How to teach a dog not to jump on people?

To manage your dog's behavior, you could do one of the following before your guest arrives: Put your dog in their crate. Confine them in another room. Restrain your dog on a leash and ask them to sit while the guest enters. Be sure to reward good behavior. This will prevent jumping while they are learning proper behavior. Teach your dog that they receive no attention for jumping on you or anyone else. You can turn your back and only pet your dog when all four paws are on the floor. Teach your dog to do something that is incompatible with jumping up, such as sitting. They can't sit and jump up at the same time. If they are not sitting, they get no attention. Give your dog the "sit" command. If your dog stands up, the greeter immediately turns and walks away. Ask your dog to "sit" and have the greeter approach again.

When your dog next jumps up at you, turn your back and completely ignore them. Don’t say anything and try not to make eye contact. Be patient and wait until all four of their paws are back on the ground. As soon as this happens, turn around and reward your dog with positive attention. If your dog gets over-excited when you give them attention, consider using a food reward instead. The trick is to teach your dog that jumping up isn’t an effective way to get your attention. You will need to turn away every time your dog jumps up. This may feel a little repetitive, but consistency is essential. The more consistent you are, the quicker your dog will learn that jumping up doesn’t work. Instead they will start to realise that they are more successful at getting your attention when all four feet are firmly on the floor. Timing, consistency and perseverance are key when training your dog not to jump up. If your dog is getting frustrated and is still jumping up despite being ignored, then you may need to change your approach. Continue to ignore the jumping up, but instead ask for a more constructive behaviour that your dog knows well, such as a “sit”. When your dog sits, reward them with treats or attention. As well as being consistent yourself, you need to ensure that every person who interacts with your dog follows the same rule and ignores your dog’s jumping up behaviour. To make sure your dog doesn’t get to practice jumping up at strangers at places like the park, you can use a longline. Clip the longline onto your dog’s harness, and if you see people in the distance, pick up the line and recall your dog back to you. That way your dog is under control and more likely to be able to focus on what you are asking them for. You can also use treats to encourage your dog to keep all four feet on the floor and divert their attention down instead of leaping up at people. Keep them on a lead and make them wait to greet people, using a houseline, a 2m long lightweight lead, as visitors arrive, keep your dog in a different room or behind a baby gate. Once the visitors are settled and therefore a bit less exciting for your dog, bring your dog in to the room on the houseline. Use treats to keep your dog focussed on you and ask them to sit as they greet the visitors. As always, make sure that they get rewarded for appropriate behaviour.

Don’t respond if your dog does jump up. You should stay calm, quiet and wait for them to stop. You can then reward them when all four paws are back on the floor. Paws on the floor is best. Your dog needs to learn that they won’t gain anything by jumping up. Instead, it’s keeping all four paws on the floor that will get your attention. Make sure you reward your dog with praise when that's the case, especially at times when they’d be most likely to jump up. You can prepare yourself by making a list of all the situations in which your dog might usually jump up. Be quick to interact with them before they do. Don’t tell your dog off for jumping up. Discouraging your pooch from jumping up by telling them off or saying “no, get down” could be rewarding for some dogs as they are getting attention. Do persist with your training. Whenever you stop responding to any behaviour the way your dog is expecting you to, they’re likely to try that same behaviour with greater intensity. Don’t forget, consistency is key. If you’re consistent, your dog will quickly learn what works to get your attention and what doesn’t. Teach your dog to sit when meeting people. Ask a friend or relative to walk towards you and your dog. When you get close to them, stop a short distance away and ask your dog to sit. Have some extra tasty treats ready to reward them with. Make sure you’re always prepared. If you need to stop your dog jumping up on walks then make sure when you go out for walkies, you have plenty of their favourite treats ready.

If your puppy or dog is very excited to see you – first thing in the morning, or when you’ve been out – try to completely ignore your dog before giving it a very casual greeting and a word of praise. Wait until it is calm and has all four feet on the floor. Ignoring your dog means no eye contact, do not speak to them, even to tell them off. Walk past it, put your kettle on, look out of the kitchen window, etc. for as long as it takes for your dog to calm down. Teach incompatible behaviours – i.e. things that if your dog does them, they cannot jump up, like teaching them to sit. When you see someone approaching your dog, ask your dog to sit and reward them for sitting. In an emergency, when you are not able to control the approaching person, or get your dog to sit – turn and walk away with your dog as quickly as possible, or throw down a handful of treats at your dogs feet, as if they are eating food off the floor, they cannot jump up. To teach the behaviours you want around other people, and to prevent your dog from jumping up, it is better to start with your dog on a lead – this gives you more control. Also control the people who approach your dog – pick people that you know will follow your instructions. Ask them to turn away from your dog, or even walk away when the dog is overexcited, and only greet the dog when it is calm – and on your say so.