puppy jumping on new people/furniture

[rspates]

Hi Everyone,

Our puppy Elsa is 4 months old and in her 4th week of puppy kindergarten, which is going very well!! She is the star pupil and we are very proud parents:) .
However, this week at class during the play time she seemed to be jumping up on people a bit (although most of the dogs were doing this too, I felt that she was doing it more than the other dogs:( ) She has learned to no longer jump up on my husband and I , but she does this with new people a lot. She does get down quickly though with the "off" command, but I hate the fact that she jumps up on them in the first place b/c I don't her to make other people uncomfortable.

This past week she has also been very bad about jumping up on the couch and putting her front paws up on chairs. If we catch her in the act with a warning she will stop, but once she is already up she totally ignores the word "off". In fact, she doesn't even seem to mind the sound of a can with pennies in it once she has reached her goal So, when we can't catch her in time we go over say off and when she doesn't do it on her own WE put her back on the floor.
Is there a better way to handle this? Also, I've been told not to give her praise when she is told to get off something and actually listens. Is this correct?

She has started to lose some teeth this week and I don't know if this is contributing to her being more obnoxious than normal!
Thanks...I appreciate your help!!

A Happy Easter to everyone!

Rachel

[IRIE'S MAMA]

Rachel,

The can did not work well for my lttle one either. Is Elsa ever allowed on any furniture? I have learned that with situations like this it is always or never. If she has never been allowed on the furniture, as frustrating as it may be, you just have to continue to say off, and literally pick her up and set her down off the furniture each and every time. She will get it. Stay sane in the mean time.

:) Janna

[rspates]

Janna,

When we first got her we did make the mistake of letting her up on the couch a few times, but we stopped & haven't done that in some time & mostly she ignores it, it's really an issue when she runs around with the "puppy crazies" , about once a night!!

The bigger problem is actually with her going up to the chairs, usually with a toy in her mouth and putting her front paws up on them. She does that all of the time lately and then looks at us like, "Off? Hmmm...no, don't know that word, sorry!"


She's been soooo good with all of her other commands that it's just frustrating when she ignores us.

I think that with new people she still gets really excited. I know that she's young and these things take time, but I really want her to be well bahaved and I hate to think that anyone is being made uncomfortable or nervous by her, even though she is still little and it's all in play!

Rachel

[myrottie_chyna]

My 4 month old is doing the exact same things. She runs around the living room like someone lit a fire inder her butt, and bounces off of the furnature, launching herself off of them. Then she runs around in circles around the coffee table as fast as she can. She also likes to get away with putting her front paws and chest on the couch.. I just keep pushing her off and say "OFF!".
These are things that I am hoping puppy classes will teach me how to stop. I dont know if "puppy crazies" are something that is bad behavior, or just puppy fun. I let her do it until she wears herself out, but when she jumps on the furnature while she is doing it, I make her stop and put her into a down until she settles down. Maybe some more experienced owners/trainers will tell us what to do about it. ??

[Kayla]

From what I've seen, the puppy crazies are completely normal. It's a way for your puppy to get rid of stored up excess energy. Our Kayla would run into the den and bounce off the back of the couch like it was a trampoline and then run into the livingroom and do the same on the couch there (it was even more fun if we chased her). She would do this mad dash (which we called 'the grand finale') for a few minutes and then colapse. This was usually late at night, just before bedtime. Now, at 11 months old, the crazies happen less often. It also helps that she gets two long outings to the park every day and comes home tired from each. A well exercised puppy is a happy puppy. If you don't want your pup bouncing off the couch, send her outside to the yard (and go with her) as soon as the crazies start so she can get it out of her system. The jumping will subside with age and if you continue correcting your pup when she goes on the furniture it will eventually sink in. Our pup is allowed on all furniture except our bed, which she accepts without question. Of course she is also patterned to sit when she comes in from outside so we can wipe all her feet with a towel (which we do whether she needs it or not).
As far as your pup losing her teeth... this is the best thing that could happen for you. When our little girl lost all her baby teeth her behavior changed drastically for the better. The puppy biting stopped almost completely:D and our skin started to finally heal.:o :D Your puppy should soon be acting more 'adult' without that mouth full of needles that were painfull to you and her.

[Jamie & Odin]

My Odin does the same thing, although he is older, 16 mos. He is not allowed on the furniture, but when he gets crazy, he will bound through the house, leap on the couch, launch himself onto the area rug, which then slides across the floor with him on it. He also does the same thing with putting his front paws on the couch and leaning forward with his chest, like just maybe they won't notice if I climb up here. Yeah right! We are just consistant, tell him off and give him a toy to play with at our feet.

Also try to correct/redirect her before she gets her feet onto the furniture, when she gets that gleam in her eye, rather than after she is already up there.

[rspates]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm glad to hear that the "crazies" seem to be normal puppy behavior and that we didn't just end up with a Tasmanian She-Devil by mistake! Ryan and I will just keep trying to catch her before she creeps her way up onto things and keep taking her off when she does get up. I
know she'll get it eventually! She's a smart girl (when she wants to be :D )

I have also started to take her outside when she starts zooming around at night and that does work well. The best thing was Tuesday when we took her to day care for the first time...she was so tired when she came home, I thought we had the wrong dog! We can't afford it everyday, but we are going to try to take her once a week! We have kindergarten tonight!

Thanks again for the advice and support! This forum is the best!!

Rachel

[ILVROTTIS]

hi everyone, i don't know how i missed this thread before but im sitting here laughing because its not only mia that does this and she also does it late at night. we say here comes horsedog and if there are visitors they usually duck for cover, because she too bounces off one couch right to another then leaps about 3 feet out into the floor galloping thru the house, and i even caught her on my end tables! at least i know there is hope....we tell her off and make her lay down but it just seems she has tons of energy, and at times i believe she is part kangaroo!:D

[uclachady]

My dog has one room and one room only that he is allowed on the couch. TV room. That started cuz it was always my feet on the furniture room (very small 10x10 TV room with two older couches) where the nieces and nephews could eat outside the kitchen and spill plus I thought he should be able to see out the window when in the house (he hates the rain and of course when too hot)

But one nite I came home and lo and behold on the living room couch (I live alone and I don't sit there) A deep intake of shocked breath (the ultimate no command in our house)

He hasn't done it since.

Also I say good dog at EVERY GOOD ACT. It makes him so happy.

So my suggestion -- and if people disagree that is okay cuz Max isn't even allowed in my mom's house or pool. Let him have one piece of furniture be it people or dog. Good luck Max's mom

[KRISSIE]

I don't know how I missed this one eariler...lol. I know exactly what you are going through, my puppy Maximus who will be 8 months next week and is weighing in at 75 lbs, gets those puppy crazies too. He runs through the house like a maniac sometimes, knocking over anyhthing in his path.. , It has slowed down alot now because I have been taking him to the dog park almost everyday so he burns off that energy. But my puppy is still not doing to well with jumping up on people or the furniture. We just started our intermediate obiedence class and he does really well with most of his commands, He walks wonderful on the leash and will not jump or lunge at people who walk by but as soon as someone stops to talk to me he try's to jump up on them.. . I discussed the jumping with my trainer and she showed me how to correct Max with the prong when he jumps on people , but sometimes it works and sometimes not, so we are going to give it a little more time with the prong and if he is still jumping on people than my trainer said we may have to go to a gentle lead when we are outside in public , just until he learns that jumping is unacceptable. He is getting so big now and even though he is still a puppy, people are affraid because of his size and breed so jumpimg is NOT a good thing..

We are also having problems with jumping up on the furniture... I really need to work on that one, I too was wondering like you rspates, When I tell him to get "off" and he does, should I give him a reward?? or is by giving him a reward for getting" off " just reinforceing the behavior of jumping up in the first place..?

[spoteet]

My 3 month old, Sajan, does the exact same thing. He will run around the chair as fast as possible and then leap up onto the couch, which he is not allowed on. I had him outside this weekend and I let him loose. He spent at least 10 minutes running around in a circle. It was like he didn't know how to handle being free. I wish I could bottle all that energy!