Questionhi i hope that you can help me . I have a 8 month old pitbull who jumps at anybody when they come to the house she wants to play she jumps up to the hands licks and also nips them anybody that comes to the house she jumps and keeps jumping . what can i do to prevent her from jumping ? so people can actually pet her ? thank you
AnswerWhen she starts jumping on people, do you correct her? I know that sounds like a silly question...but you would be surprised how many people actually do not correct their dogs when they are exhibiting unwanted behaviors! If you do correct her, what method are you using to do so?
If you are not currently correcting her when she starts jumping, you should begin doing so. When someone comes into your home and she starts jumping all over them, let her know that what she is doing is not acceptable to you. Every person, it seems, has their own preferred method of training. And every dog is different. My suggestion is to experiment with different correction and reward methods and find which one suits your dog the best. I personally have a specific noise that I use when my dogs do something they are not supposed to do (and that is the only time I ever make that noise). I make the noise to get their attention and let them know that what they are doing is not acceptable, and then I redirect them to the correct behavior and reward them when they have successfully done the correct behavior. I know people that use other methods in a very effective manner...You just have to find what works best for you and your dog.
At one point, one of my dogs did the jumping thing quite a bit. I always told anyone that came into the house to ignore him until he calmed down...then, after he had calmed down and I had him sitting quietly, they could love on him. If they ignored him and did not pet him, he calmed down and stopped jumping much more quickly than what he did if they paid attention to him. Attention, whether positive or negative, is still attention...and why do dogs jump up on people? To get attention. It is like a reward to them. If you do not reward their unacceptable behavior, they will eventually stop doing it. So, if you ignore the jumping and make them sit calmly and THEN reward them with attention you are more likely to get the desired effect. Does that make sense?
Another thing you can look into is a "no jump" harness. It is a harness that goes around the body and back legs that limits the range of motion the dog has. I have never used one myself, so I cannot tell you whether they are effective or not.
I hope this helps you.
Amy
