Stop Your Dog From Jumping On People!

So many dog lovers feel very frustrated when their dog jumps up on them, and worse, when they jump on guests and strangers! If you understand WHY your dog jumps on people, then you will be able to more easily retrain this inappropriate, rude and dangerous behavior.

Because the truth is, dogs do what they are allowed or trained to do, and they continue to do things they are being rewarded for. The question becomes, what are you doing that is telling your dog this is the right behavior and they should continue doing it?

Reason #1 - Why Dogs Jump On People to Greet Them

Dogs instinctively jump on people as a way of greeting. Dogs will lick each other's faces when they want to give a nice greeting. It is most likely true that lower ranking dogs licked the faces of the higher ranking dogs when they returned from a hunt. It is also a fact that puppies will climb over each other in an attempt to get to their mother's face, as she sometimes regurgitates food to feed her puppies. So, their attempt to get to a person's face to lick them in greeting is an inborn instinct to welcome someone or express joy.

Also, this behavior can be positively reinforced during greeting times, when a jumping dog is met by an excited owner who immediately praises, feeds, walks and/or plays with their pet after being jumped on. Jumping becomes part of this routine. It is rewarded and reinforced.

Reason #2 - Why Jumping Can Be an Indication of a More Serious Problem

When a dog jumps on someone they may also be trying to show dominance. Dogs jump on each other through what's known as "teeing off". In particular, they rest their head or paw (or both paws) on the shoulder of a dog they want to dominate, and exert a bit of downward pressure. Because we walk on two legs, we're more difficult to tee off on, but the motivation is the same. The dog may be trying to express dominant status. A dog will often jump up once and more or less lean on you.

Dogs need to know who the leader of the pack is. They will respect you for giving them guidelines to follow. If you don't show that you are the leader, then your dog will take control and do what makes the most sense to him at the time.

What You Can Do About It

Cardinal Dog Training Rule: Behavior that persists is being rewarded or reinforced in some way.

Bottom Line #1: Don't Reward the Behavior You Don't Want, and Reward What You DO Want

Teach your dog to sit or go to a certain place and wait for attention when a stranger approaches, or when someone comes to the door. That way you will be taking control, providing direction, and rewarding the behavior of sitting versus rewarding him for jumping. That also means that he must be discouraged from jumping on YOU.

Bottom Line #2: Be Your Dog's Role Model. If you want them to be calm, then you be calm too. You are communicating with your dog through every action or non-action you take during your time with him. They also pick up on your feelings and nonverbal cues. They may be reacting to something in the environment, acting out of pain or distress, or showing you there is something wrong with their management.

Take a moment to assess your situation and decide whether they are exhibiting this unwanted behavior because of something going on with you. If you are unstable, stressed or anxious, or giving out the wrong cues or signals, your dog will react to them like a human animal bodymind mirror. Don't then blame the dog when they are only doing what you have told them it's okay to do.

Tried everything and you're sill not sure why your dog continues to jump up? The only way to know for sure is to speak directly with them so they can tell us themselves what isn't working for them. Animal communication gives them a voice so they can be heard, and encourages their participation in resolving the issue.