Secrets to Dog Training

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Jumping is a really well known issue among dogs - well, actually I should say among dog owners. It’s rarely a problem for the dogs themselves – in fact, jumping seems to act as a reward in itself. It’s a different kettle of fish for the exasperated owner, who’s forced to deal with a new set of muddy footprints in their clothes, or gouges in their skin, maybe even offended guests or scared children! Many owners inadvertently encourage jumping behavior from puppyhood: when a small puppy comes running up to us, wiggling with excitement and making small, clumsy leaps at our knees, it’s almost natural to lean down and respond in kind. Effectively, we reward that puppy’s jumpy greeting by reacting with exuberant affection, hugs and kisses. The puppy learns a quick lesson: jumping is a good thing, because he will be rewarded in plenty of positive attention and physical contact. Your dog doesn’t understand the difference between a jump as a small, cute puppy, and a jump as a huge, hairy adult. To a dog, a greeting is a greeting, and just because he’s aged by a few months is no reason to stop jumping, at least, not voluntarily. But who can blame him for thinking that way? You’ll need to take matters into your own hands, and make it perfectly clear to your dog that jumping is no longer allowed.

All owners with even pretensions of responsibility should arm their dogs with a reliable recall to the "off" command – just in case. Why does jumping happen? The main reason that most dogs jump up is simply out of excitement: it’s an enthusiastic greeting, used at times when their adrenaline’s running high and the dog’s happy about something. Many dogs don’t jump at all, apart from when their owner returns home after a relatively prolonged absence (like the average workday). If your dog is leaping up on you in these circumstances, there’s no sinister motivation at work here: he’s literally jumping for joy. A less common, but more serious, reason that some dogs will jump is to exert their dominance over you (or over whoever they’re jumping on). Dogs are pack animals: they live in designated hierarchies of social rank and order, yes even house dogs still inherit that. When a dog needs to assert his dominance over a lesser animal, one way of doing so is to declare physical superiority, which is usually done by "jumping up": he’ll sling one or both paws over the other dog’s shoulders. You’ll be able to tell the basic reason for your dog’s jumping simply by considering the circumstances surrounding the event. If he only jumps up in periods of great excitement (like during play-time, or when you return home from work) then he’s clearly just demonstrating an exuberant frame of mind. If the behavior occurs in a variety of situations, then it’s more likely that he’s expressing dominance over you, which is a more complex issue – the jumping’s just a symptom of an underlying attitude and communication issue.



Essentially, you’ll need to make some serious adjustments to your overall relationship with your dog, and brush up on your alpha-dog techniques (tip: Secrets to Dog Training has some fantastic resources on coping with a dominant dog – there’s a link to the site at the bottom of the page). Four paws on the ground, please! How you react to your dog’s jumping plays a big role in whether or not that behavior gets repeated. You’re going to need to make a prolonged effort to be consistent in how you choose to deal with this problem: for your dog to stop jumping, he needs to be taught that it is never ever acceptable for him to do so. This means that you can’t allow him to jump sometimes, but forbid him from doing it at other times. Your dog can’t understand the difference between a playful and an irritable mood, or your work and play clothes: all he understands is that, if you allow him to jump up on some occasions, he’ll try to jump up on you whenever he feels like it, because he doesn’t know any better. Stopping the jumping permanently is very important. Most trainers agree that the most effective way for you to weed out unwanted behaviors (like jumping) in your dog is also the easiest: all you have to do is simply ignore him whenever he jumps up. The idea is to give him the cold shoulder: withdraw all attention, even negative attention (so no yelling, shoving, or corrections).



Here’s how to implement this training technique: whenever your dog jumps up on you, turn your back straight away. Since dogs understand body language a lot more clearly than they do the spoken word, you’re going to be using your posture to convey the message that such behavior isn’t acceptable here: fold your arms, turn your back, turn your face away from him and avert your eyes. ‘ This is where a lot of people fail: they confuse ignoring the behavior with ignoring the dog. You’re not ignoring the behavior - i.e., you shouldn't carry on with whatever you were doing as if the jumping never happened; you’re ignoring your dog. You’re still going to react; but your reaction is actively ignoring him. The cold shoulder is a really effective way of communicating your displeasure to a dog – he’ll catch on very quickly. Without the encouragement of your attention and your reactions to his behavior, he’ll calm down very quickly indeed. When to praise When all four paws are on the ground, then – and only then – you can praise the heck out of him! Don’t be confused by the proximity of the positive reinforcement to the negative – dogs have a very short "training memory", and are only able of associating a reaction from you with whatever behavior it is they’re exhibiting at the time of that reaction. So, it’s perfectly OK for you to react with wild enthusiasm the very second that his paws touch the ground, even if you were cold-shouldering him the split-second before.



We also have more information, just take a look at my blog: www.secrets-to-a-dogs-training.blogspot.com



Recommended Reading For more information on understanding and solving canine behavioral problems, you’d probably be interested in checking out Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a complete how-to manual for dog owners, and is packed with just about all the information you’ll ever need on dog psychology, canine communication how-to’s, practical advice for dealing with problem behaviors, and detailed step-by-step guides to obedience training. To visit Secrets to Dog Training, just click on the link below: *http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/index.php?aff=dbecker16&type=jumping