Does your dog get so excited at every new person it sees? So much so that your pup can not control itself and jumps all over the person? And you feel awkward and embarrassed?
Well, if so, you are not alone. Many of my customers have this problem and I am writing this today to show you how to train your dog not to jump on people!
Teaching Your Dog Not To Jump Without Treats!
First off, diving into how I train dogs. Everything I do is done via praise. NO TREATS NEEDED here!
When I praise a dog I either do it verbally by saying, “Good Boy/Girl” and or by petting the dog. I say that when I praise a dog it is like me paying the dog $100. I needed to plant that in your mind before moving forward…
So, you are walking down the street and up to this point every new person your dog sees it jumps all over them… and what do most people do? (Most people pet your dog and say how cute it is, right?).
Remember what I just said earlier about praise? Praise is how I pay the dog. So yes, in your dog’s mind it is getting rewarded for that behavior… HOW TO FIX IT? Keep reading…
Teaching The Dog To Sit While Greeting People… NOT JUMP!
The fix is not hard so that is good news. The easiest way to correct your dog’s jumping problem is by having your dog sit to greet people. Why you may ask?
Sit Means, SIT!
See, if your dog is sitting your dog should not jump at all. After all, SIT means SIT! Not jump, not bark, not run away! An obedient dog should sit until the owner gives the pup another command. So if your dog breaks the sit then all you need to do is say, “NO“ and ask your dog to sit again.
You repeat this process until your dog understands that if it jumps on someone it will not get “paid.” But instead, if your dog sits it will then get greeted or “paid” as I call it.
A good way to set this up is by asking someone to come up to your dog to greet it. As the handler of the dog you ask your dog to sit. I highly recommend training your dog to do this on the leash before trying this off leash. Once your dog understands it 110% then you can worry about on the leash.
If your dog gets up just simply say “no” give a little snap up on the leash asking your dog to sit again and repeat. Continue doing this and in no time your dog will learn to sit when greeting people! Do not be discouraged if your dog doesn’t learn this immediately. It takes some practice and remember patience is key in dog training. I promise you that this is worth the practice. Especially if you have a big dog that can knock people over! No one wants that and it is embarrassing when your dog jumps uncontrollably on people.
One last example that may help you understand this more. I like to give people human examples as I call them.
A real life example that helps you understand dog training…
So, if you walk into my office three days in a row and each day I paid you $100 as soon as you opened my door, just for showing up. On the 4th day would you be excited and expect another $100? (The answer is yes).
This is no different for the dog who jumps on people and gets pet. Most dogs are use to getting paid for jumping on people… They are not dumb, in fact most are very smart! They want that $100— that is why they are jumping on everyone in the first place!
So all you need to do is let your dog know it is not going to get paid for jumping on people but instead it will get rewarded when it sits nicely as someone greets them!
I hope this helps you and if you have questions please let me know!
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