dogs because they give attention, but also they are dangerous. I've seen toes broken, a diaphram injury and broken ribs. Even if you knee gently, when you put your knee out, the dog may come down on your knee with force and cause injury to himself. And it just isn't as effective.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
I have a female boxer who is 2 years old. This is not my first boxer and I have had her for a year. She will not stop jumping on me and she hurts me. I have even tried a choke collar for the first time in my life. If I turn she jumps on my back.
I don't want to give up on her. Nothing has worked. I know she loves me because she was so ignored in her past. I think she will be in this puppy-baby stage for at least another year. I am 5'3 and single and I am using a stern deep voice but to no avail. Please help me. Thanks.
By jeannie from Sulphur, LA
I think a video teaches training better than words. Here is a good one with several others below it to choose. Please let me know how it goes and I will try to help you with this problem.
http://www.ehow.com/video_2348895_prevent-boxer-from-jumping-people.html
Thank you and good luck! (04/14/2009)
By Robyn Fed
What worked for us is a knee to her chest. You're not really kicking her. Basically, when she's in the process of the jump, you pull your knee upwards. Rather than her body contacting you (and knocking you over), her body will contact a bony knee to her chest. It doesn't hurt the dogs, but it does surprise them and somewhat knock them off-balance, and it's not as fun. With our dogs, just a few times was all it took. Good luck! (04/14/2009)
By Tina Siegl
Two thoughts; one, get a squirt bottle and fill it with water. Squirt your dog every time she jumps. Two (and you can do this together with the squirt bottle technique), tell your dog to sit instead of yelling at her to stop jumping. If you give your dog a "job" to do, it will take her mind off of jumping. Good luck. Be patient. Be consistent. -Lee in FL 3 dog house! :) (04/17/2009)
By Lee Taylor
Okay, put a leash on your boxer while she is in the house. Step on the leash when she tries to jump. Once she is sitting praise her. Pay no attention to her while she is squirming when you are on the leash. Do not do this with a choker collar on, only a regular collar. This is not harmful to the dog at all and is not negative in any way.
By Kristy
When I had 3 puppies in my kitchen, we used tabs on their collars, which are just short leashes about 12" long. Whenever one of the pups jumped on me or the kids we'd grab the tab and yank it (not too hard but hard enough to get their attention), and say "Down!" or "No!" As long as you're consistent it works. I highly recommend tabs for puppies and dogs! (04/17/2009)
By Wendy
What worked for my dog was when she was up jumping, I would cover her back toes with my toe, touching lightly, and she would get down quickly. That and the bump with the knee, putting her almost off balance. Now she jumps up in the air, which is fine with me. (04/17/2009)
I haven't seen my own technique here, so I'll add it. I'm visually impaired and none too steady on my feet, so the knee thing wouldn't work; I'd fall over, lol! Instead, whenever either of my 65-pounders (one purebred American Pit Bull Terrier, one pit-Sheltie mix) jumped on me, I'd say "ouch! That hurts! Then I'd push them down with my hands until all four feet were on the floor and sternly say "No jumping." Then I'd instantly pet and praise. We have three dogs - our third is an English Mastiff - so handing out treats to one and not all isn't feasible.
I handled the jealousy thing similarly. I've trained our little bully (the purebred and our only female) that she won't get any attention at all if she pushes someone else out of the way to get it. I did this by literally pushing her out of the way and saying "It's Tigger's (or Caesar's) turn, he deserves to have some attention, too," and similar things. Dogs are a lot like children, and I treat mine as such, which works for me.
As far as guests go, hubby refuses to allow guests to mingle with our dogs because we've learned that doesn't work for our dogs, either. None of them have ever been socialized; hubby wouldn't hear of it. He says he got them to protect us, and wants to be sure they'll do just that if the need ever arises. He forgets that ours all jump between us if he gets too rowdy playing with me, lol!
Yep, I have some resistance from hubby, but my dogs have learned they have to be gentle with Mommy! (04/18/2009)
I have two pit bulls, one is 8 months and the other is 4 months. I would just like to know how can I get them to stop jumping on people when they come over? I tried putting them in the other room and give them treats but nothing works. Please help
Sheila from Jersey City, NJ
My Mom once tried the leg up correction technique where the knee meets the chest and makes the puppy or dog fall off balance, and she nearly lost her own balance, the dog twisted its leg around hers and wouldn't let go. It was funny at the time. this problem is not easy especially with an energetic breed and a loving breed like yours. I would suggest working on a sit exercise and then a stay exercise. Also no petting at all when he jumps and no attention or eye contact when he is misbehaving. I like to teach sit first because it is so useful. You will have to have treats on hand all the time at first. Then get a clicker or practice making clicking noises with your mouth. At each good obedience, like sitting or "off" when all four feet are on the ground within a second of the behavior. click and reward with a yummy treat, no usual treats this has to be an outstanding -get his attention-kind of treat.
After a few tries, he will learn a click means great news. At this point it will be easier to communicate. Sitting involves holding a treat above his nose and telling the dog he is a good darling or so, and when he sits or even begins to look like he is going to sit, click and reward...clicking is the only reliable way to train some dogs, since they are so focused on hearing. Also signals, hand signals will be more paid attention to then just words alone. Once you have him doing obedience like sit, or come here, etc, he will be easier to train not to jump on another person. Sometimes it is better just to have a crate and put him in it if he is not behaving. Make sure the guests are not over exciting him with attention. (02/19/2009)
By Robyn Fed
I had a shepherd/husky mix and she was horrible about jumping up on people, including myself, especially when I was in my nursing whites and on my way to and from work. After having to change my uniform while on my way to work many days, I finally had enough. I started pointing to the ground and yelling NO and SIT. She finally realized after a while that I wasn't going to pet her until she sat and stopped all the hyper jumping.
It's funny looking back now, every time I'd walk out the door to leave, or come in from being out, she'd see me and just sit and wait. If she didn't sit when she saw me, I could walk up to her and point at the ground and she'd sit and wait for me to pet her. She wouldn't do this for my husband, lol. Good luck. (02/19/2009)
By Shelly
Discipline, routine, and reward. I have two golden retriever pups that are nine months old. We went through a short period of jumping. The way I corrected this behavior was to give them absolutely no attention when they did this other than to sit them down, and in a stern voice I look them in the eye, point my finger and say wait. They would fight each other for attention before. You couldn't pet one without the other trying to plow you over so they could get petted also. They know now that if they wait patiently they will get an equal amount of attention. Remember, you are the pack leader and you have to make sure they know this or they will never do what you want them to.
(02/19/2009)
By JoAnn
I used a small water bottle to train my dog not to do things she shouldn't. Set the spray nozzle on stream, and give him a squirt when he jumps. After a couple of times he will only have to see the bottle! Worked for me. Good luck! (02/19/2009)
By Pam
I had the same problem with my dogs jumping on people when they came over or myself when I came home. I tried the knee thing but they just learned to jump on my back or just out of reach of my knee. Now I warn people before they come in the house to completely ignore the dogs for at least 20 minutes, this works really well with the dog however not every one wants to do what I say. For these people I put the dogs in the other room for 20 minutes, and when I let them out there is still a lot of jumping and excitement, but it is not nearly as bad. (02/25/2009)
By a.beikmanis
My Ozzie is a Boston terrier mix, he is a little over a year old. I'm having problems with him when people are coming in the door.
