Jumping up

[Iamblossom]

Hi dog gurus.

Our puppy is only 13 weeks but I am really keen to stop him jumping up. He is a black lab and is going to be big.

I have read lots and watched videos and ignore then praise when 4 on the floor seems to be the message.

But if we are sitting at the table and he jumps up at our chairs, should we push him down? He can maintain that pose for ages and it's irritating when we are trying to eat. But to push him down and say "down" seems to contradict the ignore advice.

Thoughts?

Thankyou

I used to push my puppy off me in that situation and then ignored him. If he continued he got a timeout in his crate or behind the baby gate for a few mins. Other things I did was to get up and walk away ignoring him.

It did work as he never jumps up when we are at the table now.

You can push him off and also ignore him...it’s about not rewarding the behaviour with attention, not just letting him do it till he decides to stop.

Re using down as a command, you might want a different one if you’re going to also use down to mean go into what people use as a down position. Dogs don’t really understand that down is a direction.

The most effective means of dog training is prevention.

So if your dog always jumps up when you are at the table, pop him on a lead put a mat on the floor and pop treats onto the mat. He can not jump up if he is eating treats off a mat. Very quickly he will learn that lying on a down on the mat whilst you are at the table gets reward -the behaviour has been learnt and you can reward at longer intervals.

If he jumps up when he greets you again pause, he may sit and then reward - if he is not at this stage then drop treats on the floor as he approaches - you his nose will go down and no more jumping up. Use his daily food allowance for this.

I don't like pushing dogs down or off as it can cause injury and tends to frustrate the dog so they don't learn the new behaviour you would prefer to the jumping up

Pushing isn’t ideal as some dogs see it as a game.

If he jumps up at you when you’re sitting down simply stand up quickly so that he slides back off. Repeat as necessary but it works quicker than pushing.

Also teach him to go to his bed/designated “place” when you’re up at the table.

I used to give pup a Kong when we were at the table. It was given to him away from the table and no-one is allowed to feed dog at the table. He is 6 months now and I no longer kong him - he just goes off and finds a spot where he can do his thing but still see us until we finish. He often gets treats in the kitchen afterwards so is just waiting for the good bit later.

I'd go with teaching "sit". It is a great command and can be used for all sorts - dog jumps on you "sit" will get his bum back on the floor. You need to spend half your life doing "sit". Mine has to sit to cross roads, to before going through gateways, before being allowed out the garden, before treats, to put his lead on etc.. That way it is so ingrained he finds it hard to ignore when something exciting is happening (doesn't stop him trying! He is only 6 months old :) )

Ours does this too and he is going to be much bigger than a lab so we are trying to stop it. I grab is coller put him down and say down. He gets it after 2 times. What I try is to watch before he does it he looks up and leans back if I give a strong NO he won't actually jump up as he seems to understand what no means if we catch him beforehand. However if we don't catch him no matter what the situation is he just ignores the know so it is a work in progress lol. He is 16 weeks.

@Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten I like that thinking but treats would keep my dog occupied for 0.5s as he hoovers them up even his own dinner takes lass than 5 minutes too eat. We just have to persist with the no down technique unfortunately

You don't put all the treats down at once -you can drop them one at at time

Drop them away from him so that he has to go and find the treat and then he will come back to you - it takes time to get the treat. You add a slight pause as he anticipates the treat and will keep all four feet on the floor for longer each time.

geekone you say that he "gets it" after 2 times but if you are having todothis on a regular basis he is not "getting it".

Be careful with 'down' if you also will be teaching 'lie down' - it can be confusing! We used 'off' for jumping or sofa surfing.

At the table i would say defo don't ignore...how off putting is it to have a dog in your face! Just push gently, give a command & continue your food. Personally we didn't ignore jumping anyway, we were taught to turn away whilst giving a command, then praising when on the floor. My dog was like a bouncy ball otherwise!

I wouldn't say "down" - he'll get confused if you're also teaching him to lie-down as a position.

I try and give mine something to do while we're eating and we never, EVER feed him off our plates. He gets dog food/treats and that's it. No human food at all.

We'll put our food on the table out of his reach and I'll get him to lie down somewhere where he can still see us, praise, and give him a kong or a chew. If he has his own food, he's not interested in ours!