jumping up

[Chesters mom]

My BC is about 2 years old. We adopted him from the local animal shelter about one month ago. He was abandoned and they had no information on him. He is a real cutie...super smart and we adore him....

 

What can I do to prevent his jumping up on me? I have tried ignoring it, I have tried to distract him - giving him his bone or a toy. I have tried saying - No, down.... I have tried putting him in a room by himself. (My sister told me not to use a crate as a time out spot.) If he is worked up at all, he seems to view me as his personal chew toy. He doesn't do it to anyone in the family except me. I am his primary caregiver. I walk him 2 - 3 miles every morning. I try to play - ball, frisbee - and I end up stopping because he practically mauls me. I have bruises all over my legs where he has jumped up or 'mouthed' my legs.

 

I have contacted a trainer who works with border collies and she is coming out to my house later this week. (She is out of town until then.) Any suggestions???

[r b m]

My dog did this to me at first, and I'm still working on it with new people. What worked for me is turning my torso away from her, arms crossed. Bumping her down from me if needed. Then, I made her sit... no affection, verbal or physical until she is in the sit position. If she got up, right back to sit until I released her. Be persistent and it should work.

[Allie+Tess&Kipp]

I have this problem too, but my dogs do not jump on me. They jump on everyone else. Everyone they come into contact with has been instructed in the proper behavior ("Say "sit!") but they have all failed Sit 101 and thus get jumped on.

 

The key, I have found for myself, is to say "sit!" just as they get near me, then give them food or a very cool toy. They won't jump up if the food or toy is on the floor (where I throw it after they sit). Make sure you have really good treats. Something that can be smelled a mile away is good until he's got the idea.

 

Allie + Tess & Kipp

http://weebordercollie.com

[Shetlander]

Originally posted by Chester's mom:

I have tried putting him in a room by himself. (My sister told me not to use a crate as a time out spot.) If he is worked up at all, he seems to view me as his personal chew toy.

First, I use my dogs' crates for time outs every so often and have never had any fall-out. They still race into their crates if I tell them too because overall they associate going into their crate with a treat and a place to rest. I was sometimes sent to my room when I was a kid and I was still fine going into it to play or sleep. I use time out as a chance for the dog to regroup as much as anything else and think short time outs (5 -10 minutes or less) are more effective than long ones.

 

Have you tried turning away from your dog, crossing your arms and looking up? I heard that works with many dogs but haven't tried it much. Does he know sit? You can practice having him sit quickly when you tell him to. Then when you see him coming towards you have him sit and only pet, give him a treat, dinner, toy, etc. when he is sitting. I like sit as a default behavior

 

Try not to physically push him off or away from you. Dogs often take that as play or rough housing. Also pay attention to how your tone of voice. It should be authoritative but not high pitched, happy or excited. I take Quinn to work and he is terrible about jumping on one of my coworkers. This guy dislikes being jumped on more than anyone in the office and Quinn jumps on him way more than anyone else. I think it's because he not only pushes Quinn down and away, but he talks in a very cheeful voice as he says "No jumping! All four feet on the ground! I won't pet dogs who are on two feet! No I won't!" All very jolly. I'm convinced Quinn thinks this is the man's favorite game Two people in my office are always very quiet and nonresponsive if Quinn jumps up on them and he almost never does. Even as a puppy, he rarely jumped up with them. He figured out early on they didn't like it and it wasn't fun.

 

Your dog sounds like he is playing with all the jumping and mouthing. He just needs to learn different ways to play. I would do obedience training with him and play games that teach control. I bet the BC person coming will have lots of good ideas for you. Let us know how it goes!

[Chesters mom]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried the turning away and ignoring him, but he is a persistent bugger and will not stop...so next time, in the crate he will go (just for a very short time). I know I need to work with him on general obedience and that may help tremendously. He is just so darned cute.....it is hard to be stern with him. I'll let you all know how it goes with the trainer. Again, thanks!

[Keith Ramsay]

Turning will only teach a dog to jump on your back. Best two tactics I know are borderline compulsion training.

 

1) get a thumb in between their collar bone as they are coming up. This is the soft spot on their chest slightly offset from the breast bone. Be warned, you will hear a loud yelp.

 

2) squeeze paws when they make it onto you.

[Shetlander]

Originally posted by Chester's mom:

He is just so darned cute.....it is hard to be stern with him. I'll let you all know how it goes with the trainer. Again, thanks!

People always warn you not to laugh at misbehaving dogs or children. Well, I?ve never been good at that. Kids and dogs crack me up all the time with their antics. I think the most important thing is the consequences. I don?t need to be mad to put my dog in his crate or enforce a command. Usually, I speak in a quiet, firm voice to let him know he?s done something I don?t like. But there have been plenty of times where I said nothing because I knew I?d burst out laughing if I tried to speak and other times where I did laugh, but the dog still doesn?t get what he wants. Actions (and they can be very gentle actions) speak louder than words, I think.

 

That makes me think of a technique I discovered with Quinn when he?d get rowdy and ignore my commands. I take his face calmly between my hands and get nose to nose with him, talking in a very soft voice. I couldn?t even tell you what I say, pretty much just repeat what it is I want him to do and that I need him to settle. This has worked incredibly well and I love that it?s such a gentle technique. However, I raised Quinn from a small pup and putting my face in his face wasn?t something I needed to worry about. Since you?ve only had your guy for a month, you may want to be careful putting your face that close to his.

[Keith Ramsay]

Ahhh... and not ot sound like a meanie, but Angel knows the command "off" really well. Off of me... off the sofa, off the chair, off the bed... off the visitor... and "get out" is another fun one.

[Kitch]

Crossing your arms and turning slightly can work but you need to be consistent and watch your body language. Dogs are masters at reading body language and interpreting it into "dog".

 

When a dog jumps up on us, we instinctively lean back or away from the dog. That is effectively "giving" the space to the dog and encouraging them to jump more. It doesn't have to be an exaggerated leaning back - a dog can pick up on millimeters. So if you lean back when you are turning away, the leaning back trumps the turning.

 

The better option would be to lean forward (again, not a lot - a few inches is a dramatic difference) and turn your upper body or even step forward and turn your upper body. Basically, you are claiming that space and "taking" it from the dog. {Patricia McConnell does a much better job of explaining (and showing) this in one of her videos.} Keep your arms crossed and don't use them to push the dog away; rather use your upper body/shoulder to block the jump. As was stated earlier, dogs interpret our hands pushing them away as an invitation to play.

 

This isn't a guaranteed fix nor will it work immediately the first time but it can work. All dogs are different and you need to find what works for your dog.

 

The good news is that it is easier to fix it when the dog is jumping on you than when they are jumping on strangers.

[Tassie]

I do the hands crossed in front of me, about waist level, and pushing down - like Kerry says, claiming space. And the slight turn away.

 

That said, I have taught my Fergus to "Hug" on command. He will stand on his hind legs and gently rest his front paws on my arms. We both like that.

 

I've found being consistent about asking for a sit or four on the floor before giving attention helps. If you can get the cue in before he jumps, that is great.

 

All of that said, my Fergus gets totally over-excited and anxious sometimes, and bounces up behind me. All I can do then is really enforce the sit, usually with a "Stop" beforehand.

[fooshuman]

Ok i'll probably get yelled at for this. The way i have "taught" them to stop jumping up is, to bring my knee out so they bump my knee. It takes some timing but they get the message. (most of the time ) I do allow them to jump up if i call them up. Please do not use any force or you can seriously harm your pooch. Just allow them to bump into your knee.

[Lunar]

Turning away works for some dogs, because they are looking for attention and if you deny it to them they figure it out. If it's become a pattern, however, that alone won't fix it.

 

Zoe's trainer showed what Kerry said - to lean forward slightly and shuffle forward into their space. This puts the jumping dog off-balance and they usually back off and sit. (She demonstrated with some very jumpy, eager, mouthy dogs in class, and lo and behold they did.) She made a point that you have to teach the dog to sit, first... because when a dog doesn't know what to do it'll start trying lots of different things, so you want to have a default backup in their brain already.

 

Another thing you might do is to put the dog on-leash and tie it to something (or have someone hold the leash). You step forward in greeting - soon as they jump or mouth, you back out of range and wait. Sometimes it can take quite a while for the dog to work itself out, but soon as there's a moment of silence/sitting, you praise praise praise, treat. Soon as they start jumping, again, back away.

 

The above is how I taught Zeeke not to jump on me, but I didn't need the leash. I just stand completely still and ignore him. It took a while, but he did figure it out. I now have two dogs swarming around my feet (still working on that) when I walk in the door, but it's rare that they actually jump on me - Zoe's more likely to forget.

 

You MUST be consistent, though. My husband, despite seeing it work with his own eyes, still can't do it consistently, and so both dogs still jump on him.