Most people like it when their dogs jump to greet them once they get home. But think of a case where your guest arrives and your dog jumps up on them; it may be frightening and uncomfortable to them. So what can you do to stop your dog from jumping on guests? How can you modify this behavior? You should begin by understanding why your dog jumps in the first place. The main reason it will continue jumping on your guests is because it has been rewarded for its behavior in the past like allowing it to jump or feeding it right after it has jumped. Other reasons include greeting and showing its dominance. You can now use the following 9 tips to prevent your dog from jumping on your guests.
1. Don’t let your dog get used to jumping when you arrive home
When you get home, don’t shower your dog with that much affection if it jumps. You can ignore it for some time. If it continues to jump and seek for attention, you can use a water pistol or vigorously shake a can filled with pebbles to discourage this behavior. Do it continuously until it learns. This way, it will learn to calm down and only greet you after some time upon your arrival. You can also use this technique once your visitor arrives.
2. Let your puppy know you won’t entertain jumping (the “off” command)
Puppies love to think that when they jump up on you, they are likely to be held and receive pats. However, it is important to discourage it from jumping on you by not paying attention to it until it calms down. This is to make sure it learns at an early age the proper behavior of jumping and continue with it into adulthood, as they learn faster at a younger age. You could teach your puppy the “off” command by making an open-mouthed snarl without noise. Make sure your teeth are visible. A mature dog that is used to this behavior since it was a puppy could injure your guests.
3. The “sit” command
When your dog jumps and wants to play with you, quickly command it to sit and don’t forget to reward its good behavior if it obeys. You can give it a pat on the head and give it a treat, praising their good behavior. Some dogs might take time to learn and understand this but you should not give up. Always repeat the sit command and it will eventually learn. You could also avoid paying attention to it including eye contact until it calms down.
4. Use toys
At times it may prove difficult for your dog to obey when you command it to sit. In this case, you can use a toy to throw to the dog if someone, whether you or a guest, arrives. The toy could keep the dog busy and distract it from jumping on your visitor.
5. Avoid playing rough games with your dog
Most people think it’s cool to involve their dogs in wrestling and other vigorous games and overlook the consequences the playing might impact on the dog. The dog could learn that it is okay to always play and jump. It could also learn other poor behavior, like biting and attacking people. You should avoid roughhousing.
6. Stoop when greeting your dog
To stop your dog from jumping on visitors, you should bend the upper part of your body forward and downward all the time to reach the dog’s level when greeting it. It is a nice way to stop your dog from jumping as it will learn to wait until you bend to its level when greeting you. Always praise it when it obeys.
7. Calmly introduce the guest to the dog
Lead the dog when your visitor arrives to avoid it from jumping. You can also hold its collar as you lead it up to your visitor. Then issue the “sit” command and ask your visitor to let the dog calm down before paying any attention to it.
8. Never wait until it’s too late – start discouraging the jumping behavior now!
Your dog could have learned the jumping behavior maybe from a guest who came visiting or from other neighboring dogs. Discourage the behavior early on by using the “sit” and “off” commands, as well as any other technique you can find to reduce the jumping behavior.
9. Be consistent in your guidance and offering commands
Finally, you should always act as a pack leader all the time and there should not be any inconsistency. This is because when a dog notices that you only ask it not to jump at certain times and allow it to jump at other times, it will get confused and think it’s okay to jump every now and then. It could end up hurting you and even your guests.