For dogs, jumping is most often a sign of excitement. Your dog is excited to see you or your visitor, so he jumps up on them. And while you might not mind your dog jumping on you, your visitors might find this alarming and it can actually be dangerous if your dog is jumping on children or on people that simply do not like dogs. While this behavior isn’t seen as wrong by all owners, if you are interested in eliminating this action from your dog’s behavior, here’s how to do it:
Understand your dog’s intentions
When a dog jumps on someone, it is usually to get attention. They are so excited that you are home that they jump up on you, reveling in the love that you bestow on your best friend. Because jumping is often rewarded by being pet, most dogs believe that this is a desired activity and that it is a good way to get attention. Whether or not you have actually been rewarding this behavior, if it ever pans out in his favor, your dog is likely to continue doing it.
Understand your visitors and their needs
My brother, for example, loves it when a dog jumps up on him. He can often be found encouraging dogs to jump on him and then scratching their ears or petting their heads. No everyone is going to enjoy this behavior, however. In fact, most people will despise it, even if the dog is relatively small.
Start by making it clear that jumping is not going to be tolerated
In order for your dog to really stop jumping on people, every person he interacts with has to be on the same page. It is a good idea to inform visitors to your home that you are training your dog to not jump and to tell them what they should do if he does jump on them.
Keep a leash by the door
One of the most common times a dog will jump on a person is when they first step inside your home. To start discouraging this behavior, keep a leash by the door and when someone comes to the door, put it on your dog. This will give you more control over his actions as that person come through the door. If he jumps, hold him back and ask your visitors to step back until your dog is calm. Keep the leash on him until he is done pouncing and is calm. When this occurs, reward him with a treat!
Do not greet your dog until he’s calm
When you come home and open the door, your dog might jump on you. Gently push him down. He’ll likely jump up again, especially if you have routinely greeted him and therefore rewarded him when he has jumped on you before.
Wait until he has all four paws on the floor, and then greet him. This will start to condition your dog to understand that he will only get attention when he is being calm and respectful.
Practice coming through the door a few times every day
If jumping is a real problem, you might want to work on completely desensitizing your dog to the stimuli. Every time you come through the door, put a treat on the ground. He will pay more attention to the treat than to you, keeping those paws on the ground. You can then greet him and he will begin to build a connection between staying on all fours and getting a treat and being pet.
