Home Lee Dobbins on 30 Jul 2008 02:37 am
Learning How To Stop Dog Jumping Behavior Is Important
One of the most annoying behaviors that a dog can exhibit is jumping. Annoying as it may be, many experts say this is simply the dogs way of getting closer to you. Even if a large dog has the best intentions, it can be a very scary thing and it may be in your best interest to find out how to stop dog jumping behavior before something bad happens.
A dog’s natural behavior is to jump up on a person when they want to be friendly. As the owner of the dog, you need to train your dog not to jump up on people. Also, let people know if they want to pet your dog, to kneel down to the dog’s level. As the dog’s owner, you should be an example, and kneel down to your dog. At the same time, show where the dog likes to be given attention. For example, rubbing behind the ears, sniffing your hand first, or scratching a dog’s chest.
Teaching your dog how to sit is very important first step in learning how to stop dog jumping activity. By performing this command, you dog will be distracted from jumping, so you must make sure that he sits when he hears the command. You should continue the training until your dog sits ALL of the time or else it won’t be considered successful.
When training, you need to pay attention to the signs your dog is giving to you. Many times you can tell when a dog is about to jump up on you. Before they jump, give the ‘Sit’ command. If they disregard the ‘Sit’ command, and don’t worry if they don’t listen right away, lift your knee to the dogs chest to block the jump. The command used in combination with the knee is ‘Off’. Be sure to use the command ‘Off’ rather than ‘Down’. ‘Down’ is a different command to make a dog lay down and if used here, will give mixed signals to your dog.
The goal is not to hurt your dog, but to gently raise your knee, knocking the dog off balance. This is a natural way to show him the “off” command and you should reward him when he listens. Repeat this enough times and he will associate the word off with not jumping on people.
A dog that jumps up on people with no control is an accident waiting to happen. Learning how to stop dog jumping behavior in your dog can prevent harm to others and, maybe even to your dog.
