This simple habit your dog can develop from a young age and it’s really important in the early stages of your puppies’ development to get it under control.
Puppies can form lots of little bad habits that may seem adorable and cute when they are little, but imagine that same habit happening when they are twice or even triple their size! So it’s not that much fun, that’s why confidence is encouraged to learn how to keep your dog from jumping on people.
Not doing this makes your dog think he can do anything to get your attention! You have to think about it from their level, they are below your height, so the logical thing for them to do is jump 5 feet or as high as they can handle and try to say hello.
One way to prevent your pup from jumping up is to completely ignore him when he tries to jump up, walk away, and not meet his eyes, talk, or touch him. He continues this for at least 5 minutes and then commands his pup to come over. If your puppy won’t stop for whatever reason, try isolating him by leaving him in a room for a short time until he has calmed down.
If your pup has developed a habit of jumping on friends or visitors, ask them to do as above, this reinforces the training and your pup will pick up on the idea faster. Having a leash and collar on the puppy can help him hold him down until he relaxes, if the puppy tries to put his mouth around your hand he should isolate him asap for a while until he calms down. Thus they associate bad behavior with the punishment of being left alone.
When you decide to go for a walk and your puppy jumps up on you, a good technique to teach a dog not to jump up is to lay the leash on the ground next to you and wait 10-15 minutes for your puppy to jump up. calm BEFORE continuing with the walk. Pick up the leash once he has calmed down and try again. Having some patience here is key, you understandably want to get outside and get some exercise as well, but having this process in place is crucial to training your dog not to jump.
Staying calm and avoiding being verbal with your dog is key to getting him to stop jumping on you. Just like a small child, your pup will always be looking for love and attention!
Jumping on you and invading your personal space is not the puppy’s way of showing his love for you, remember that he is just trying to get your attention.
You earn respect when your pup realizes that he can’t just jump on you whenever he wants, knowing his place and giving him his space is very important to earning mutual respect from your pup as he matures.
Praising your pup when he’s calm and doing the right thing is completely fine! It is allowed to pick them up to hug them as long as they exercise the correct way of behaving and do not jump on you. Puppies require a lot of time and love in the beginning, so don’t forget to include this.
When you are ignoring your pup, keep your arms crossed and walk alongside the pup with confidence and assertiveness.
When ignoring your pup for not doing the right thing, it’s important to maintain a very strong stance by crossing your arms and walking confidently past the dog. Remember that making eye contact is not good when he is misbehaving… This invites your pup so don’t make eye contact, focus on something else.
A great trick for training dogs not to jump is to give them the command to sit before you want them to do a certain movement. Practicing giving many of these types of commands will change their default behavior to sitting instead of jumping when you make contact with them, before going for a walk, or when you have visitors around.
