Tara is now 14 months old, but still jumps up at people (in a friendly way), but it is not appreciated by everyone. I think some of it is because she was given treats, as a young puppy, and still expects them. Our old postman always had dog biscuits in his pocket, but she now harasses the new postman, which he is not keen on, and I worry about the PO stance on "dog assault". I did ask at training, but the only advice we were given was to tell people to stay back - not much use when meeting people on a narrow pavement, with fence on one side and parked cars on the other! Despite being told "No", and short lead, she still does it. Any suggestions?
Hello there The first thing is to just stop her doing it when you are not training. Jumping up is a fun and rewarding thing to do in itself - it gets you closer to the human's face and if you are really lucky they will squeek and flail around making it even more exciting. (By the way, the flailing around thing is why I think asking people to turn their backs is a bit hopeless). Anyway, so don't let her rehearse doing this fun and rewarding thing to do (because that encourages her to do more of the fun and rewarding thing). The way to stop her jumping up is to have her on a good wide flat collar, and have her lead go from her collar directly to the floor, under your foot and up to your hand. It helps to have a knot in the lead at the right place so the knot is against the instep of your foot. This allows you to quickly put your foot on the lead in the right place, and stops it slipping under your foot. It is impossible for a dog to jump up when you have your foot on the lead like this. They just cannot get their head up to begin the jump. Think of it as safely 'parking' your dog. It helps if you, and everyone else, ignores your dog when in 'park' because that way the dog knows nothing of interest is going to happen, so might as well just be quiet and wait. When you are too close to people, your narrow pavement etc. or the postman at the door (by the way, your dog really does not need to greet the postman....she can be behind a door....), park your dog. That's the stopping jumping up sorted. When you are training not jumping up, you need helpers. Stand with your dog on a lead and have a person approach you. If the dog stays standing nicely next to you, the person keeps coming towards you and the dog. If your dog pulls forwards or goes to jump, have the person step back. Keep going (in stages, you don't have to do it all at once) until the person can approach you and have a conversation with you and your dog stays still. Give treats when the dog doesn't move. Repeat with more and more exciting people. Once the dog doesn't move on a lead, try without a lead. A barrier is helpful for this, a baby gate etc. so the dog can't get to the person backing away. And so on. Make the treats super tasty - really, really good. Warm, juicy, roast meat etc. Best of luck with it.
If you do the above, standing on the lead, don't have it tight from the collar to your foot - just have a tiny bit of slack in it. If it's tight dogs can panic and pull/struggle hard to get away. I'd practise it first at home, with treats, so your dog is calm about it. I'd also rope in friends and visitors to help you train 'no jumping' at home. Stand wth your dog on lead (dog can be standing or sitting) and feed treats while friend/visitor approaches. While all four paws are on the floor the visitor keeps approaching and you keep feeding treats. But as soon as a paw lifts the treats stop and the visitor does an abrupt U-turn and walks away. Wait till the dog is settled and try again. The dog learns that hellos only happen if no jumping happens. This is my preferred method. That's how we teach it in classes at our dog club and it works well provided the humans are consistent and do what they should
I found this one of the hardest things to deal with. When you are training other things (sit etc) you are choosing when you do it. When you are trying to predict and outsmart them. I trained a 'sit' when we walked past people. I got her into the sit before they arrived and kept telling. Her what a good girl she was as they walked past. It takes time but it does eventually control the situation. I still use it today, it looks really quite smart and people compliment me on my well trained dog. If only they knew the truth
Appreciate the answers, but .... Tara is no trouble at home, but it is in the street where we have trouble. We can be walking along quite happily, when someone appears (such as postman exiting someones garden) and we suddenly see him. Tara recognises the outfit, and thinks all posties have treats. Same with everyone else. We live in a busy area, and there are loads of people about. Me doing a dog lead two step, trying to tread on it, every few paces, will more likely see me on my back, and Tara off up the road, or with her paws on someone's chest. I can't tell everyone to stop or turn round, or cross the road - I would soon get a mouthful from the locals! I really need to be able to push down on her shoulders, to stop her jumping in the first place, but she would probably wriggle and then jump. Treats from me might work, but again, I need to be holding my hand in front of her nose all the time, not good for my back or her waistline. Just hope she grows out of it (at least the treat givers (other dog owners and fishermen up the park) have stopped, at my request.
It works fine. My dog is 30kg of muscle, and he was on rest for months. When he got back out, he was nuts. You just have to practice. Reach down to the collar, stop forward movement, step on the lead, stand still. Give treats (if you want) for any calmness. I live in central London. You can make it work. Your dog will not pull you over, because there is not enough slack in the lead to give her momentum to do so. If you are worried about your dog's weight, don't feed her so much. But don't skimp on treats for training. Stop giving food away in a bowl for free, first.
