By: Thomas A. Beitz A dog that jumps up on people has to be one of the most common behavior problems that has plagued and annoyed dog owners for years. Yet, this annoying habit can be easily corrected by a professional dog trainer in minutes. The key to teaching your dog not to jump lies in the proper application of any number of behavior modification techniques. This first article will explain the “fad” methods of fixing the jumping problem that DO NOT work and in my next article (Part Two) the tricks professional trainers use to solve this jumping problem forever. As little puppies, pet owners think it is cute for the puppy to jump up like it is offering a hug or some other form of affection. When the puppy gets older and bigger, it stops being cute. Larger dogs can actually knock someone over resulting in injury while smaller dogs can be obnoxious. In order for any behavior modification technique to be effective it needs to be employed on a consistent basis. Obviously, if one family member is inviting the dog up on their lap or encouraging doggie hugs, then you can not expect any of these techniques to work. Although a dog can learn an exception to the rule, they must first learn the rule. Thou shalt not JUMP! Later, after the dog has demonstrated a genuine understanding of the rule, then it could be taught the exception. Generally, the exception (which is not going to be covered in this article) would include permitting the dog to hop up on your lap by invitation only. Teaching the rule and the exception at the same time will only confuse your dog. There are three methods that are commonly recommended in both books and training videos that DO NOT work. You might ask, “Why are these techniques published in books if they don’t work?” When the title of any book says it is written for “dummies” it should tip you off that the techniques may not have their origins in scientific learning models. That is not to say there isn’t any valuable information in these books. However, if the technique being recommended is not working after a few days, then you need to move on to something that does work. The first and most common ineffective approach is to just ignore the problem and hopefully in time the dog will learn not to jump. The reason this technique doesn’t work is that dogs grow into behaviors not out of them. I think this technique accidently worked on a dog once upon a time and someone decided to write a book about it. Actually, this technique was hijacked from child psychology approaches and has been found to work about 15 percent of the time and generally takes months if not years to get any results. When your dog is old and arthritic and not able to jump up any longer we can say this method worked. This kind of science is called junk science and is used more than you know to justify almost anything. The second technique commonly used is a spin off of the first which is to ignore the dog when he jumps up by turning to the side and waiting for the dog to sit. If the dog “sits” reward the dog with a treat or some other form of positive reinforcement. The theory suggests that in time the dog will learn that when it “sits” it is rewarded and when it jumps it is ignored. Certainly ignoring a dog should be enough of a deterrent and getting a treat should be enough of a reward to encourage the appropriate “sitting” behavior. This method does work about 10 to 20 percent of the time but by the time you take your dog in for his next vet visit, you will be told to put your dog on a diet. Dogs learn by association. Even a dog that is not brilliant will recognize that in order to get a treat, it is a two step process. It must first jump up and then sit resulting in a reward. Whenever your dog wants a treat it will run up and jump on you and immediately sit; now you are obligated to give your dog a treat. You are actually teaching your dog to jump by rewarding it. This is like getting pulled over for speeding and instead of getting a ticket and a fine, the police officer hands you a hundred dollar bill. How many of us would stop speeding if we were rewarded every time we were pulled over for breaking the law? You can not reward bad behavior and expect it to go away. Rewards reinforce or strengthen behavior they do not extinguish them which brings me to the third method that does not work; pushing the dog off of you when he jumps up. This may seem harsh to some people, but in most cases it will only make matters worse. Your dog associates your hands with love and affection. When you push your dog off of you it will be perceived as play or affection which is something positive thus rewarding or reinforcing the very behavior you wish to eliminate. It is akin to getting pulled over for speeding and getting a $2.00 fine. It just is not motivational enough. In my next article I will explain several techniques that actually stop your dog from jumping forever. Email this article to a friend: Contact Information Thom Beitz is a Canine Behavior Specialist and Authorized Dealer for the Pet Stop Hidden Fence Containment System known for their gentle steps approach to containing dogs on the hidden fence system. Thom can be reached at (716) 628-0651 or found on the web at www.smartdogtraining.com . E-Mail: Tom@Smartdogtrainer.com
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