How Do I Get My Dog to Stop Jumping?

This is one of the most frequent questions I get asked about dogs. Large dogs get the short end of the stick on this one. If a small dog jumps on you and is at your ankles, not many people notice. A big dog jumping in your face is pretty hard to miss. A few things to try are:

1. Teach your dog an incompatible behavior. Like a “drop dead sit.” You can’t jump on someone and sit at the same time! A good obedience class (like Zen Paws) is a great place to learn to sit with a lot of distractions (other dogs, people, cars, etc.).
2. Make sure your dog is getting enough exercise. Most dogs need an average of one hour of aerobic exercise per day. A walk is not aerobic. Aerobic is heart-raising exercise! There is a common saying “A tired dog is a good dog!” Tire your dog out till she/he doesn’t have the energy to jump. There are a lot of ways to tire your dog out. Mental stimulation can help tire out your dog. Training classes are a great way to get your dog thinking and problem solving. There are some good toys designed for this as well. The Buster Cube is a great toy designed to stimulate your dog mentally.
3. Until your dog has learned a sit, use “dog talk” to stop your dog from jumping. When your dog starts to jump on you, slowly move into its space. Watch your dog closely and you will learn the signs that it’s about to jump. When you see that, step slowly into (toward) your dog. In the beginning it may be like a dance. Your dog has jumped on you, has its paws on your shoulders and is walking backwards while you are slowly walking in your dog’s space all the way across the room. The next time you may only have to go halfway across the room before your dog gets down. Soon you will be taking one step forward and your dog will get down. Then you will just lean forward and your dog will stop the jump.
4. Do not raise a knee to your dog’s chest!!! You could injure your dog this way. People’s natural reaction to a dog jumping on them is to lean back a bit. In dog talk this means, “jump on me.” Send a clear message that you don’t want to be jumped on by slowing stepping toward your dog.
5. A word of warning, dogs often go through a “Tigger” stage where they stop jumping on you but still jump frantically up and down in front of you. This too shall pass.