Dog training tip: Jumping
Jumping is one of those behaviors every dog parent has had to deal with. Here are a few dog training tips on how to get rid of this unwanted behavior.
Jumping up on people is just your dog’s way of saying “howdy”. In most cases we want to greet them too but we just wish it could all happen without ruining your new white pants.
Jumping is your dog’s way of getting your attention and up to now it has probably worked. What we mean by this is: you walk through the door, your dog jumps and then you push him off with your hands, swat and say, “Off! Off!” You may think you are punishing the dog for jumping when in fact you are rewarding in 3 different ways: you are looking at the dog, touching him and talking to him. So all that attention he was looking for, he got. We know it’s hard to ignore a dog jumping on you, especially if you are wearing new pants, but you need to find a way to stop rewarding him.
Prevent Jumping: As with many other unwanted behaviors, the best technique is to prevent the behavior all together. Begin on a day when you have spent a few hours relaxing with your dog. Walk out the front door with treats in your pocket, shut the door behind you, immediately come back in and say “hello”. Hopefully your dog will look at you like you are crazy since you were right there a second ago. Toss him a treat and tell him he is a very good boy. Try it again a few minutes later but wait outside for about a minute. Come back in and treat your good dog for calm behavior. Slowly start adding time outside, take a magazine.
Teach a solid sit: As you come back in ask your dog to sit and give him a treat, then pet him and tell him he’s awesome. Have your entire family practice this and soon your pup will be greeting you with a 
sit instead of knocking you off your feet. If at any point your dog is too excited and starts jumping just walk out again until he is calm, then walk back in.
If sitting is too hard for your dog you can start working with all four paws on the ground and work up to a sit. What we are looking for is prevention of the jumping by rewarding a great behavior as well as preventing the jumping by ignoring it when it happens.
