How cute are puppies? And let’s be honest, we love that they love us, and want to see us, and want to see our friends and family. But, when that comes with jumping, it gets less adorable as they grow older, and bigger.
But we have to acknowledge why your puppy is jumping. They are excited to see you, and other people. And again, at first it is a little endearing but then they get bigger. And you get tired of the little puppy nails digging into your skin. And sometimes it leads to mouthing and biting. Meanwhile your neighbors are squealing and delighted when it happens – “Oh, I don’t mind! I love dogs!” So what do you do?
First, you accept that your puppy is jumping because jumping is working – every time your neighbor gets excited and pets your jumping puppy, jumping is reinforced. Every time you get frustrated and yell and do that dance we all do, it is reinforced – even bad attention is attention. So, we need to control our response, and the situation – manage, manage, manage!
If you have a neighbor that encourages jumping, avoid that neighbor. Or tell them you are in training and the teacher gave your homework – hand them a treat and tell them youe puppy is supposed to sit for everyone they meet. They will love being involved and you just gave them a positive way to interact. They might even start carrying their own treats!
If they are jumping on you – let’s look at why; are they jumping because they are overstimulated? Overtired? Worried? It might be your puppy just needs some quiet time to chew and settle down. It might be they need some reassurance. It might be they just cannot manage their body and it is time for a treat scatter and a break. It might be they just have not figured out that you do not like the jumping – so teach them what you do like. When your puppy bounds to you ask for a sit – and when they do take them to find a cookie and shower them with the love and attention they came to you for. If they get more excited with the praise and reward and start to bounce up, stand up and remove your attention, see if they calm. If they do you can go back to paying attention, and next time use a little less excitement when you are praising them. REMEMBER: Pay what you like, ignore what you do not, and try to keep calm.
Sometimes if a puppy is jumping a good gasp and body turn can help – channel your inner stereotypical proper British governess and give a good “OH MY!” and use your body language to let them know you are disengaging – turn your head, cross your arms and let your body show you are disgusted with this nonsense. Some will get the message immediately, some will continue to tackle you, frustrated at being ignored. Those puppies might need a little more help, they might need to learn an alternative behavior (like sit) or we might need to manage them a bit more (using treat scatters or avoiding people when they are overexcited). If you are struggling, reach out!
Puppies do not come knowing how to greet people, and they are doing what works for them. If jumping gets them attention, they will keep doing it. This is why in Puppy Class and Enrichment we work so hard on proper greetings, all our puppies leave knowing Go Say Hi! 1-2-3, a Relationship Centered Training Skill from Suzanne Clothier.
Old Dogs New Tricks Dog Training 