Hello - our 2 year old female has a habit of jumping up on us (when we're standing) when she's excited. She even will nip from time to time when she jumps...irritating!

Her twin brother never jumps. I did a search but couldn't find a thread...does anyone have a cure? I turn my back to her, but she still won't stop .



Thanks!!

I'm interested in hearing others' suggestions too!

My 1 year old does the same thing. We have tried to nip it in the bud since he was little but to no avail. We've been trying the cross arms/turn your back for months, but he doesn't get the hint. Plus, we tell others to do the same but sometimes we have to grab him. Not everyone can endure a 70 pound dog jumping on them.

Your dog is being physical with you and it is time that you are physical right back.

There are two ways to deal with this problem. I prefer the first but some like the second.

1. When he jumps, you will knee him in the chest - hard. If he circles around, you circle and keep him directly in front of you so you have a clear shot with one of your knees. I usually smile and keep chatting with the dog during this training. No scolding at all. Be sure that you do this every time he jumps. No calling him to jump and then the next time, you knee him.

2. The second way is to wait for the dog to jump and take hold of his front feet and then step on top of his back feet. The dog is off balance and it is uncomfortable as you actually back him up. It feels like he is going to tip over backwards.

For both methods, I am happy and chatting with the dog. No anger or scolding. You will see the dog is puzzled but when the jump = I get hurt , then the behavior no longer works and the dog quits doing it.

As for biting, that is a serious problem that you need to get after EVERY time. There should be no question in your dogs mind that you will not tolerate biting or nipping.

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Leslie B
MapleHills Kennel

"At the end of the day you have to ask yourself if you were successful because of what you did or in spite of what you did" Mike Lardy

The poster I'm contradicting here is much more experienced than I am, and I do have a lot of respect for her work, but I have pretty strong feelings here. Both of the methods suggested here are far, far rougher than necessary to stop a jumper.

It's easier and gentler to remove the reward than it is to punish the behavior. I always prefer teaching a Golden that jumping doesn't work rather than trying to teach him that jumping leads to unpleasant consequences.

Dogs jump because they find it rewarding. If you punish the jumping without removing the reward, especially with the methods outlined here, you risk hurting the dog without really removing the behavior. You can end up with a pretty neurotic dog when an inexperienced trainer tries something like kneeing a dog in the chest or overbalancing her backwards.

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Jumping up and nipping are attention seeking and sometimes play behaviors that we often inadvertently teach them as puppies.
Focus on teaching your dog what you want them TO do. Train and reward a solid, reliable sit or down command. If/when your dog jumps up, immediately turn your back and cue the sit or down, as soon as it happens praise/reward for it. Work on prevention - try to anticipate when they are going to jump, interupt with a firm 'ACK!', turn away, then give the 'sit/down' cue -praise/reward for doing it -so they know that is what you do want. Teach your dog self control - patience (leave it, stay, go to your bed - teach self control) and what appropriate behaviors (sit to greet) will get them that attention they are seeking.
If it is happening during play, stop the play intermittently, before your dog gets over excited, get a sit or down, and give them a few minutes to calm down, then resume playing.

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Until there are none, rescue one.

Dogs do what they practice, so it can be effective to step on the leash in a neutral way, and then ask for a sit or a down that you then reward & reinforce. Keep your foot right on the leash, so the puppy cannot jump, but your hands are not associated. The dog who practices not jumping will stop jumping. Never use physical punishment on a pup. He might learn not to jump, but he will also learn you are not to be trusted at times.

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When Ellie jumps, we lean back and turn our face. She is looking for attention and giving her the knees turns into play with me, so it strengthens her desire to jump. Once she settles, we tell her to sit and the she gets a LOT of praise and kisses in the face, since that's her goal. She doesn't jump on any of us anymore, but friends are another story. Trying to explain to them how they need to behave is much more difficult!


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Well , i have tried the leash thing,steping on it, spirit does this jumping,out of being excited, i have not tried the stepping on the back feet, but i may try that, he will be 3 in june,and i am very tired of this behavior,with him.The trouble with the stepping on the leash, he does not wear the leash inside the house, at this age, and you get surprises at peole coming that you do not expect. I am so fed up with this with spirit.

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I know that you are a big advocate of the positive method of training and for many dogs I agree. I am all for using every training method available. We use attrition, redirecting, cookies, lots of praise AND pressure when appropiate. Then we use the lowest pressure to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. Every dog must be trained with what works for him and not just what the trainer likes to use.

In this situation the op has a pair of siblings who are 2 years old. One learned that jumping was not ok but the other has has 2 years of the jumping habit to break. This also becomes a safety issue. A 70 pound dog can knock over friends and family easily. Small children are especially at risk with a dog like this.

This situation is way beyond redirecting and will require some active training. Redirection is a very passive method that will not work for a bolder dog. They simply don't care or notice the subtle repetition involved.

To effectively use the knee to the chest method, you must be strong enough on the inside to know that stopping the junping is in the dogs best interest and hard enough with your knee to get thru to the dog.

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Leslie B
MapleHills Kennel

"At the end of the day you have to ask yourself if you were successful because of what you did or in spite of what you did" Mike Lardy

I strongly, strongly disagree that withholding is a "passive" method. And what I suggested is not really a redirection method either.

Methods like you describe are deceptively easy for experienced dog people, which is why I respect your point of view so much, but I see them backfire so often with people who are relatively new to dogs that they really concern me. I've worked with too many nervous and neurotic dogs because it's way too easy for people to be too rough or too scary.

I have, on several occasions, taught confirmed jumpers not to jump in a matter of minutes with a withholding/alternate reward method. It's not a weaker or slower method than a method that uses force. If applied ineffectively, it's slow. But a knee to the chest, if applied ineffectively, is dangerous. So with an inexperienced trainer, I still prefer the force-free method.

Inexperienced trainers will knee the dog too softly, typically. And the dog just incorporates it into play. A handful will knee the dog too hard or add an angry sound. Those dogs can become fearful and even dangerous. Give me a weak client whose dog isn't clear on expectations over a forceful client whose dog who has learned to bite because his owner has hit, kneed, or shocked him without clarity and calibration.

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