# A question for my friend - jumping up



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I have a friend (Nicole) who is pregnant (I think she's three or four months along). She likes to go to her neighbor's house every day and let his lab (Sammy) out while he (Dave) is at work, and take him for a walk or run. Sammy is a bit of a wild child, and a big time jumper. Nicole has tried to talk to Dave about ways to help with this, especially when guests come over since Nicole's daughter has gotten jumped on and knocked down and is now terrified of this dog. This was her most recent message to me, and I thought I'd ask you guys for tips.
_

He already wears a prong collar. He is ok when I am walking him. He doesn't pull. It's basically any other time. He jumps up on me and he is huge and it hurts. Also I can't just let him go in the house he will climb all over me. he tries to bite my arms hands feet like he thinks they are a play toy. When I am dog sitting I have to keep him on the leash even in the house because I don't have any control over him and its the only way I can protect myself. It is really unenjoyable. Ugh! I feel bad for him when Dave goes away because he is crated. He would be so much better off at doggie day care. Dave doesn't listen to me though._


Any suggestions on how my friend can deal with this dog that isn't hers in the first place?


----------



## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

I will tell you that it will be tough to break him of it if the owner isn't on board with training every day.

Raven jumps on everyone but me (ok, she gives me one little jump when I get home but that's nothing compared to the mauling other people get). I had a roommate when she was a pup who didn't listen to me regarding training and what I got was a dog who thinks it's ok to jump on everyone but me. We also don't have people come over enough that I've been able to stop it.

Wish I had better advice.


----------



## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

She will probably need to limit her visits and exposures to that wild child puppy if she does not want to get pawed and knocked down while pregnant.

I got jumped on 3x yesterday by others dogs while at the dog park, it does hurt. I usually turn my back and cross my arms and say uh uh, but that doesn't always stop dogs from jumping. I tend to get all the dogs running up to me because I am short. I notice they don't go up to other folks who are taller.

Anyone else notice this with dogs?


----------



## Dooney's Mom (May 10, 2011)

she MIGHT be able to get him to stop even if the owner does not- IF she can get the dog to recognize her as a leader. I would recommend she do basic obedience with him. Sit, Down, etc. 

I had a friends dog that constantly jumped on me, I finally asked my friend if she minded if I tried something- she allowed me to- I got his leash and made him sit/down etc and made him listen he was not allowed to ignore me- if he wouldn't sit, I gently made him sit, same with down. I also left the leash on him and when he got close to me I would step on the leash- if he went to jump he usually got stopped because I was stepping on the leash- also the crossing the arms and a stern NO- "sit" helped when i didn't have time to step on the leash. I refused to acknowlege the dog until he sat in front of me. It took a couple of times but eventually the dog no longer jumped on me but would jump on everyone else.

This may or may not work for her, I am sure some professionals will also comment- Good Luck to your friend!


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Thanks guys. I don't know how much she can hope to accomplish without the owner also trying. I think she has tried to get him to not jump on her, but I'm not sure what methods she has used besides turning her back on him. She says he just jumps on her back then.  From what I understand, she has trouble even getting in the house because he is so excited to see her.


----------



## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Does he know commands? The best thing to do would be to get him to replace the behavior with something else (like sit). Raven runs and gets me a toy. If she had a lot of time, she could refuse to come in the house until he has settled down and sat.


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

That's a good question Jamie. I will ask her. I did tell her that if she could get Dave to put Sammy on leash when she came over, to keep him from jumping, then she could ignore him until he sat, then give attention/treats/praise. It sounds like he's just young and excitable and probably not getting enough exercise. But I told her this a couple months ago and I guess Dave did it a few times and then gave up. He doesn't seem like he cares if his dog is a jumper, which is fine as long as you don't have guests over! 

The hard part is that Dave is Nicole's best friend, so it's not like she can just stop coming over for the rest of her pregnancy. I hate to suggest an e-collar, but do you think that would be the quickest method to extinguish the jumping behavior? I'm not sure I would feel right about advising it especially since Dave doesn't seem like someone who would make the effort to learn how to use it properly.


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

I taught my last dog to not jump by encouraging her to jump and giving her the knee timed precisely before she made contact. I made it a game and pretty soon she didn't like that game any more. NO, she was not harmed. Every once in a while I would pat my chest and say "Come on", she wasn't interested.
Current dog knows how to take NO or STAY.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

When I was 16yr. old we lived in Alaska and our neighbor had a huge Chocolate Lab.
The neighbor saw how well behaved my Springer was (had her since I was 13) and asked me to train his dog.
Well his dog was around 100lb. and pure puppy. Eek.
He'd jump up and maul people. Not knowing any different way to work on it, I stood on his leash when he was sitting down. It's a bit tough but I did it, and as soon as he relaxed and quit trying to jump up I would praise/pet, etc.
I did this daily for a few weeks and he soon learned that he did indeed get attention when he sat nicely and didn't jump!
That dog was a monster though. Huge puppy. One day when I had him and was running him (had to get him to burn off energy before even starting to work w/him) he jumped up a log behind me and actually bit the back of my neck/head!! He was just playing but wow, I got myself out of his way real quick!

Your friend could run him real hard first and then try the leash thing, if she thinks she can without getting knocked over! Oh, and I used a flat collar for that particular training method.


----------



## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

PaddyD said:


> I taught my last dog to not jump by encouraging her to jump and giving her the knee timed precisely before she made contact. I made it a game and pretty soon she didn't like that game any more. NO, she was not harmed. Every once in a while I would pat my chest and say "Come on", she wasn't interested.
> Current dog knows how to take NO or STAY.


Agreed. A well placed knee can make an awesome difference. Doesn't take long to get that message.


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Leah, it doesnt matter if the owner is on board with it or not. If she is a caregiver when the owner isnt around, she needs to make the dog see she is the boss and how he behaves is not acceptable. If she can do that, the dog will respect her and mind his manners than she can teach him. 

Tell her about nothing in life is free. Explain it to her and how it works. ABC calls it the No Free Lunch Policy (which bugs me actually). Example. Shasta has learned that she will NOT get any kind of attention being obnoxious and in my face. She figured out pretty quick that if she sits calmly and nicely, she gets petted. She has to wait for her meals. She can only eat when i tell her 'free' which is our release word. She also isn't allowed to race out of her crate. She has to wait until she's given the release as well. Tell her to carry some nice tasty treats with her when she goes over and reward the GOOD behavior. When he's calm, he gets a treat. Pea sized treats. When all four feet are on the floor, he gets a treat. If he jumps, the treats are removed. Its called negative reinforcement. Something he wants gets removed when he doesnt do what he's supposed to do. Rewards also include walks and play time BTW but he has to work for them. Jumping up means the goodies get taken away. She also needs to turn her back on him when he's jumping on her. Remove her attention from him. Plus him hitting her back while she's pregnant, even early pregnancy is a heck of a lot safer than him clobbering her in the stomach. He WILL get the idea of how he should behave, at least with her. She can also take a step further once she gets to that point he behaves with her and minds his manners that she can work with him on behaving with other people as well. The leash is handy because she can clip it to him and let him drag it around, when he goes to jump she puts a foot on the leash to stop him and he basically corrects himself.


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Thanks guys, I will pass along all these suggestions!


----------

