Teaching A Dog Not To Jump Your Guests

Jumping, body slamming, mouthing....oh boy!  Having a dog can be challenging at times and a lot of work, when you dont have the proper tools or training to teach them a more appropriate response.  First, its always important to remember that dogs are dogs.  Meaning, they are not humans, and they do not know what we consider right, or wrong, unless we teach them.  Yes, we actually have to spend time and teach them what we prefer, and these lessons take time and patience.

If  you havent read my previous posts Teaching A Dog Not To Jump-You First and Polite Dog & Human Greeting Pt. 1 I highly suggest reading those first, then coming back to this post. Now that you are caught up, lets continue our talk about teaching your dog to keep four on the floor while greeting one of your houseguests. 

 

YOUR GUESTS Some challenges with polite greeting with your guests are that they dont listen (or care), their timing is off, you feel insecure about following through with a plan. How you manage and work through this situation will determine your dogs success.  If you truly want a polite greeter at the end, you must remember that your dog is learning all the time, so make sure he his learning what YOU want him to learn.  You live with him, not your guests or in-laws.

MANAGEMENT Management, management, management is always the best way to start a successful dog training program.  Have you ever wondered why dog trainers can teach a dog a reliable behavior effortlessly?  Its because we start all our training programs with a high management protocol.  If you are able to prevent your dog from running and jumping on your guest, you will then be able to teach him a better greeting behavior.  If, on the other hand, he performs this act over and over again he will get quite good at jumping, and this will become his ritual.  Planning ahead when you know guests are going to arrive and having a plan of action for when they surprise you are the best tools.  A prepared frozen treat toy is always a good backup for surprises.

Chew toy, should be on leash too.

TETHER, HARNESS AND STUFFED TREAT TOYS When you are expecting guests, put your dogs harness on and prepare a filled hollow treat toy.  Decide which room you and your guests are going to reside in and place a tether (leash) around a heavy piece of furniture such as a sofa leg.  When the doorbell rings, collect your dog and attach him to the tether by his harness and provide him with his filled hollow toy.

Go to the door and greet your guests.  Take off their coats, say hello and ask them to ignore your dog.  When you walk into the main room where your dog is chewing on his very delicious stuffed treat toy, sit next to your dog.  Occasionally add a bonus dog treat while he continues with his chew toy.  Once he is finished with his chew toy, attach his leash to his harness, then unclip him from the sofa, but do not leave.  Work on some of his obedience behaviors (sit, hand target, down etc.). Reward him for paying attention to you.  When  your dog can easily focus on you, proceed to the next step.  This may NOT happen in one session.

When your dog is ready for the next step, ask one of your seated guests to reach down toward their shin and wiggle their fingers.  As they do, walk your dog up to the guest and tell him to say hello.  As soon as your dog sniffs your friend’s fingers say "YES!" and quickly move your dog a foot away and give him a treat.  Be careful not to jerk your dog, remember hes still on his leash and harness.  This process is teaching your dog to politely sniff your guests fingers (not jumping up), and then by quickly removing your dog, he does not have time to get too excited, and start jumping up.  Remember, you are teaching your dog what to do, so you dont want to give him the opportunity to be wrong. Repeat this process for 5  repetitions.  As your dog gets the hang of this, you can allow a little longer sniffing before calling him off.  By calling your dog away from your guests to collect his reward, he is also learning that you are more exciting.

When you are done practicing, keep your dog leashed to you.  Only when you start to have a reliable behavior, with no jumping, should your dog be allowed to run freely with guests.  Remember, prevention is the key.  It will not do you any good to practice these lessons, then to unleash your dog for him to start jumping around on your guests.  If you do not wish to have him leashed with you, you can use another management tool such as tethering him in sight, baby gated, or put him in his crate. When you start to consider allowing him more roaming freedom, he should respond well to The Name Game.

REMEMBER #1 Management  #2 Practice and certainly #3 Patience

Check out these great toy options!

Do you need extra dog training help?  I offer in-person,  phone consultations, weekend dog retreats and public seminars.  Contact me today for details.