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Jumping on People - Help


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Hi all! I'm new here and to border collies, but am absolutely loving it :)

 

My border collie is absolutely great, but I am having an issue with her jumping on people when she sees them. I've tried gently pushing her off, pushing her off a little harder, extra praise when she doesn't jump, gently stepping on her back paw when she's up, etc. and nothing is seeming to stick! She turns everything into a game, and I really don't want this to go on much longer. She is still a pup, at 6 months old, but I want to get her out of the habit quick.

 

Any suggestions would so helpful!!

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My trainer's main point on things like this is to teach the dog that she doesn't get the rewad she's seeking when she does the inappropriate behavior. The trainer leashes the dog to a doorknob (tree, whatever), and starts to approach to give the dog attention (the reward). As long as the dog is sitting, he continues approaching. As soon as the butt comes off the floor to begin the jumping up, he turns around and walks away.

 

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

 

I've seen this trainer consistenly stop puppies from jumping up to greet - have them waiting patientily with butts on the ground - after five minutes.

 

The trick is to do it consistently and not let strangers or other family members reward the dog by praising and petting when the dog jumps up. If the reward comes from the behavior, the dog learns that he behavior is OK.

 

My new little dog had a period where she was barking at me to demand play and attention about 4:00 every day. Obnoxious! It got to the point that I had to take myself away and shut myself in the bathroom so she would learn that her barking made me disappear. Took a couple weeks, but she got the message. :)

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http://denisefenzipetdogs.com/2015/09/14/hyper-greeters-jumping-up-extreme/

 

Read the above link and watch the video. It's great for puppies that don't care if you turn your back. Dixie would gladly claw her way up a persons back before we started training. Punishing the dog by stepping on her or pushing her down just makes her try harder. Teach her what you want her to do instead.

 

For door greetings at the house we have had our pup on a 6ft leash, at first holding it then graduating to dragging it so I can step on it. When someone comes in, I start tossing cheese and smelly treats on the ground. The rewards come from the ground, keeping four paws on the ground. The key is to keep the rewards coming quickly (reinforcing he behavior constantly in the beginning). Now at 7 months she can greet most anyone at the door without jumping and no leash. I keep treats nearby incase she looses her cool with a person she has never met before (or strangers who don't know to ignore her until she calms).

 

When she starts getting the idea, you can start asking for a sit or down, because a dog can't jump when they're sitting! If you see her offer these behaviors without you asking, reward!

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I have had great luck with training ignoring until the dog is 4 on the floor, except for with my family who doesn't listen when I tell them to ignore the dog if they try to jump... However anyone new I tell them not to acknowledge the dogs until they are sitting, and it has reduced the jumping issues.

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One of my dogs was born with springs in his heels. I worked VERY hard with him using gentle discouragement, ignoring him, stepping on the leash before he got a chance to jump, and so forth. It finally clicked, and the jumping diminished... until I sent him off for sheepdog training, and bad habits were allowed to resurface. To make matters worse, people kept saying "oh, I don't care" when he'd jump up, and would keep petting him, even when I tried to ask them not to. Well, *I* cared.

 

I finally put him in "doggy boot camp". The very next time he jumped up on a visitor, I descended on him, roaring like the Voice of Doom ("WHAT do you THINK you're DOING???"), and hustled him off to banishment in a crate, where he couldn't interact with the visitor At All. I think I had to do this all of twice before he learned that jumping on people was counterproductive. Far better to keep all four feet on the floor and have a fuss made over him. It may not be an approach that everyone wants to follow (he's as full of self-assurance as any dog you've ever met), but for him it worked.

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I would avoid stepping on any dog's foot on purpose and particularly a growing youngster. A broken bone in the foot can result in a number of issues with regards to healing, bad bone growth, and later arthritis. Everyone else has given some good alternatives for you to work with that are much better and much safer. The clue is to remove the self-rewarding aspect of the unwanted behavior. For some dogs, like my Dan, a reaction - even a negative reaction - from the person is still a reaction and that beats no reaction at all so it can be enough of a reward in itself. Teaching a substitute acceptable behavior is the best option, and training your family/friends to insist on the same can be harder than training the dog!

 

Best wishes!

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Be very aware of what you are praising the dog for. Even when petting quietly and one paw comes up, immediately remove your hands. You may have to be quick to remove and then praise, but do it EVERY time. Like someone else said, it's hardest when other people let them do it. My newest adoptee jumps and clings like a monkey and I've also had to knee her down to get my point across, since she's very persistent. But again I'm praising profusely as soon as her feet are on the floor. I wouldn't punish and then put in the crate. You don't want the crate to become a negative.

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Caveat: This will not work at all with some dogs. Aed is super confident and not at all offput by looming people, but that's just him, not every dog. That said: With Aed, in addition to everything that's been said, I also found that it really really helped for people to bend over him as they greeted him. Just like training a sit with luring, it forced his head up and butt down. This was more of a management thing than a training thing, although it helped him get out of the habit of jumping and understand that he gets just as much love while sitting as he does while jumping.

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It must have been my set of dogs, but I haven't found one where the "turn away and ignore" method worked. It works for everyone else so it's clearly a good method, I must just create persistent dogs. :)

 

I much prefer proofing a very reliable sit or down, outside of the greeting situation. Then when the jumping problem shows up, I can ask for a sit or down and fully expect them to hold it while they wait for pets. But you must have a solid sit/down before doing this. Using this method before the behavior is learned will result in a poisoned sit/down cue and even worse excitement.

 

I'm also really liking the sound of mbc1963's method. I think any and all impuls control will help, which is pretty much what this boils down to.

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