 Dog
Jumps Up |
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Dear Deborah: Our dog, Molly, jumps on everyone.
We tell her down, and she jumps up again. The more you yell, the more she jumps.
When we try to knee her in the chest she gets even more wild. She's only 60
pounds, but she's fast and hits hard. Last week, she sent my mother flying when she came to visit for Sunday dinner. The cake she bought went flying. Food spilled everywhere. My mother fell to the floor and Molly ate the cake. Please help. - Jumping Mad |
| Dear Jumping Mad: The reason Molly jumps more if
you yell at her is she really believes that all this yelling and jumping about
is part of showing love to the people she's greeting. Long ago, when Molly was a pup, someone, somewhere at sometime rewarded her for jumping up. The yelling and scolding was added to the routine greeting, but, again, the scolder gave in to her charms and cuddled her anyway. Jumping up has always led to positive consequences or no consequences at all. Yelling, kneeing and all the other negative reaction you gave her made no difference because she was not at anytime shown what to do instead. Next time people come over, have a leash on Molly. Command her to sit, and enforce the sit command using the leash for control. Praise her for the sit, and open the door to your guests. If she stays in a sit position, invite them to come in, and reach down and pet her. If she jumps up, scold her, "no off," then command her to "sit" and praise her when she does. Allow her to greet your guests in a sit position only. If she is defiant, continually jumping up, march her away from the guests, to sit in a room (or kennel) by herself. After 20 minutes, go to her and ask her to be quiet and sit. If she's good, bring her out to try once again to greet the guests in a sit. If she blows it, march her right back into isolation If you insist that she must always greet in a sit or not greet at all, she will learn quickly. When they are gone, practice sit drills and release her when she's good. To increase the learning speed, make her sit to receive all the perks she loves, like meals, treats and cuddles. Always praise a good sit. When you come home yourself, and she jumps all over you, turn your back and ignore her. Give her no attention until she's willing to listen to you. She really believes that all this yelling and jumping about is part of showing love to the people she's greeting. |
| Dear Deborah: Our 18 month old female British bull terrier is a very loving dog - sometimes too loving. She jumps up, trying to lick all of us - a disaster for guests. She goes straight for the face with wet kisses. - Burnaby Bull Dog |
| Dear Burnaby Bull: She learned to ignore
your down commands, probably because, when she was little and cute, everyone let
her get away with jumping up. Now, she still greets people this way. To teach her pleasant greetings, leash her and control her to sit at the door when other people come. Have the guests step back if she jumps up. Remind her to sit, enforce it and praise her, then let her greet the guests in the sit position. Make sure she gets attention for sitting. If she gets more attention for jumping than for sitting, she'll revert back to old habits. When you come home, make her sit at the door. If she insists on jumping up, ignore her. When she stops jumping, tell her to sit. If she does, cuddle her. Make a fuss. If she starts jumping again, ignore her until she's ready to listen. |
| Dear Deborah: Our dog Winnie is a doll. We love her to pieces. The problem is that sometimes she loves us back too much. Ninety pounds of flying golden retriever isn't always the best thing to come home to, especially when dressed in a brand new suit! How do we stop her from jumping up? - Muddy Paws |
| Dear Muddy Paws: Winnie has learned that
jumping up gets her noticed. Ignore her when she jumps up, and she'll stop it.
Turn your back on her if necessary. After she's tried to get your attention and
failed, she'll be ready to listen. Command her to "sit." If she obeys,
kneel down and give her lots of love. If she doesn't sit, forcibly place her in
that position, and praise her. If she tries to rise or jump, ignore her until
she's ready to listen and sit. In order for this to work, everyone in the family
must enforce the new rule. You may need to use a leash to teach her not to jump on kids and new visitors. Teach her that the only way to greet people is by sitting. If she jumps, march her away from the door and guests. |
| For more tips, get Deborah's book,
Good Dog! from your local book store. Deborah also writes for the Family Dog Magazine. Available at Save-On Foods, London Drugs, and in Free boxes everywhere. Send your pet questions to: Fax 604-732-2088 |