Holiday Prep: No Jumping….Continued

Imagine you are going to a friend’s home for a dinner party.  You ring the bell and suddenly you hear your friend screaming and yelling in excitement all the way to the door.  She opens the door and excitedly screams at you to come in.  As soon as you step in the house she is literally jumping all over you, sniffing you and licking your face.  What is your reaction?  I’m sure you are thinking that your friend may have lost her mind.  While this may be an exaggeration, it holds true that if it’s not acceptable for us to jump all over our house guests, it’s not acceptable for our dog to either.

If you let your dog run your home and dictate whether you can have guests over, now is the time to put a stop to it.  A dog is never too old to learn and it is never too late to break a bad habit.  These next exercises are not only meant to deter the jumping but to replace the behavior with an acceptable one that your dog can use when greeting you and your guests.  

Exercise 2: Replace the jump with a sit

·         When your dog starts to jump up, stand still, look straight ahead (not at your dog), and pull your hands and arms up to your chest.

·         Say “Off” and immediately turn your back to your dog so that she can’t reach your face.

·         Then say “Sit.” When she sits (watch her in your peripheral vision so that you can see), turn around to face her, kneel down and calmly stroke her.

·         If your dog jumps up again, quickly stand up and turn your back on her as you did before. Keep repeating this sequence until your dog stops jumping up.

Exercise 3: Greeting guests (and you)

·         If you’re entering a room and your dog starts to jump up, immediately step back outside and close the door behind you, leaving it open just a crack.

·         Through the crack in the door, say “Sit.” When your dog sits, calmly walk back into the room, kneel down and gently stroke her.

·         If she jumps up again, quickly stand up and walk right back out of the room again, closing the door behind you. Keep repeating this sequence until your dog stops jumping up.

Once your dog has mastered this with you, ask a few friends to help with the next steps:

·         One at a time, have your friends practice the exercise above that starts with the person entering the house or room.

·          Then start your practice session with one of them knocking or ringing the bell, and go with your dog to answer it.

·         Before you open the door, tell your dog to sit. When she does, open the door.

·         If your dog jumps, your friend knows what to do. If your dog stays sitting, your friend can calmly greet her and you can praise and treat her. Have each of your friends do several repetitions.

Exercise 4: Replace the jump with a toy

Because of their extreme excitement when greeting people, some dogs find it easier to grab a toy to shake or hold, rather than sit for petting. If this sounds like your dog;

·         Keep a toy by the front door. When you come home, open the door and immediately direct your dog’s attention to the toy or throw it for her.

·         Do the same thing for your dog when visitors come to your home.

The most important part of these exercises is CONSISTENCY! You must be consistent when reinforcing good behavior or you will only confuse your dog and the jumping will continue.  That is why it is so important that everyone in the household learn what behaviors to reward with attention and what behaviors to discourage.  If you continue to have difficulty teaching your dog to politely greet guests, consider employing the help of a dog trainer or behaviorist.