How to stop dog running up to people

[jerryandben]

How do I stop 11 month old dog running up to people and jumping up? We've been doing lots of training and he's really good in the house but when we go out he often ignores us when people are around and runs over and starts jumping. What makes it worse is that often the people he approaches say they don't mind and start encouraging him to jump about which is totally destroying my attempts to train him! Help! I'm fed up of people looking at me like I'm the unreasonable one for not allowing "a baby" to leap on everyone. Keep being told aww he's only a baby"! Well he's not far off one year old and not everyone likes a dog approaching band jumping up on them and I don't blame them.

Keep him on a lead?

I'm afraid it's lead training, recall training and impulse training.

Start with in the house, then in the garden, then on a long lead then off lead.

Have a look at the Naughty abut Nice Facebook group for advice.

When mine lost recall I walked where there wasn't other people which avoided that problem. If I did spot anyone in the distance we walked away or if I couldn't avoid them he got put on a lead.

During that time I worked on recall so now he is older I can recall him back so that off lead he never approaches anyone.

We have the problem that he wants to jump up when he meets someone and he's on lead but I warn people that he might and I will try and stop him from doing so.

Thanks for your responses. Keeping him on a lead all the time means he doesn't get a good run and he's a high energy dog. That's my only concern about keeping him on lead all the time.

Having value dog jump up at you is awful. When you're a small child it can be terrifying. If your dog doesn't have recall he needs to be on a lead all the time, nothing else is fair.

Can you walk off lead in a safe place away from people? You will need to be practicing recall every walk at that age anyway especially as he isn't listening to you.

As for recall itself I trained mine to a whistle which is far better than using your voice especially if he runs off and you are annoyed as it shows in your voice even if you try not to

Sorry jerry but it doesn’t matter, he must be on a lead
I sympathise as Ddog was/and still is occasionally the same so he can’t be given the opportunity to run up to people.
Even people who like dogs may object to a large muddy beast hurtling at them and if they have a dog with them your dog could get attacked and it would be your fault. I used to hate that he couldn’t have a good run
Until you are pretty confident he won’t do it you mustn’t give him the opportunity. We tried lots of training methods but nothing was as attractive to Ddog as a stranger wearing light coloured clothes so he had to stay on lead except for in very limited circumstances when I could spot people before him and grab him.
He has largely outgrown it now at 3

try a long lead, which you attach to the harness (never the collar) and let trail on the ground. They are usually about 30ft. It is important not to attach to a collar, as if you need to stop him running away, by quickly standing on the lead, you do not want it to jolt his neck.

Then practice recall. Let him wonder around with the lead trailing on the floor. Then take hold of the end of the lead and call the dog, whilst running away. He should come to you, but if he doesn't, then you can use the long lead to guide him over.
Start easy, with no distractions, and him just sniffing around, then build up to calling him whilst he is heading off in the opposite direction.

Then you can progress to near people, using the long lead to gently pull him away from the people so he doesn't get the 'reward' of saying hello.

I would also suggest using high value treats, or a tug toy.

I’m working through this with my 17mth old. She’s super friendly, but obviously it’s not acceptable for her to greet everyone we meet and jump up.

I keep her on a long line and try to stick to places where we won’t meet many others. She still gets a great run around as I can leave the line trailing and pick it up if I see others around. I believe the key is to prevent rehearsal of the behaviour. Lots of work on impulse control too. I’d also second the Naughty But Nice Facebook page.

Practice with a long line, then you can stop the dog if recall fails. I'm at the stage of dropping the long line then I can stamp on it/pick it up, if my fog seems to be going deaf and approaching something I don't want her to! Then progress to completely off lead when you're confident. Can still get a good run with long line, throw ball etc, and practice dog staying close/recalling

I agree you need to think of the risks to your dog too. Mine can't cope with being approached by excited dogs due to his history as a stray. When he was young and fit he would not have reacted well to your dog because he would have been afraid and did not read doggy social clues well.

The trick is to make yourself more interestingly. A lot easier said than done though!

My dog did understand recall as a puppy but when he hit the teenage phase he decided he knew best and coming back to me wasn't on his list. I am not a fan of long leads so I didn't use one. However, I did drive up to 30 mins away from home so that I could let him off without any fear of him injuring himself and we walked at times such as 6-7am in isolated spots to avoid any people or dogs as much as possible.

During that time I practiced recall all the time and tried to make myself unpredictable by hiding, kept turning around as well as trying to be more exciting for him to come back to. It probably took around 5 months but he now sticks close to me and won't approach another dog or person as long as I have a ball in my hand as he now values playing with me over them.

Harness and retractable lead in public places.

We had a similar issue when my pup was younger. Ddog was still walked off lead but encouraged to stay near us, unless on the beach where you can see someone else from a long distance.

If we saw someone, he went on his lead and was distracted with training/treats as we passed them.

Ddog will now say hello to people who are receptive but doesnt have to great every person he meets!

We encouraged him to stay near by dishing out treats for coming back at random times of the walk and it means that he's not just recalled to be put on his lead.

I think a lot of it is time and maturity I'm afraid. My dog is just over a year and would take off after people and dogs if he has the chance. So he doesnt.

He is on lead unless I have an open view and then recall is practised over and over. I use a whistle and his reward is either treats or his ball or sometimes both!

If course it's harder to ensure he gets the exercise he needs but I'm hoping all the work out into him now will give me years of a well behaved dog, just like my older girl.

Longline and harness or hire a safe space
The “Total Recall” book is brilliant.

Those who are recommending the long line - how do you avoid it getting tangled up? Our dog was a menace for pelting round in mad circles, often round trees, bushes, posts, sometimes people... Do you stamp on the line the moment the dog starts to circle?

(I'm having better results with the whistle recall than I ever did with voice, too.)

Open spaces are easier! Practice with the long line coiled up and allowing a little out at a time. Short and sweet walks/training sessions in different environments & increase distractions gradually. Definitely always attached to harness, not collar, just in case of any jolts. Good luck!

You need him on a lead in places where other people are until he has reliable recall. You just have to.

Also agree with short lead in busier places. It’s not worth the risk. Mine always is - well meaning people tell me to take her off to ‘socialise’ more, but all that will happen is that she’ll practice the naughty behaviour, which we don’t want to happen. I fear we unwittingly inappropriately socialised her as a young pup. We’ll get there slowly but surely, as will you 👍🏻

Oh, the number of things we've accidentally trained into our dog would make rather a long list. I realised at one point that she was pretend-chasing the cats -- one bounce in their direction, followed by rushing back to me slightly before I'd called her off, in the hope of a good behaviour reward.

Thanks for the advice - worth getting the long line out again, I suspect.

Rather than what you DONT want your dog to do think about what you would prefer your dog to DO.

So do you want your dog to walk at your side, do you want your dog to look at you, do you want your dog to lie down and wait while people pass you?

It is much easier to work on what you do want than what you dont.

I would like my dog to walk at my side when walking past people.

You do not need to make yourself more interesting you do not need to work on recall you do not necessarily need your dog on a long line.

What motivates your dog probably food.

Then work out which food.

Then every time your dog is near your side give the treat, no command no cajoling, just fed when your dog is near you. Start this inside, and treat every time to start with.

Then move into the garden and then treat again when the dog comes near you, no commands etc just reliably give the treat.

Over a few days you can take this out on location and build up the distractions .

The more a dog practises the behaviour the more embedded it becomes. - this is in you favour for training and just prevent the unwanted behaviour until the new behaviour is habit. I could tell you how many times you need to repeat a behaviour to make it conditioned but hey small steps