Does this sound familiar - you arrive home from shopping, carrying a full load of groceries. You turn the key in the lock and nudge the door open. As you enter your house you are welcomed by a yapping, hyper-active dog, pouncing up at you. You drop the bags smashing every breakable item inside. You try to pick them up, but the dog doesn't stop. She carries on barking and trying to lick your face. No amount of shouting will get her to stop.
If you have a dog who likes to jump, I'm sure this scenario will be familiar to you.
There are many reasons for this annoying canine trait but if you want to address it you need to first examine your own behavior.
How do you react with the dog when you return home? Do you make a big fuss? Do you shower her with affection while she's still worked up and excited? If you do, you are re-enforcing the bad behavior. Should it really surprise you that she continues to do it?
The best way to address your dog's jumping up behavior is to refuse to acknowledge it. By this I mean, you withhold your attention while the dog is in her over-excited state.
Don't make a fuss about leaving or returning to home. When you leave, do so quickly, and when you return pay no attention to the dog until she has calmed down.
Make it a habit to ignore her for the first 10-15 minutes after you return. Wait until she is calm, then give her the "sit" command. Now you can give her all the love and attention you like. You are now rewarding her for being calm.
Many people have difficulty ignoring their dog. They think that it is cruel, and experience guilt about it. If you feel you can't follow through on the aforementioned strategy, here are a few alternatives;
1.A common reason for dogs jumping up is that they want face to face interaction. Allowing your dog to do this may stop her jumping up. Kneel and let her see your face. This eliminates the reason for her jumping up in the first place.
2. Another method is to turn your back on the dog until she settles down. She'll soon realize that she has to settle down in order to get your attention. Wait till she's in a calm state, then you can greet her. But keep it subdued, or she might get worked up again.
3. The first two methods work well with small dogs. But if you have a Boxer, a German Shepherd, or other large breed, you may want to try gently grabbing hold of her paws when she jumps. Walk her slowly back a couple of paces then set her down, while giving the instruction "down" in a firm voice.
Dogs don't enjoy walking backwards so she'll soon learn to associate the unpleasant sensation with jumping up.
A little bit of patience and persistence is usually all it takes to teach your dog not to jump up.
However, make sure that you instruct all members of the household to deal with the dog in exactly the same way. You down want the dog to become confused as this will seriously hamper your training efforts.
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