How to stop a dog from jumping before he starts

Do you ever wonder if your dog is actually a kangaroo? Jumpiness is a common trait, especially in young dogs, and it's something that can be annoying to dog owners, especially if you have a dog who is big enough to knock someone over.  While many a new dog owner would like to stop their dog from jumping, it's important to remember that jumping is not an inherently “bad” behavior. In fact, your dog probably thinks he is being polite by jumping when he is greeting you or anyone else: It's the best way he can try to smell your butt and your mouth, and butt-and-mouth smelling is an important part of the way dogs instinctually greet each other.

The two most common ways of addressing jumping both involve attempts at using punishment. Punishment, strictly defined, is anything that discourages the likelihood  a behavior is going to reoccur in the future.

  • Ineffective punishment choice #1: Yelling at your dog. If your dog jumps, and you yell at him, and he never does it again, then… congrats! You used punishment effectively. However, if your dog jumps and then you yell at him for doing it day after day, you are inadvertently positively reinforcing the behavior by talking to him about it. How can you tell if your verbal machinations are reinforcing the behavior or discouraging it (aka punishing it)? By whether or not it continues to keep happening. Behaviors that are reinforced will keep happening. Behaviors that are punished should happen less and less to the point of not happening at all. Frequently, if a behavior that you don't like is happening over and over, it means that it is being inadvertently reinforced in some way. Of course, the very act of jumping is probably reinforcing to your dog, which is why my recommendations here are going to be all about figuring out how to keep jumping from happening to begin with, rather than correcting it when it starts.
stop dog jumping

Many people attempt to use “negative punishment” to deter jumping by turning their back or otherwise ignoring a jumping dog.

  • Ineffective punishment choice #2: Turning your back on your dog.  This is an example of negative punishment. “Negative” means something is taken away; “Punishment” means that a behavior is discouraged. In this case, the human is taking away her attention in order to discourage the behavior of jumping. While this isn't categorically a bad idea, there are two problems with this approach:

    1. As with any behavior that is punished, the behavior has to occur to begin with, and if it is occurring repeatedly, it means it's probably been reinforced just because the doing of it is fun. Once something is inherently reinforcing, the punishment that follows needs to be pretty severe in order to counter the reinforcement. It's like punishment is an effort to pay off a credit card, but if you're only doing that in response to a charge on the credit card, the payment needs to be relatively sizable in order to make a difference.

    2. If the main issue is that you're trying to keep your dog from jumping on other people, you first have to train everyone else to turn their back on your dog, and, since a lot of people don't mind being jumped on (or may actually like it), this can be an uphill battle.

So, instead of head-aching over how to tell a dog we don't like it when he jumps, I suggest we focus on how to discourage jumping from happening in the first place.

Dealing with jumpiness when your dog is on leash

You're walking down the street and your dog is trying to bet paws-to-shoulders with every person who walks by. This can be annoying and potentially dangerous. Here is what you need to do:

  • Walk quickly, and switch directions often. You will have an easier time keeping your dog's attention if he is constantly trying to keep up with you and is never sure which way you're going to turn.
  • Feed your dog during your walk. This might mean bringing treats on your walk, or it could mean just bringing your dog's regular dry food.  Compared to all the novel people outside he sees on his walk, you are probably pretty boring to your dog outside. But if you become a food dispenser outside, your dog will be a lot more interested in you. Deliver food either near your knee or on the ground. This will encourage your dog to remain near your leg and to keep his head down– two behaviors that are incompatible with jumping. You can use a liquid treat dispenser  to give treats like peanut butter or cream cheese outside without getting your hands messy, or, if you want to deliver wet food outside, you can pack it into a camping-style tube.  For delivery other kinds of teats outside, it's helpful to have a treat pouch, be it one that will clip around your waist or a rubber one that can hook onto your belt.
  • If someone wants to greet your dog and you're okay with that, crouch down and hook your finger in your dog's collar. This will encourage the person to get down to your dog's level, and will keep your dog from jumping. Have them give your dog treats down low. If they only want to give your dog a treat if he sits, and your dog isn't sitting right away, just give the treats yourself. The focus of this protocol is to keep your dog from jumping, and to create a good association with a trainer approaching. There is no need to focus on your dog sitting when a person approaches until you are absolutely sure he'll sit either without asking, or without having to be asked to do it more than one time.

Stop a dog from jumping when people enter your home

In this Q and A episode of our podcast, Bev of Bedford, NY, describes how she tries to turn her back on her dog whenever he jumps. This is an example of negative punishment. “Negative” means something is taken away; “Punishment” means that a behavior is discouraged. In this case, the human is taking away her attention in order to discourage the behavior of jumping. While this isn't categorically a bad idea, there are two problems with this approach:

1. As with any behavior that is punished, the behavior has to occur to begin with, and if it is occurring repeatedly, it means it's probably been reinforced just because the doing of it is fun. Once something is inherently reinforcing, the punishment that follows needs to be pretty severe in order to counter the reinforcement. It's like punishment is an effort to pay off a credit card, but if you're only doing that in response to a charge on the credit card, the payment needs to be relatively sizable in order to make a difference.

2. If the main issue is that you're trying to keep your dog from jumping on other people, you first have to train everyone else to turn their back on your dog, and, since a lot of people don't mind being jumped on (or may actually like it), this can be an uphill battle.

The best way to control jumping at the door is to help your dog learn that people coming in the door means always results in something really good (something more fun that jumping) happening at a distance from the door. To teach this, I suggest the following:

  • Keep treats outside your front door and instruct people to toss them at your dog upon entering. You might have to experiment with different kinds of treats in order to find something that will compete with the excitement of people coming into your home. It can be particularly wise to have a specific spot, like a mat, where your dog can receive these treats so that he can learn that there is a good place to be when people come in.
  • Create situations where you can practice having people coming in daily, so that you're not only rehearsing how you want your dog to behave when you actually have guests coming over.
  • Get a Treat + Train, which is a remote controlled treat dispenser, and trigger it as soon as guests arrive. This should be kept as far from the door from possible (it makes a little beeping noise before the treats come out, so your dog will know the goodies are coming out) and fill it with something really delicious (any kind of dry treats or kibble will work). You can set it on a timer so that you only have to push the button once and it'll spit out treats every few seconds, or you can trigger each time you want it to dispense. You can also tape up the remote outside of your door and get in the habit of triggering it whenever you come into your home; write a note instructing others to press the button when they come in. Again, it's important to have food in the Treat + Train that is exciting to your dog, so you may have to experiment in order to find something sufficiently alluring.
Treat and train for dog training to stop jumping

The Treat + Train is a great way to train good door manners.

  • If you have a dog who is acclimated to a crate, you can have guests toss treats in the treat, or you can use the Treat + Train with the crate (you can put it inside the crate, or you can sit it atop the crate and the treats will drop into it). You can do this with or without the crate actually being closed — delivering the treats in the crate will help your dog want to be in there, whether or not he has to be. If you're working with a trainer, you can also try these protocol with your dog on a tether so he can't jump on people, but I find that jumping dogs will literally be at the end of the tether right away, and this can stress them out even further.
  • Just as in the on-the-street scenario above, don't worry too much about having your dog sit for treats. Even if your dog is jumping during the first practice sessions, I still advice that you deliver food on the ground or in the Treat + Train. Whenever you're dealing with training using classical conditioning, you need to focus on the association your dog is making behavior you focus on the particulars of how they're behaving. If you're clever about the new association you forge, the behavior you don't want will go away on its own.

Illustration by Annie Grossman

Annie Grossman
annie@schoolforthedogs.com