How to stop dog jumping on you

Dog Behavior, Dog Training, Dogs — By Signe & Mario Monk on June 8, 2010 9:34 pm

Does your dog jumps on you and tries to lick your face when you come back home? Congratulations! You dog loves you very much and is happy to see you. However, sometimes most times jumping on you (or other people) is very annoying, isn’t it? Dirty footprints, scratches and even an embarrassment if you could not hold the balance and fell on your bottom.

It is okay if you don’t like all that and want to train your dog to act “normally” and NOT to jump on you. But how to achieve that? When seeing his owner returning home dog’s heart starts to beat faster and excitement is so huge that he won’t even listen to you shouting “No!… No!… Stop! …. Noooo!”. And the more you shout, the more excited your dog gets. Familiar with that kind of situation? I am.

Sit instead of jumping

Most effective solution to the dog jumping problem might be a command named “sit” combined with a delicious treat. If your dog is not familiar with this command you might first have to teach him to sit in different occasions (when he is not soooo excited).

Problem is that over all the excitement your dog might not be able to draw his attention to your command and obey it. And this is where a treat comes in. A delicious one that is not his regular food. A one that your dog will want more that jumping on his owner and greeting him.

Here is what you should do:

1. Show a treat to your dog when you arrive home. Get used to take treats with you wherever you go so you have them when you come back. And don’t get annoyed at people staring at you when coming to business meeting with a bag of dog food.
2. Give a command “Sit!” by getting all of your dog’s attention to the treat. This is why it has to be super-delicious so it is easier to get his attention on treat, not jumping on you.
3. Give him a treat and show him another one when (and if) dog sits. If he does not sit, you might try to use something more delicious or you can wait for his excitement to slow down a bit and try to get his attention on food again. It should get easier each time you try it. If your dog jumped on you don’t try to push him away with your hands. He will understand it as invitation to play. Close your hand, turn your side to the dog or even try to walk away. When dog is on the ground, try to give the command to sit again or rub his belly while he’s standing.
4. Command him to sit again (yes, he is already sitting) and crouch down at his level. Give him another treat (if he is still sitting) and say hello to him. Simultaneously try rubbing his back or belly. It shall keep him calmed as long as you do it. If your dog tries to jump on you again, get up and command him to sit again.
5. Repeat it every time when you arrive home. Repetition is a very important part of success in dog training. Later on you will be able to skip food part and your dog will be already sitting when you come in. Congratulations!  However, you have to give him a treat every now and then so he does not forget why on earth is he sitting.

By doing all of the above you will get away with clean clothes and get to maintain self-esteem but your dog will get the treat and to say hello to you without necessity of jumping. It’s a win-win situation with lot’s of wins for both, you and your dog.

Tags: dog, dog behavior, dog command sit, dog obedience, dog training