# Jumping up on us



## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

Hi Coopersmum. I used to know a Coopersmum from another forum. Don't think it's you though.

Anyway, jumping. Bad habit which would have been easy to break if it never started, but you that.  It's hard not to love these dogs too much. However, you have to start a zero tolerance policy and everybody has to follow it. Consistency is important when training pups, and he is still very much a big pup.

My suggestions, I'm sure others will have some too.

Identify when the problem occurs. Is it coming home, playing, always? You have to try to redirect his bad behaviour into a good one. When you are coming home for instance. Having treats by the door is handy. You come in, he wants to jump. Depending on where he is in his training, you might ask for a sit, but only if you know he will sit. If he does sit you give him a treat. If you don't think he will sit, then you turn your back to him. Give him no attention. Any attention will be reinforcing his negative behaviour. Ignore him until he calms or sits. If he sits give him his treat and a pat. If you can this would be a good time to start a short training session. 5 minutes of sit stays. 

This works for most situations. If he starts to jump on you, you make him stop by either giving him a command to sit, or if you don't think he will listen to you then just turn your back. If he is still too excited, leave the room or give him a time out. If you can't get him to sit on command when he gets excited, then you need to work on sit. It is the best way to regain control of a situation. For a time out you should be able to ask him to lay down on his mat and stay until released. At first that may only be a few minutes, but in time should longer. But if he won't stay, then a time out could be a bathroom or something. But only for a short time, minutes, and make sure he can't hurt himself in that room. Preferably you want to remove yourself from the situation instead. Show the pup that when he is bad, the fun stops. When he is good, there is lots of fun to be had. 

Another good rule to live by: Nothing in Life is Free. Meaning any treat, any food that dog gets from you, requires some payment. Make him sit before he is allowed to eat his supper. For treats, make him do several tricks.

Hope this isn't becoming too long.


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## Vierka (Apr 10, 2005)

*Consistency*

Hi, that definitely sounds like a good advice, Timberwolfe. Diana, I think many dogs, and Goldens among them since they're so excitable and loving , have this bad habbit of jumping. I'm pretty sure you can teach Cooper that you're not enjoying the jumping as much as he does. I agree that CONSISTENCY is the key in almost any lessons that you're trying to permanently engrave in behaviour - no questions, buts, ifs and maybes...  
If Cooper is anything like Kia, treats will probably be quite helpful in any kind of lesson...


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## Walia (Apr 11, 2005)

I know this will sound harsh, but you could step on his back feet (do not hurt him though) as soon as he jumps on you, to let him know that this is not a right thing to do.
He will figure it out sooner than you think.
Walia


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## Heffanator (Apr 19, 2005)

Sophie had that problem. I would push her off of me or grab her paws and drop them (not hard) and say "down" firmly. She gets it but sometimes she still jumps. we're working on it though. Joe, my golden, on the other hand never jumps. He's my good child.  ha


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## Coopersmum (Apr 13, 2005)

Good news, I have tried the treat method and Cooper is getting the hang of it, although he follows me around sitting looking at me quite a lot now


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## Heffanator (Apr 19, 2005)

my dogs try so hard to please when there's treats involved. they will sit and scoot closer and closer and wave their paws to shake. haha it's too funny.


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## Pepe Gardner (Apr 11, 2005)

Goldens are not so bad, but Labrador Retrievers will do anything for food.


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## Heffanator (Apr 19, 2005)

well, my golden is different. He will do ANYTHING for food! He's such a pig. =) haha...Sophie does the same thing. haha


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## Cellia (Apr 15, 2005)

Hehe, I am not that different from your dogs, *I*'*d* *do* *anything* *for* *food* right now !~!


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 'knee trick'. Timing is everything here... just as your dog begins his jump, lift your knee up and as the dog falls forward and tries to land his paws on you like he aways does, he will find his chest bumps up against your knee so besides having an uncomfortable knee against his chest, he doesn't get the proper support and has to go back down. If he is a real jumper, this will probably go on for several jumps in row until he begins to figure out that there is no longer the old satisfaction to be had here. Once there is a lull in his jumping effort, go down to his level and pet and praise him.

With Sidney we've never had a real jumping problem... as some one has previously mentioned, we corrected him right from the beginning... just by simply putting his front paws back on the ground and saying "OFF!" ...EVERY SINGLE TIME... yes, again the magic here is consistency and persistence.
...But our last dog, an American Eskimo, now he was a jumper supreme (American Eskimos were the original circus dogs and love to walk on their hind legs)... he was really quite the jumper until some one told us about the "knee trick" and even then it took more than a month to break him of the habit. But in the end it did completely extinguish the behavior in a relatively short time frame.


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## Joe (Apr 9, 2005)

Gosh, this is so simple, but I would never though of it. 

We never had this problem either. But I will keep it in mind. Good to know, thanks.

Joe


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## Nancy (May 3, 2005)

*The "off" Comand*

I'm currently training Wilson (4 mos. now) the off command. And he is catching on - but what I find difficult is when neighbors or even strangers approach him, and he is so excited to greet new people. He automatically jumps up on them, which is cute for a puppy - but when he is 70 lbs it will be dangerous. I encountered this at a local dog show when I was talking to a breeder - one of her full grown males greeted me this way and nearly toppled me over. For the most part - once I say "off" whomever it is that is trying to pet my pup will crouch down so that he doesn't have to jump up to be pet (which I guess might be reinforcing the initial jump) but there isn't anyway around that. I will try the knee thing if necessary and also present this to my instructor at puppy training. I'll let you know if I find out anything new.


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

It is very important when greeting new people that they understand the Pup is in training and he is not to jump. I had people come and pat Clancy when he was a pup and he would get excited and want to jump up on them. I would always ask them to not pat him when he jumped. Some would say they don't mind, but I do. He is NOT to jump EVER! We had friends and the neighbour help us by coming over and ignoring him when he jumped. He very quickly discovered that when he had all 4 feet on the ground he got more attention.

I have heard of kneeing the chest, stepping on the back toes, keeping a short leash and jerking the dog down, but I found that all that was necessary was to turn your back and be consistant.


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## Joe (Apr 9, 2005)

Turning back to him... again, so simple. Thanks.
Joe


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