When you first get a puppy you may enjoy your puppy jumping up. “Oh, how cute”. But it ceases to be funny when your large dog begins to jump up on people with dirty paws – very embarrassing. So it’s best to nip this behavior in the bud while he is still young. The sooner you can eliminate this behavior the better.
The most usual circumstance for this behavior is when someone arrives at your house or when you come across someone while you’re taking your dog for a walk. So, it’s a good idea to train your dog to sit in these circumstances.
In some circumstances jumping up can be your dog trying to become the dominant one, but usually the behavior is just a greeting. Dominance can create other problem behaviors and this definitely needs to be prevented. You should be the dominant one, the pack leader.
You ought to appreciate the concept of positive reinforcement. For this you can use food treats or praise and affection. It’s crucial that you stop giving any reward for the behavior of jumping up. So rather than greeting your dog excitedly as he jumps up, you must give him no attention while he is in a state of excitement. Don’t give him any eye contact.
In contrast to this, when he is no longer excited and has all his feet on the floor you can show him affection.
Hopefully, your dog may already sit on command. If so it’s a good idea to get him to sit as your enter the house or as guests arrive. As soon as he sits, reward him with a treat or affection. If he doesn’t already sit on command, you should work on this and other obedience training. It’s much easier to start solid obedience training in specific short sessions, away from any distractions. Make sure you and your dog have fun in your training sessions.
You need to get the cooperation of everyone who your dog comes into contact with, so that they don’t upset all your work. Get them to agree not to enthusiastically greet your dog. They should avoid eye contact with your dog.
Initially, you may want to put your dog in another room when visitors arrive, so that you avoid the stimulating situation at the door.
I hope that this helps with dogs jumping up. Read more about other dog behavior problems such as aggression in dogs.
