Jumping up is probably the most commonly complained about behavioral issue and is the one problem that owners are most guilty of creating themselves. Puppies naturallytent to jump up to try to get closer to people’s faces and hands, which they recognize as the sources of affection from humans.
(Check out Puppy Training: Making Your Puppy Stop Jumping and Play-Biting)
It is natural to encourage this because it seems cute and fun when pupppies do it. However, before long they will have doubled in size and their habit of jumping up becomes annoying, painful, and potentially dangerous. It is possible to save a lot of time and effort later on in life by teaching your puppies not to jump up from the very first day you take them home.
Now, if you have an older dog who already habitually jumps up at people you will need to train him that his is unacceptable. This can be as simple as following the instructions to teach the “sit” command. A dog that is sitting can’t jump up and therefore the problem is solved.
Dog jumping up can be dangerous for everyone.
In practice, if the urge to jump up is irresistable to your dog it may be necessary to set up specific training sessions to solve the problem. To do this, put him on a short lead and get a friend to walk slowly towards you. When you have your dog sitting obediently, your friend can approach and give him praise but must move away again if he gets over-exicted and jumps up.
As training progresses, you should be able to take off the lead but your dog will still need to be reminded to “sit.” It’s imperative that everyone enforces the rule not to let him jump up or your training will fail. Don’t make the mistake of becoming complacent when praising your dog for sitting obediently. If he’s not getting any praise for sitting politely, he’s very likley to jump up as a way of getting lots of attention again.
