How to stop your dog from jumping up

Why do dogs jump up?

This behaviour usually starts when they are puppies, initially they are trying to get to our mouth as they would their mother to get her to regurgitate food, even though we walk upright they are still trying to get to our mouths. We reinforce this jumping up by making a fuss of them when they do it and so the behaviour becomes attention seeking and continues into the dog’s adult life.

How to stop your dog jumping up

As with all dog behaviour: if you don’t want it stop rewarding it! Sound simple and it really is.

Training advice in the past was to bring your knee up into the dogs chest or grab the dogs paws so that once it had jumped up it couldn’t  get down again, these behaviours are punishment based and usually only work for that person.

Punishment does not teach dogs right from wrong, it teaches them safe and dangerous. Safe to jump up at that person, but not this one.

To correct this behaviour is simply a case of changing the reward / interaction. Stop rewarding the jumping up and reward something else: sit for a treat rather than jump up for a fuss. Again, as with all training, consistence is the key, puppies and dogs will not understand that it’s ok to jump up when it is dry but not when it is wet and muddy.

Rather than correct this behaviour it is better to not let it happen in the first place. At Dog Intuition classes we will teach you what to do – puppies and adult dogs pick it up very quickly.