If you have ever owned a puppy, you have more than likely had to deal with this trouble at some time or another. The puppy is so delighted to set eyes on you that he leaps up on you allowing his muddy paws to get all over your new clothes. Or, even worse, during his excitement he jumps on a small child and knocks them to the floor or cuts their face, arms or legs. Well, I have bad news, you, more than likely, taught your dog to jump.
Let me Elaborate:
Inadvertently, you may have taught this bad behavior from the very beginning. As you probably know, when a new dog enters into our life, they greet us with excitement and instantly come running as soon as they notice us. What is our response to that? Well, we stoop down and pet them or pick them up.
You have just taught your dog a very significant thing, "when I jump up on someone, they give me attention!" Move ahead a few months and now, that once tiny little dog is 3, 4, maybe 5 times the size it was. It does not know the difference, it just needs the attention that it knows how to obtain by jumping up on someone.
Why do puppies jump on you?
The principal reason is out of extreme joy, especially following a long time away from you. (i.e. You come home from work)
Otherwise, if the dog jumps all the time, you might be experiencing more of a dominance problem. This may well be symptoms of a more serious issue of communication and attitude. The longer this kind of bad behavior is tolerated, the more difficult it will be to get rid of the jumping problems. If this is occurring, I would strongly recommend that you study alpha-dog techniques.
Your success in eliminating dog jumping will rely heavily on how you handle this predicament. You should make a concerted effort to be consistent with your dog training. You must make it clear to your puppy that jumping up on individuals is not acceptable in any way.
You are going to need to keep up the identical training routine at all times, every day, until he learns this new behavior. You can not expect your puppy to distinguish the difference between good clothes and old clothes, dirty paws and clean paws or recreation time and greeting time. If you let him jump in one situation, he will believe it is alright to jump when he feels like it.
The most successful way to modify any puppy's behavior happens to be the easiest way to alter unwelcome dog behavior also, and that is to "ignore the bad behavior and reward the good behavior". This is additionally recognized as positive reinforcement training. I realize that this is the very last issue you think about after the puppy just made a new run in your panty hose or knocked a small child to the floor, but with a little pre-planning, positive reinforcement works very well.
As soon as your puppy starts to jump on you, turn away from him immediately. Dogs understand body language better than verbal commands. So, what you ought to do at this time is make use of your posture to get the message through to the puppy. After his paws are on the ground, reward him with a treat. If the dog gets excited again and starts to jump, turn your back. Additionally, keep your head and eyes turned away from him (i.e. The cold shoulder). You can repeat this procedure as much as you need to. Do not worry about confusing your puppy since they can only understand your response to their behavior at that instant. Maintain this training method for the next few days and quickly your puppy will stop jumping on people
Like you, puppies have personalities and each puppy has a unique one. Training a puppy can be a challenging and trying experience. It does not have to be though. If you are having difficulty with potty training, chewing, digging, leash training or any number of issues. I can help you! The animal control shelters are overflowing with misunderstood animals. Before you throw in the towel, please make use of every resource available. More than likely, I gave you a tip or trick to assist you. I hope so. Good luck.
Terrence Whitley is an avid dog lover. He owns 2 Weimaraners, Tucker and Ziggy. He also runs a website dedicated to Weimaraner Dogs which also has general dog information. If you have any dog problems, check the website at http://weimaranerdogs.beginner-guides.com. You may find the answer to your problem.
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