Do you have, or know, a pup who likes to jump? I’d be surprised if you said “no”! 

Jumping is an absolutely normal way for excited puppies to want to greet their friends and families. While it may be acceptable in the doggie world to greet all your friends with a big sloppy lick in the face, it’s not what everyone in the human world wants. Especially if you happen to be wearing anything white. So what to do about it?

It’s important to understand why puppies want to jump – they do it so they can greet us face to face as is natural for them in the canine kingdom. It is our job to explain to our pups what we humans would prefer. Remember that dogs will repeat behaviors that work for them. So if we respond to attention-seeking behavior with any form of attention we are going to end up with a dog that keeps doing exactly what he was just doing. Unfortunately, responding to jumping with anything but a walk away in the other direction is going to result in the jumping behavior being repeated. While you may be saying “No Fido, don’t jump” and pushing him down with your hands, Fido has no understanding of your human words. All he knows is that you talked to him and then greeted him with your hands. Instead, if pup starts to jump up, turn around and just walk away. Only acknowledge Fido once he has all 4 paws on the ground. If he starts to jump up again then immediately turn and walk away again – withdrawing the attention Fido is so desperately seeking. 

While pup is learning our new human mannerisms, set him up to succeed. If you have friends coming over and you know that Fido will jump, please put him on his leash and prevent him from being able to repeat this unwanted behavior pattern. Ask your friends to only move closer to him if he remains sitting on the floor and to turn and walk away if he jumps up. Repeat this set up until pup keeps his butt on the floor as your friends approach closer and closer.

Ask everyone who interacts with your pup to approach him in this manner. Like the player who keeps putting “just one more coin” in the slot machine in the hopes of another pay out, just a little attention to pup when he jumps up will result in him going back to his old ways – please don’t give him any encouragement to repeat the jumping! There may also be a short period when pup tries even more relentlessly to greet you with a jump. This is called an “extinction burst” and is pup trying harder to get your attention with a behavior that used to work. Stay committed not to reward this behavior and this phase will soon pass.

Mat work or “boundary training”, and working with your dog to really master a “sit stay” even in a distracting environment are also good alternatives – your pup can’t jump and sit at the same time. But simply walking away is one of the quickest ways to put an end to nuisance jumping.