Do you have a jumping jelly bean for a dog or puppy? Embarrassed to have friends over ’cause they’ll get jumped all over by Juniper? Well, look no farther help is here.
REMEMBER: your dog jumps up because she wants to say hello, and she’s overly enthusiastic about it and hasn’t learned manners–yet. We just need to teach her some self control AND that it’s in her best interest to SIT instead of JUMP.
PREVENT: Tether your dog to the couch or put him behind a baby gate when people are coming over. Before you can teach Juniper no jumping, you must prevent it from happening.
PRACTICE: Once pup is tethered, knock on the wall and give him a treat. Do this 10 -20 times. You are classically conditioning him to associate a reward with a door knock. Now, add the sit. Knock on wall, ask for sit and as soon as he sits, tell him “Gooooood Puppy!” and give a treat. Do this 10 – 20 times.
FIND A HELPER: Have your helper knock on door. Now YOU say “Sit” and give pup a treat. Do this 10 – 20 times. Now, after helper knocks, walk to the door, let helper inside, and tell dog to sit again. The helper will now deliver the treat. Do this 10 – 20 times.
REAR GLUED TO FLOOR: Now, the rules change a bit: Dog must now keep rear on floor to say hi to helper & get a treat. The moment the dog’s rear lifts off the floor, have helper take 2 steps back & FREEZE! The object of the game is human goes towards dog when dog’s rear is glued to the floor. Be patient; this could take a while. Do this over and over using treats and praise as a reward until it becomes second nature: Someone knocks on the door, and dog goes to her spot and sits. You may need to use that leash for a while, until she learns to control her impulse to run and jump on your friends.
For The Hyper Dog: Some dogs have a hard time sitting still for greetings. If you have one of these, try teaching him to wait for you to toss a toy away from the front door. Teach him to chase the toy and THEN return for a sit. This will channel some of that extra energy away from your guests.