In the beginning you may think it’s quite cute when your puppy jumps up on you. But it’s not so funny when your full-size dog jumps up on people with dirty paws – quite embarrassing. So I encourage you to nip this behavior in the bud while he is still young. The sooner you can eliminate this behavior the better.
The most common time for jumping up is when someone comes into your home or when you come across someone while you’re taking your dog for a walk. Training your dog to sit on command when this happens is a good idea.
In some cases jumping up can be your dog trying to become the dominant one, but in most cases the behavior is just a greeting. Dominance can create other problem behaviors and this should be prevented. The ideal situation is that you are always the dominant one, the alpha dog.
You should understand the principle of positive reinforcement. For this you can use food treats or praise and affection. You have to stop giving any reinforcement for this behavior. So instead of greeting your dog with excitement as he jumps up, you must ignore him while he is excited. Avoid giving him any eye contact.
Instead, when he is calm and has all his paws on the ground you can show him affection.
If you’ve already trained him to sit, then command him to sit as you enter the house. As soon as he sits, reward him with a treat or affection. If he doesn’t already sit on command, you should work on this and other obedience training. Start training him in obedience with short sessions away from distractions. Make sure you and your dog have fun in your training sessions.
You need to get the cooperation of everyone who your dog comes into contact with, so that they don’t upset all your work. Get them to agree not to enthusiastically greet your dog. They should avoid eye contact with your dog.
At the start, you may want to put your dog in another room when visitors arrive, so that you avoid the stimulating situation at the door.
I hope that this helps with dogs jumping up. Read more about other problems in dog behavior such as aggressive dogs.
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