Anti-Jump Training

Dogs jump because it gets them what they want, attention! Even when you bend over and tell them NO, your eye contact and your voice is so rewarding, you’ve just made your dog’s day. Instead we are going to reward them for NOT jumping with the following exercise:

• Walk up to your dog, pat your legs and make kissing noises to invite him to jump on you.
• When your dog’s paws leave the ground, I want you to say Whoops! and turn around.
• As soon as his paws are on the ground again, turn around and repeat the exercise.

Keep doing this until you make all your best doggy noises and he stays on the ground. At that moment, bend down and give him lots of love and hugs. Pat him and tell him what a good boy he is. You have now helped him understand no matter how excited he is, paws on the floor brings the attention!

That’s it! Now keep doing this with every member of your family and everyone who walks through your front door for two weeks. Do this exercise with anyone who comes to your house to help your dog understand he can’t jump on mom or dad but also, he can’t jump on strangers too! 

Interesting Fact: Chest bumps in dog language are an invitation to play so when you knee a large dog in the chest to get him off you, not only have you rewarded his jumping with attention but you just asked him to play with you!

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Frequently Asked Questions - Anti-Jump Training

Why do I invite him up? Isn’t that unfair to ask him to jump on me and then punish him by turning around?

That’s a great question and the answer is this, what do most people do when they come through your front door? They make high pitched, happy to see the dog, noises. Your dog needs to learn that jumping is never allowed period no matter how enticing you or your guest is.

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Green Paws Training Options

We teach and practice Anti-Jump training in our Puppy Manners and Basic Manners classes and in our Overcome Leash Pulling workshop. 

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Books and Tools

There are no books or tools to really recommend for this behavior.

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