My dog jumps on strangers!

[alishiamay]

I have a 1yrold cavalier king charles spaniel called Bumble who jumps up on strangers! He has to realise that not everybody is as friendly as he thinks! If my 6yrold daughter leads him, he immediatley jumps on strangers! How can i stop this?

[jude09]

Hello just moved your topic to a more suitable place I hope you don't mind.

[alishiamay]

Okay thats fine im so sorry i completley forgot it was in the potty training topic!

[newbear]

Hi, I saw a video on youtube that may be a great help to you. Here's the link: YouTube - How to stop Jumping up!- clicker dog training Tell me if this video helps you and your dog. I will be looking forward to your reply! Please feel free to ask me any question. I will gladly try my best and help you.

[alishiamay]

Thank you so much. I have watched the video and have started doing that. It really helps! Thank you again!

[MaryAnn]

Two Reasons Why Dogs Jump on People....

FIRST... and probably most common, is the jumping dog who greets this way....This can simply be over-excitement - they "jump for joy". Dog behaviorists also point out that jumping behavior is partly instinctive. Dogs lick each others faces when they want to give a super nice greeting, a likely reflection of lower ranking members of a wolf pack licked the faces of the higher ranking wolves returning from the hunt. In addition, puppies in a den jump over one another for their mother's attention. More specifically, puppies target their mother's face, as she typically regurgitates food for her litter, another reflection of the wolf pack.

Also, this behavior can be positively reinforced during greeting times, when a jumping dog is met by an excited owner who immediately praises, feeds, walks and/or plays with their pet after getting "jumped" so to speak. Jumping becomes part of this routine. It is rewarded and reinforced.

SECONDLY... which is less commonly the case, is that they may be trying to establish dominance. Dogs jump on each other through what's known as "teeing off". In particular, they rest their head or paw (or both paws) on the shoulder of a dog they want to dominate and exert a bit of downward pressure. Because we walk on two legs, we're more difficult to tee off on, but the motivation is the same. The dog may be trying to express dominant status. In these cases, they often jump uponce and more or less lean on you.

[newbear]

Thank you so much. I have watched the video and have started doing that. It really helps! Thank you again!

Glad that you have watched the video and it helps.

[Tobinator]

I just decided to keep a spray bottle and have used it twice now. It's working. I spray Toby a little and he doesn't like it.

[MaryAnn]

I know a lot of people who were told by different trainers to do this, HOWEVER... this is negative and we should be training using only positive techniques. I have seen dogs who used to love the water, whether it was swimming or taking a bath, that now are fearful of water. SO....just be aware.

[newbear]

I just decided to keep a spray bottle and have used it twice now. It's working. I spray Toby a little and he doesn't like it.

Although it may seem to be a good idea to use a spray bottle, a spray bottle is just a control. Imagine if there is a day when the spray bottle is not with you, and your dog is jumping on strangers, what are you going to do? So, what I recommend you is to decide on a behavior that you wanted your dog to do instead of jumping on strangers (e.g. sit when greeting strangers) and reward him for doing the behavior that you wanted him to do (e.g sit when greeting strangers (if you choose this behavior)).