Jumping...

[Schatzie's Dad]

O.k., guys...
My little girl has the worst habit of jumping up on people. She knows "OFF!", but we can't seem to break her of her bad habit.

I think part of it stems from the fact that she's hyperactive. We're pretty close to the rest of the pups in her litter and she is the only one who behaves in the manner she does.

We try to excercise her every chance we get, but she is constantly going at 110%... she has a very hard time with self control. She listens to us when we tell her what to do, usually with no problems. Sometimes, however... she'll do what we say, but complain the entire time.

Any advice you may have for taming our WILD daughter would be REALLY appreciated!!! BTW, she is 18 months old now.

[JFred]

I'm sure one of the trainers on the forum will offer advice on this one so I'll keep my comments short. By 18 months she should know what OFF means. I'm the worlds worst procrastinator when it comes to formal training but teaching OFF started the day they walked in the house. No jumpimg on anyone EVER. A consistant correction with the command should be enough. I have a "hyper" dog as well but even she learned that command quickly. Lack of consistency may be your problem.

Bennie Sue

[RottiMomCT]

OK, I hate to say this, but...I did this ONCE with my young male (he'll be 3 in April 02), and he's never jumped on me since then (he jumps on my brother in law, but the brother in law doesn't know any better and allows all the dogs to get away with anything ).

OK, before you do this, take a washed out soda pop can (make sure it's dry inside too), put about 10-15 pennies inside it (you can also use metal nuts or washers - anything metal that'll fit in the can), tape it up good and tight, then you're ready to go.

Set the dog up to jump on you...put the dog on a leash, have someone hold her, leave the room, then walk back into the room, with hands held high, talking in a very happy voice (ya know tha dog will want to jump on ya). When her front feet start to leave the ground, shake the can ONCE and say, "NO, OFF!!". When she's got four on the floor, praise her immediately. Do it again about 5 minutes later...watch her reaction...she'll pick it up real quick...

Don't leave the can where the dog can see it, and don't shake it unless you are correcting for something, otherwise, she might think it's a game.

Good luck - I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of an unexpected 85 lb dog hug!!

[ladawn]

I was suffering from the same thing and the good folks on this forum suggested no attention for the dog while jumping. So continue with the "OFF", correct, then ignore. Our little furry friends hate to be ignored. Prepare to get jumped on from the back (just a warning no one gave me! ) We are still working on this one. I use a pre-emptive off too since Daisy tends to jump only when she hasn't seen me for more than an hour. As soon as I open the door I say off and she immediately sits because since I got her, she only gets petted when she sits. I'm hoping to get to the point where we don't need the pre-emptive, but it beats the heck out of being jumped on. It wasn't so bad when she was smaller but now at 6 months, she almost knocks me over.

[Schatzie's Dad]

As posted originally, she DOES know "off" and will obey when told to do so. The real issue is trying to keep her from jumping to begin with. Our trainer told us about "shaker cans", but we have never looked into using them (I think I'll make one today).

As far as ignoring her when she jumps, we already do this. We will cross our arms and turn our back while telling her "off", but this doesn't seem to make much difference to her.

Again, thanks for the tips everybody... they are appreciated.