Mary Allen
With puppies, it is still considered cute, with large dogs only as annoying: jumping up or at. It’s relatively easy to avoid.
Jumping at dogs is undesirable in our society. Be it because you don’t want to risk dirty pants or because jumping up is simply considered annoying. But man has triggered and confirmed this dog behavior. The attention gained – solely through the reaction of the human – represents a success, especially for the young dog. The practiced jumping up thus becomes a classic self-rewarding behavior. Until the person responsible for it wants to turn it off again.
Crime scene dog school. Dog owner Urs Frei* apologizes at the beginning of the first hour in advance for his dog, who just wants to jump up with everyone. The dog trainer is familiar with behavioral work. She instructs the other three participants to ignore the dog and stand relaxed. Then she tells Urs Frei to hide the image of the jump and take his dog out of the car. The keeper does as he is told. His dog shakes itself off at the car and moves on a loose leash to one person, then to the other person, sniffs the trouser leg, and walks on. No talk of jumping up.
Canine Communication
Why is? The dog wants to check the other person with its nose, only that, nothing more – but often the human does not stick to it and reacts to the short contact. The goal should be for the dog to behave correctly on its own and not jump up without having to be corrected or told to “sit” each time. Every dog owner would do well to ensure that he does not practice this with the puppy. This saves him unnecessary trouble, angry looks, harsh words, or a bill for the cleaning of clothes.
The pup will greet the mother by jumping up on her lips and perhaps snagging something to eat from her catch. Touching the lip with the snout, smelling it, or licking it briefly, that is canine communication – with dogs that like each other, an expression of sympathy. A puppy also seeks communication at eye level with humans if the latter pays attention, bends down and strokes, encourages eye contact, gestures or words, and arouses curiosity.
Depending on the level of excitement and expectations, jumping becomes more physical. Then it’s not about greeting, but about excitement. Frantically jumping at or jumping up, if necessary with clamps, serves to reduce stress and is referred to as a skipping action if the dog cannot cope with a situation. For example, if the owner meets friends on a walk and stops.
Prevention Instead of Punishment
The trigger can be the indecisive, stressed person who cannot be assessed and behaves contrary to the dog’s expectations. So when jumping, it is neither about dominance nor about submissive behavior towards a so-called superior, nor is it about disrespect, as it is called at Martin Rütter’s dog school “Dogs”.
Correcting people through punishments usually exacerbates the situation. The dog does not understand the sanction because it cannot place it in the context of its action, which arises from its need. Aversive methods such as knee raising, paw stepping, leash lifting, or other forms of violence are poor advisors. They can trigger aggression, lead to false connections and ultimately damage the relationship of trust between dog and human.
Learning not to jump is actually easy. First, the human should be aware of the situations and conditions in which the dog jumps up. What is the trigger, is the question. Prevention is then the most important measure. Humans should recognize the situation early on, observe the dog’s expressive behavior and not let it jump at all.
Distance and Consistency
The owner must keep his or her distance from the source of the stimulus, either avoiding it or slowing it down in good time, depending on the dog’s level of excitement. The leash is there for safety. This is how you support the dog and set a limit – without a jolt. The point is that the dog does not make mistakes and does not fall into undesirable behavior. This happens at a safe distance at first.
If this is successful, a calmly spoken word of praise is often enough, which can be used to describe “stay down”, perhaps combined with a food reward. The dog learns the desired behavior in a simple way. There are also positive methods in which the dog is offered an alternative behavior. If he keeps all four paws on the ground, there is a reward at the right moment that is linked to a word.
You repeat these training situations for a certain period of time and make sure that the dog no longer has to show unwanted behavior. After that, the distance to the jump-to object is reduced in small steps. It takes patience and consistent management to get rid of the habit of jumping up.
It is important that the people with whom the situation is being practiced or who are around the dog are well instructed. You should ignore the dog, ignore it and if it wants to jump, create distance, turn away and fold your arms.
The Hand Becomes a Dog’s Head
If you want to enable contact with the dog among friends, then do so in a calm manner, for example by slowly offering the back of your hand while crouching and thus at eye level. Dorit Feddersen-Peterson, behavioral researcher and specialist book author, speaks of stormy greetings of tokens of love. Instead of a ban, she advises letting the human hand go to the head and petting the puppy, calmly and not over the head. That comes down to a muzzle tenderness.
Every owner has to decide for themselves how enthusiastically their own dog should greet them. If you don’t want it, ignore the dog and its excitement, turn away and only pay attention to it when its four paws are on the ground. It’s worth creating a kind of restricted area in the entrance area, for example with a barrier door. If visitors come, the young dog is held back or taken to another room. He is only allowed to join the people again when everyone is seated at the table and the excitement has died down.
Anyone who builds up such rituals for greetings is consistent and does not allow the dog to learn the wrong thing, will not have to deal with the topic of jumping up or up for long.