Dogs

18 Ways On How To Stop Dog Jumping On People

On Aug 28, 2024

It is always good to have your dogs hopping around and playing with you but it may become a problem if they start jumping on people a lot. It can be a way for your dogs to express themselves and sometimes they are trying to get your attention.

Jumping is one of their ways of greeting people but it is annoying and dangerous sometimes. It would help if you were careful when and where they are jumping. Here are the 18 ways to stop dogs from jumping on people.

1. Ignore Jumping

Your dog can be jumping around on people because they may feel encouraged to do so. Ignoring their jumping is a training method where you can stop your dog from doing so by not giving them attention.

When they feel like they are getting rewards while doing so, be it getting a pat or pushing them away, they are more encouraged to continue it. By ignoring it completely, you are removing their reward attention.

You can simply turn away, cross your arms, stay quiet, or wait for them to calm down. This can be tough at the beginning but with time they will learn that this behavior will not lead them anywhere or anything.

2. Stay Calm

Since dogs try to learn and understand our emotions and energy levels, they are more likely to be more excited if we give an intense reaction to their behavior. Staying calm in their action is one of the important parts of training them.

You can lower your energy level when you enter your room, you should resist them after you come back to them after some time, don't go rushing towards them. Besides that, you can also practice calm behavior and reward their gentle gestures.

You can also encourage calm behavior and environment when new people come. There should not be any actions that make the dogs more excited. By doing so, you can create a peaceful environment for your dogs, and over time, they will learn to do so automatically.

3. Teach Sit

Teaching your dogs to sit is one of the important commands to make your dog well behave. It can also help you in making them obedient and not being overly excited about something.

Making your dog follow this behavior is not easy. You need to follow a process and need to have a lot of patience. The general process includes getting their attention by holding a treat, adjusting their posture, asking them to "Sit", and rewarding the behavior.

By doing this, your dogs will learn to sit instead of pouncing on the people and will also adjust their overall habits.

4. Knee Up

Knee up technique is lifting your knees when the dogs simply hop on them. This is a method of making them well-behaved and diverting their mind which also creates physical barriers and prevents them from reaching your chest or face.

While doing so, your knee needs to meet the dog's chest but the action should not look aggressive. This action will make them feel uncomfortable if they cannot get close to you.

It is important to use this method gently, as it just wants to create a barrier and not push them away forcefully. You can also pair it with some commands like "Off" and do it in a consistemcy.

5. Ask For Paw

Teaching your dogs to give a paw can be fun and also a useful way to stop this harmful behavior of your dogs. This is an appropriate way of getting their attention and also an effective way of making them feel happy.

You need to teach them with patience and once learned you can ask them for their paws while playing and also when greeting new people. However, consistency is the key so you need to train them regularly accompanied by several treats to reinforce them.

The method should be associated with another command like "Paw" so that they can know when to react. By doing this, your dogs are learning a new way of interacting politely, and can help to create more respectful greetings.

6. Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool to make your dog well-behaved and shape their behavior according to your wants and interests. It means giving them treats or praising them by patting or words so that they are encouraged to continue the action in the future.

The theme of this is to make your dogs focused on the things they do right and continue it rather than focusing on the things they do wrong by punishing them. This also helps to build trust between the owner and the pet.

This includes treats, praise, affection, toys, and so on. All these encourage them and make them happy so the reward must be given to them immediately after the moment they perform the desired behavior.

7. Step Back

Stepping back while your dogs are moving towards you is a technique to discourage them from continuing the action. When you move backward this discourages them as it removes their reward of attention and will make them feel like they will not get closer to the people by doing so.

This body language will prevent them from making body contact with you and helps to create space. This also removes attention from them and will not want to continue it.

You need to stay calm for this duration and also wait for them to be calm, after which you can move forward and reward them for their good behavior. This will make them feel that doing so will move them away from you.

8. Reward On Floor

Rewarding your dogs when they are on the floor is an effective method of reinforcing them for their calm behavior. For that, you can reward them only when all four paws are on the ground, which encourages them to stay grounded.

For this behavior, you need to prepare the reward, wait for the right moment, and reward them immediately. You need to follow it with verbal commands and repeat it continuously until it becomes their behavior.

You need to use this in different situations like when they greet, when they are excited, etc and this will help to follow this behavior in different conditions and situations. Over time, you need to reduce the treat and continue with more affection and praise.

9. Distract With Toys

Toys are something that they like to play with often so using toys to distract them is an effective way of preventing them from jumping on you when they get excited or greet you. This technique shifts their focus from you to the toys.

However, you need to be cautious and choose the right toy that they like. You need to prepare it beforehand and offer it to them as soon as they become excited, followed by praises.

You need to be regular in this activity so that slowly it becomes a habit. Redirecting their energy towards the toy can effectively prevent them from jumping on you. You can create a more calm and controlled environment during greetings and when they are excited.

10. Practice With Friends

Practicing your dogs to calm down with your friends is an effective way to make them learn calm behavior while greeting them. This will encourage them to get used to meeting different people in a good mannered behavior.

To practice this session, first, you need to explain the situation to your friends. Ask them to stay calm and avoid encouraging them with a sudden reaction so that they will also be calm and controlled.

Always end this training on a positive note by reinforcing them, although a small one. Practicing this with your friends will help them learn to stay gentle around different unknown people. This also builds confidence in them and encourages them to follow this action.

11. Provide Mental Stimulation

Providing mental stimulation to them is very important to make them well-behaved and controlled which leads to a happy dog. Mental exercises will challenge their brain and divert their mind by engaging and satisfying them.

You can provide them with puzzle toys, and play games where they need to think like hide and seek, play dead, roll over, etc. Scent games can also be a good option as they have a strong sense of smell. Food puzzles, interactive walks, and slow feeders can be a good choices.

Providing them with regular mental stimulation will help them prevent boredom, divert their mind, reduce anxiety, etc. Such dogs are less likely to get engaged in unwanted behavior like jumping on people.

12. Use A Leash

Although your dogs may not like to be leased, it is still a great way to make them stay under control. This will give you control over them and help to guide them towards the desired behavior.

First, you need to start this indoors as the environment is controlled and small. You should keep the lease short but loose enough to avoid stress in them and can move freely.

Combine this with command and practice them to greet on lease and reward them if they do like you want them to react. You need to train them to walk on a leash and gradually give them more freedom as they improve.

13. Body Block

Blocking your dogs by using your body is a non-aggressive technique to prevent them from engaging in unwanted behavior. It creates a barrier with the help of your physical body and discourages them from continuing their behavior.

For this technique, anticipate the jump, then step forward and use your body to block them and not your hands. You need to stay calm during this process and let them study your body language and behavior.

After you have blocked them, you need to pause and wait for their reaction. You need to continue this when there are visitors and in different situations like while coming home, playing, meeting new people, etc.

14. Give Timeouts

Timeouts are one of the useful training methods to discourage your dogs from doing unwanted behavior. When it is used correctly, it will help your dogs to understand certain actions that will only make them annoy you and will not further continue.

It is the process of not giving your attention to them when they do something. For this, you need to select a quiet, boring space and somewhere they love to spend time. You need to make clear which behavior will lead to a timeout.

This should be for a short period of around 1 to 2 minutes because you only want to make them aware and not punish them. You need to have patience with this, and slowly decrease the time.

15. Use A Calm Voice

Since dogs are highly sensitive to tone and energy, you can use a calm voice to teach them not to act more energetically or aggressively. This is an effective way of discouraging them to behave dangerously.

When they start to hop, you can use a soft and even tone to speak with them. You should also use commands like sit, off, down, etc to make them aware of what you want. It is important to avoid a high-pitched tone and should praise with a calming voice.

It is very important to calm yourself first to have a soft tone in your voice. You need to have a lot of patience while making your dog understand its effect and teaching them to follow the same.

16. Train At A Distance

By training your dogs at a distance, you can prevent them from getting closer and approaching without notice. This technique helps them to learn self-control and respond to you even when you are far from them.

You need to start with basic commands to make the foundation and this distance should not be much. You can use a long leash to keep them under control and slowly increase the gap between you two. You can also use helpers to train them and teach them more easily.

Treating and rewarding them is also very important. You can gradually release them and practice them in different environments. Be sure to stay patient and keep the training consistent.

17. Practice With Familiar People

Practicing the training of stopping your dogs from jumping on people can be an effective way to make them learn. Familiar faces will make them stay calm rather than anxious, and it can also help to keep the environment under control.

Those people with whom they are familiar or close will help them to focus on learning more without the extra excitement of someone new. It is very important to briefly explain the situation to them and act accordingly.

You can first teach them to have a calm greeting with other people and give them rewards and treats to reinforce them. Once they are calm while greeting, you can increase the difficulty level and change the environment to make them used to different situations.

18. Stay Consistent

Staying consistent is one of the most important things whenever you are training and teaching a dog. This is also a very important way of this because all the above-mentioned points must be connected with consistency.

After being repeated for a long time, your dogs will slowly understand not to do it as it will not lead to attention or any rewards. You need to be consistent with the commands, rewards, rules, and your response so that it'll be easier for them.

It is very important to set clear boundaries to stay consistent and the same all the time. Your need to have patience and must be able to stick to the routines. Don't give mixed signals and messages to them which can lead to confusion.