Getting Your Dog to Stop Jumping Up On You

Dog jumping up for a hug.

When you first get a new dog, one of the charming things it can do is jump up to greet you. But after a while, this behavior can seem a bit pointless and even annoying. Your dog should show you affection, and you should show your dog affection, but you want it to happen on your terms. That's why this article will address this specific issue and help you to get your dog to stop jumping up on you.

In order to tackle this question, you'll have to learn a few new concepts. First, you'll want to be as patient as possible with dogs, because they don't understand what you're saying or what you're trying to do. It may seem like they know what you're saying because they're eager to communicate with you, but this doesn't mean that the message is registering.

Instead, you'll want to learn a language that dogs do understand: boundaries and rewards.

First, let's take a look at why a dog might try to jump up to you. Remember that in the dog world, dogs often greet each other with their noses: a dog may simply be trying to reach your nose level in order to greet you. Put in that perspective, it seems natural that a dog would want to jump up to you in order to say "hello." When you also take into account that a dog might be excited to see you, this can make a dog very jumpy once you enter a room.

Next, look at how you react when your dog jumps up. Do you get apprehensive, and allow the dog to assert its own territory? This can be a bad move. Remember that dogs will feed off of your energy, and the more you retreat from it, the more it will want to chase you. When you walk into a room, you want to signal to the dog that the room is your territory, so you don't let the dog walk all over you.

In order to reward the dog into taking on a good behavior, basically ignore the dog until he or she becomes relaxed and stops jumping on you. When you give a dog affection while he's apprehensive, then you're reinforcing that behavior. Wait until the dog acts the way you want him or her to before you reward the dog with a treat or with affection.

If you want to start using a quick command, try the word "off." It's quick and recognizable, and you can start saying it whenever you want the dog to be off of you. After you consistently wait until the dog is calm, the dog will eventually get the hint that it should remain calm in order to greet you.

Photo Credits: Sugar Pond

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