How to Stop Dog Jumping

When you get a new puppy, preventing them from learning to put their feet up on things, objects and people is the best way to avoid having your dog jump on people.

Too often we actually reward the behavior by picking the puppy up when they put their feet up on us, the couch, the side of the play pen etc. You just reinforced feet off the ground is a good thing.

Because we all know puppies will repeat a skill that gets rewarded, and if we are inconsistent about those rewards or we start trying to change it later, they typically move into a more excited version of feet up — aka Jumping.

Jumping is a demand for attention. See Me! Pick Me Up. Pet Me. Love Me. And we comply when they are cute and adorable 9 week olds. And then they grow. And we hate it. Our friends and family hate it. Grandma is put at risk of getting knocked down.

Then we get frustrated, loud, even angry. We get more animated and more physical… and the excitement is either reinforced OR we begin to really intimidate our dog. Neither is good.

Learn more in this short video: