Aspen kangaroo jumps EVERY single day. When I let him out in the morning, when I let him out after school, and just any time he gets excited. I have tried turning around and ignoring, I have tried crouching down to his level, and I have tried telling him to sit. The crouching down to his level works, but that won't work for someone like my grandma. Telling him to sit works too, but he will only sit for a second before he jumps again. People have been telling me to knee him in the chest which is horrifying to me because you wouldn't slap your baby for crying! I am just really concerned about this because my sister let him out for me the other day and he jumped up on her and knocked the wind out of her. She's 28 but she's only 40 kg (89 lbs) and 152 cm (5 ft) and that's too tiny to be getting jumped on by a 23 kg (50 pound) dog! I don't know what to do and I am just so frustrated with his jumping. Please help! It's really honestly one of his only truly "bad" behaviors. I know he isn't doing it to be naughty but it's rather annoying.
I looked at these two links: https://www.labradortraininghq.com/labrador-behavior/how-to-stop-your-dog-or-puppy-from-jumping-up/ & https://www.thelabradorsite.com/no-more-jumping-up/ and they are helpful. Just wondering if anyone else has any more tips. I am guessing consistency is key, just as it is with all other things
Train a paws on the floor for greeting , it's my preferred method with clients. Have a look on You Tube for Emily Larlham or Kiko pups as she has lovely video showing the technique. Sorry can't link for you as it's a hassle on the phone and I've no access to laptop as away at a conference.
@Jojo83 I watched the paws on the floor video, I don't understand how having your dog come to you when you click and throwing a treat reinforces a calm response. Could you explain? I will try it, I just don't fully understand.
I've not seen the video recently, but I think you may be a touch muddled because you're not having your dog come to you when you click, the click is an event marker that tells him he's done something right. So, you would have your dog come to you and click (or say "yes", or whatever your event marker is) before he jumps up. Then you toss the treat away so you get the distance to have another go.
You click to mark the behaviour - in this cae all paws on the floor. You deliver the treat on the floor to treat the position. So in effect you start clicking as you come through the door before any jumping occurs and all paws are on the floor. You can go out and come back several times in a session and most dogs I've trained catch on very quick. I usually advise ti gave a pot of treats/clicker ready by doors for visitors so you can click and treat before jumping starts.
Hey Alicia, This is something I've been doing a bit of work on with Pearl. Just doing pretty much what the others said. Marking the behaviour I'm ok with...She's cute how after I turn around, (because she's jumped up), I find her doing a sit behind me!
@snowbunny Ok, I have been doing it right then! I was just doing it and thinking "How could this possibly teach Aspen not to jump?" I have him come to me and if he is on all four paws then I click and give a treat. Then I move to a different spot and if he comes to me on all fours again I click and give a treat. Correct?
You don't need him to come to you, just remain with paws on the floor. This makes it easier to control when visitors come through the door as you want him calm with paws on the floor before any approach and greeting.
I, on the other hand, prefer to teach this with the coming to you, as part of a "learning to approach people without jumping up" behaviour. I teach the "not approaching unless invited" separately. Neither is "right" or "wrong", you just have to decide for yourself what lesson you're trying to teach today The way I do it, yes, correct I make myself increasingly more exciting throughout sessions.
When our boy was a pup, we kept him on a leash when guests arrived (then let him off once the excitement of new arrivals died down). He wasn’t able to jump up when on a leash so wasn’t able to reinforce the behavior. My trainer gave me the best advice: give him something better to do (which we’ve used in so many other situations). In this case it was sit to greet. We asked our guests only to greet him when he was sitting, AND always acknowledged him when he sat on his own accord - which was incredibly sweet to observe, cos there he was sitting and wagging while people were chatting, waiting for a hallo.
@MF I think I like the leash method. I do have sisters who walk through my door and shout "HI PUPPY!!!" so I don't think that really helps, so I'll have to ask them to go along with Aspen's training for the time being. Thanks! Also, when you say you only allowed guest to greet him if he was sitting, did he learn to sit after you used the leash to make sure he was 4 on the floor? It is almost impossible to get Aspen to already be sitting when guests arrive.
I’m wracking my brains - it was 5 years ago!! I’m sure he sat - albeit for a brief millisecond in the beginning - but for the briefest sit he got attention. I guess it built up from there. Baby steps. It doesn’t happen overnight. He was bouncy bouncy, but the moment he sat he got a hallo. We didn’t make him sit while people were walking up the path - that would’ve been impossible for such a young pup! - only when they were face to face with him. The leash attached to his harness just meant he couldn’t self-reward by jumping up. He’s an adult now and is allowed to run down the path to say hallo. He seldom jumps up - once in a blue moon if he’s over the top excited. Otherwise he just trots up and wags his tail madly and nudges with his nose and is the perfect welcoming committee.
