Bringing a new puppy or adult dog home is very exciting for you and your family. It is easy to promote jumping and pouncing as an expression of play or love. However, you need to start training your new companion from day one in order to stop the behavior and teach that it is unacceptable. Of course it is adorable to see your pet bounce around and happy, but this form of play can end up causing a lot of frustration down the road. In fact, if you have an adult dog of any considerable size and jumping becomes an issue, it may potentially cause someone injury when being toppled. A dog does not realize their own strength and think they are playing around, so make sure you do not allow this behavior to continue.
If you are raising a puppy, controlling the jumping behavior can be little easier than working with an adult dog that has been raised to believe that this trait is acceptable. Regardless of the age of your dog, with proper training you can eliminate this behavior through simple techniques.
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There are several remedies that will work to correct the jumping behavior in your dog, but the easiest is keeping your dog off balance when he or she begins to jump by never actually letting your dog establish support against your body. When you make your dog lose his balance make sure you tell him or her very firmly - NO! If your dog does continues to jump you can also grab their paws forcing them to stand on their hind legs which makes your dog feel out of control and uncomfortable. Again, repeat the firm command of - NO!
Some additional options to correct this behavior are:
- Push the dog’s chest back or down away from you and firmly say “NO” or “OFF!”
- Before the dog jumps, turn sideways. The dog often relents from jumping when you make sudden changes in your position. Use the “No” or “off” command.
- Firmly squeeze the dog’s paws or poke between his pads when he jumps on you. Use the “no” and “off” commands.
