"Jumping"

When your puppy makes an attempt to jump on you, step directly into him and say nothing to him. This may topple him over, but he will think he misjudged his jump. When he tries again, do the same thing. Continue stepping into him until he stops jumping. Teach him that he must sit if he wants your attention. When he understands that sitting will get him the attention he desires he will stop jumping up to greet you. In other words, make him work for the attention. By jumping on you, he is demanding attention. Teach him that he will get attention only if he sits in front of you.

You must be more persistent than the puppy. He will tire of the jump up and fall over game much faster than you. Stay with it, and you will be rewarded with a puppy that does not jump on you. You must be consistent and persistent if you are to succeed.

Another method of stopping this action is to step on his rear toes. This is usually done when you are sitting down and the pup attempts to jump on you. Do not step so hard that you hurt him, but use just enough pressure to make it uncomfortable. When he gets off of you, command him to sit. Then praise him for sitting.

Whenever using either method of correction, do not talk to the dog or give him any command. You want the dog to think that the discomfort or falling is being caused by him, and not by you. When he perceives the problem to be one he has caused, he will stop jumping.

When an adult dog jumps on you, your first instinct is to place your hands on him and push him away. Just as with a puppy, placing your hands on the adult dog is a sign of approval, that this is acceptable behavior and that you approve of the action, even though you are trying to prevent his jumping on you.

To correct this problem, begin by allowing the dog to jump up. Do not tell him to jump on you, just allow it if he attempts to do so. When his head is above your knee, place your knee into his chest firmly. Do not try to knock him out, just cause some discomfort. The key to making this method work is for the dog not to see the correction. If you allow his head to rise above your knee prior to making the correction, he will not see the correction being made. He will be convinced that he has caused the discomfort to himself, and he will cease jumping. If he sees you trying to knee him, he will know that you are the force behind the discomfort, and he will change his strategy, and begin jumping from the side, from behind, or both. Let the correction be a surprise to him, and don't let him see it coming.

Correcting in this manner will take only two or three times to make him think before jumping on you. If you want to use a command in conjunction with the action, say "Off." Once he is off of you, do not touch him. You may talk to him or call him back to you, but do not touch him or repeat the command. When he is giving the indication that he wants to jump, but he does not, give him the command to sit. When he sits, then you may touch and praise him, but don't allow him to jump up from that position.

If your dog is too small for you to use your knee, try stepping on his rear toes when he jumps on you. Don't crush the toes, but simply step on them with enough pressure to cause him discomfort. He will realize that every time he gets on you, his toes hurt, and he will stop jumping up.

No matter who the dog jumps on, the correction must be applied by the individual. This technique usually takes 2 -3 instances for the dog to begin to understand that jumping on people is uncomfortable. One week of training is the longest I've ever seen a dog continue jumping before ending the action. I believe the reason for this length of time to be that the family was not enforcing the correction as a unit, and the dog was confused.

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