Tips for Teaching Your Dog Not to Jump up on People

It’s fairly common for dogs to jump up on people when they’re excited. This excitement may be cute as a puppy, but as a dog grows bigger, jumping up can become increasingly frustrating for owners. For this reason, it’s best to start discouraging this behavior early on and to remain consistent.

It’s important for pet parents to understand where this behavior stems from. In canine to canine communication, greetings are often exchanged by sniffing each other’s faces, so it’s totally understandable that dogs instinctively try to apply this behavior to their interactions with people. Dogs aren’t purposely misbehaving when they jump up on people, but they do need help understanding what an appropriate greeting consists of.

One simple strategy is to ignore your dog until the jumping stops. As soon as your dog calms down, offer plenty of praise and love as a reward. In order for this to be successful, every member of the household needs to follow this plan.

When you have visitors coming over, consider putting your dog on a leash. Do not let your dog say hello to your guests until he has completely calmed down, with all four paws on the floor. If your canine companion gets excited and jumps up when he’s allowed to greet your guests, simply lead him away and try again.

Another option is to try coming down to your dog’s level. If your dog’s goal while greeting you is to get close to your face, kneeling down might eliminate the need to jump up. Try to keep your body upright while kneeling down so that you’re not hovering over your dog (which can come across as threatening). If this technique proves successful, be sure to greet your canine companion this way every time you come home until the behavior sticks.

With a little patience and consistency, it is possible to help your dog kick the jumping up habit.

by VetDepot on April 17, 2014