Dogs jumping up on people is at best an embarrasing and annoying habit, at worst a danger for all involved.

what starts out as a cute habit in young puppies can escalate into a big problem that can be difficult to correct. If you can’t stand your much loved dog jumping up on you, just imagine what visitors to your home must think.

Dog Jumping Up - Annoying: Jumps all over you every time you come home, on visitors to your home and just when you’ve put on freshly cleaned and ironed pants.

Dog Jumping Up - Dangerous: Any small child or elderly person who crosses path with your dog. Depending on the size of your dog, anyone could be in danger of being knocked off their feet, or worse.

Why Do Our Dogs Jump Up On People?

- Excitement, they’re just showing you that they are happy to see you.

- Your dog could be seeking attention.

- To assert dominance over you or guests.

General Tips For Correcting Dog Behavior Problems - Jumping Up

- Start as early as you can. It’s much easier to prevent behavior problems such as jumping up than to modify an existing habit.

- Punishing or hitting a dog for jumping up just doesn’t make sense and will never work. Your goal, and your best chance of stopping your dog from jumping up is to clearly communicate that jumping up is always unacceptable behavior.

- Never reward a dog that jumps up on people by giving them the attention they are seeking.

- You have to send a consistent message to your dog in all circumstances. Make it simple for your dog and eliminate any confusion. This means that everybody who comes into contact with your dog has to reinforce the same message. It’s pointless if you give your dog a cuddle and attention when he jumps up on you, but then yell at him when he jumps on a delivery man.

How To Stop Your Dog From Jumping Up

Depending on what stage you’re at with the jumping up problem, you should find one of these training techniques will do the trick. In most cases you will see some positive results in a matter of days. These are my favorite methods which I have successfully used to stop my dogs from jumping:

- When you see that your dog is ready to launch up at you, turn your body away from him. This will make your dog miss you, or at the very least deflect him off you. During this process don’t make any eye contact with your dog and don’t say a thing. Ignore your dog and make it clear to him that when he jumps he gets nothing from you. When your dog has settled down and stops jumping you then initiate some contact with him. Get down to his level and lavish him with praise and a nice scratch behind the ear. If you are consistent and persistent with this method, your dog will soon learn that staying on all four legs is a much better alternative!

- The next method is the one I prefer to use with my dogs. In situations where your dog is excitable and prone to jumping up, give him something else to do. In these situations I instruct my dogs to “sit” - this is sometimes referred to as “alternate behavior training”. So instead of jumping around like lunatics, my dogs sit patiently awaiting my attention (which I always reward them with).

- Many dog trainers use and recommend correcting jumping up problems with a pinch collar (sometimes called a prong collar). This technique is most suitable for bigger, strong willed breeds like German Shepherds and Rottwheilers. The key is to leave the pinch collar on whenever you are around your dog and have a short leash attached to it. At the moment your dog jumps, give a short sharp snap downwards on the leash. This tightens the collar and creates a negative association to your dog. It is said to replicate the correction that dogs use between themselves. Never pull on the leash for more than a second or two, and never hurt your dog. When used the right way the pinch collar should not leave a mark on your dogs neck. Your dog will learn very quickly that when he jumps up on people, it will be an unpleasant experience.

The good thing about jumping up problems in dogs is that they are usually an easy fix. As long as you are determined to correct the problem and follow the above training techniques you should be on the right track.

Many puppy owners will tell you that if they could accomplish one thing in their life, it would be some high-quality dog behavior training! Puppies seem to have a mind of their own and while they are certainly trainable, some seem as if they are purposely doing everything they can to drive their owner absolutely insane with their behavior. It’s a good thing they’re cute, isn’t it? But in all seriousness, dog behavior training doesn’t need to be as difficult as some people make it out to be, if you know how to do it right. If you’re in the middle of trying to accomplish some dog behavior training and are ready for some quick tips and hints, keep reading.

Tip #1 - Reward, reward, reward.

Far too many dog owners concentrate only on punishing their pet when it comes to dog behavior training. The real key to getting your puppy or dog to do what you want is to consistently reward his behavior when he does it. This is important for example during potty training. Simply chastising him when he messes in the house is not enough. When you get him outside to take care of business, be sure to immediately pet him and give him positive attention when he’s done. This way he associated going potty in the right place with his owner’s approval. Dogs crave that approval more than anything, so it’s important to use that consistently during dog behavior training.

Tip #2 - One step at a time.

It’s a common occurrence among new dog owners to completely overwhelm their dog with all the tricks they want them to perform. It’s something like playing with a new toy - you just want to go through all the features and options right away. For dog behavior training you need to slow yourself down and concentrate on one thing at a time. Teach him how to sit and practice this for at least two weeks before you introduce another command. Continue to practice the sitting while you do the next one, but let the next command sink in for a good two weeks before you move on to a third. Remember, dog behavior training can be a bit overwhelming for the dogs and the owners so trying to accomplish everything at once is just going to be too much for the dog and for you. So slow down and be patient, with the dog and with yourself.

Tip #3 - Have fun!

Once dog behavior training becomes irritating or overwhelming, it’s time to step back a bit. Be patient with the dog and remind yourself of all the reasons you got him. While not always fun and enjoyable, dog behavior training shouldn’t be devastating to you or the dog either. So if you find yourself resenting your dog or thinking that perhaps you’ve made a mistake, take a deep breath, and then take yourself and the dog out for a long walk - and have some fun along the way!

Having a dog is one of life’s greatest pleasures and for those of us that have had a dog for quite some time, we realized that the love that we received from them is unconditional. There may be times, however, whenever we have an animal that tends to act up in some way or another. Perhaps it has developed aggressive tendencies or maybe it just has a habit or two that we would like to change. Regardless of what kind of problems your dog is experiencing, there is some form of dog behavior training that can help.

The first step in any type of dog behavior training is taking them in for some basic obedience training. If your dog does not yet know the basic commands, such as sit, stay, come and down, you should enroll them in a basic obedience class. Of course, if your dog is displaying aggressive tendencies, you should discuss this with a teacher before the class begins. More than likely, they will allow the dog to take part in the classroom environment but they may have you muzzle it if it may be a hazard to other dogs that are also taking the class. Taking part in the basic obedience class may be all that is necessary to break your dog out of some of its misbehaving. The reason why this is the case is because behavior problems and dogs often come about as a result of boredom. If you take away the boredom, you take away the problem.

If, after going to the basic obedience classes, you still need to pursue additional dog behavior training, your trainer may be able to help. Most of those that take care of a basic obedience classes are not only good at helping your dog to understand the basic commands, they may also be able to give you specific help with your problems. The fact that you have already taken classes with this particular trainer will help your dog to react better to the dog behavior training, simply because it is comfortable with the trainer.

Finally, you should not overlook the possibility of their behavior being a result of a physical problem. Dogs are unable to tell you what is going wrong with them and they may display a variety of behavioral problems as a result of their illness. If the misbehaving happened suddenly, check with your veterinarian to see if a health problem might not be at the root of it.