Teach your dog to Jump

Jumping up
Part of the process of training is teaching your dog not to display unwanted behaviours.

Some behavioural traits may have been acceptable - or even encouraged - during puppyhood, but can become undesirable as the puppy grows up. Jumping up is one of these.

Dogs jump up at people as a form of greeting and always seem to be attempting to get as close to the person's mouth as possible.

If your reaction to this is either attention or affection, your dog will assume that it's in its interest to carry on jumping up in order to keep being rewarded.

However, jumping up is not always desirable and could even be dangerous to a frail person or a small child. To stop this behaviour, follow some simple steps:-

Step 1 - ignore the dog
Each time your dog jumps up at you, turn away from him, ignore him and walk away (and remember: this means no eye contact, touching or speaking.

If his four paws remain on the ground, reward your dog calmly - don't go over the top with the praise, as this may overexcite him and undo your good work.

Step 2 - vary the praise when he doesn't jump up
Vary your praise between a simple smile, a 'good dog', a gentle stroke or a treat. This will also keep your dog guessing and teach him not to expect food as a regular and predictable reward.

Praise is a very useful tool in teaching your dog to behave, as he will quickly learn which actions bring which rewards, and that the results are always more rewarding when he chooses to practice good behaviour instead of bad.

Step 3 - teach him to sit instead of jump
Use the sit command when your dog jumps up, followed by praise when he does sit.

As he learns to associate this action with praise, your dog should start sitting without being told.

You should still praise him for it, to strengthen the good associations.