How to stop your dog from jumping up.
In our new course “obedience with agility” we ask owners in the first week of the course what they would most like to achieve on the obedience front and this term 65% of the class asked for help in stopping their dog from jumping up.So here are our top tips.
Set your dog up for success
Your young dog is like a bottle of champagne, if you have not discharged the energy then training them to stop jumping up is a bit like trying to put the cork back in a bottle of champagne after you have fizzed it up. So before training get rid of excess energy, play ball, let them run loose with play pals or play scent games in the garden.
Have the right equipment
In the training stage of a young dogs life you must use a long training lead if you are going to achieve success, a short tight lead will encourage your dog to jump or pull. A no pull harness or halti are ideal.
Make sure your dog understands your feedback
To understand commands and to want to please you your dog needs to know when you are pleased and when you are not. Practice happy yes grumpy no
Make sure your timing is right
When you reward your dog is critical, if you reward it when all four feet are not on the floor you are rewarding jumping up and your dog will just get better at jumping up.
Make sure friends and family are not sabotaging your efforts
Are your friends and family making a big fuss of your dog when its standing on 2 paws??? Then they are reinforcing the dogs idea that jumping up is what humans really like.
Exercises to discourage jumping up
- Only reward your dog when all four feet are on the ground.
- When wanting to chat to friends stand on your dogs lead with both of your feet near to the collar , hold lead , this will prevent the dog from jumping up.Reward your dog when quiet and relaxed.
- When rewarding your dog throw the treat onto the ground this will shift their focus to the floor rather than your hand
- Train an incompatible behaviour ie if your dog understands down it will be less inclined to jump up.
- Train the wait and give them a training pot or toy to focus on, this shifts the focus away from jumping up at you.
- Reward freebies, that is if your dog is doing what you want ie not jumping up and being quiet and relaxed without you asking reward with praise or treat.
Our next obedience with agility course starts Saturday 18th of August.
Best Wishes Bronwen Bell-Batchelor Club Manager
