Sometimes, pups’ reflexes when they get so excited, happy, angry, or experience any extreme emotion cause them to jump on people. But jumping on people can be bothersome, embarrassing, and sometimes even dangerous. Like so many inappropriate behaviors, jumping up can be corrected. The sooner the correction, the better.
Why Pups Jump On People
Pups jump on people because the pups have been encouraged to do so. When the pups jump up, they get mostly the attention. However, the pups need to be taught that in order to get attention, the pups need to be in a sitting position.
How to Stop Your Pup from Jumping
As with the most behavioral problems, a better and effective plan is we must prevent the unwanted behavior and we must encourage a better behavior of the pups.
Practice “sit” command
Teach your puppy to sit in everything he enjoys, such as eating, petting, opening doors, and playing with toys. This will help your puppy associate sitting with positive things and prevent him from jumping up on people.
Do not reward jumping
If your pet hugs or responds immediately and excitedly when your pup jumps up, your pup will think that you like your pup to jump whenever they want to. Whenever your pup jumps up to you, step forward towards your pup and say “off!” in a low tone. (“Off” is the preferred command since the “Down” command is usually used for lying down.)
If this practice does not work, you can consider turning away from the pup. When your dog jumps on you or looks like it’s about to jump up, turn and move in the opposite direction.
Whatever you do, do not praise your pup directly after he jumps up; wait until you have got him to sit down.
Praise your pup when he does it right
If ever your pup puts all his four paws on the floor, you must immediately reward your pup with a treat and praise him calmly. Now, you can also direct him to “sit” order, reward him with a treat, and calmly praise your pup. If he does not respond to it, ignore your pup until he does it, and then reward him with a treat right away. You must have to practice this many times so that the pup understands that jumping is not a good thing to do. You can also practice this with your friends who love pups and who understand that training always takes time. Have your pup on a leash when he meets guests so your pup will behave well like an adult when friends come over. If this practice is not possible with some of the guests, then you can prevent the entire issue just by creating your pup whenever your guests arrive. You can always bring your pup out in the crate later when things are calmer.