How do I stop my dog from jumping on me?

In My Humble Opinion
1

About a month ago, we rescued a wolfhound/something mix. Otis is a year old, so still pretty much a puppy, and since he was picked up off the street by animal control, we know nothing of his history or training.

When we first brought him home, my husband was rasslin’ with him in the yard. This seems to have set a bad habit. Now if I walk out into the yard, the dog will jump on me. He’s close to 60#, so that’s a lot of dog!

We just started in a training class (just one session so far) and I talked to the trainer about this. She said turn and walk away. The problem with that is Otis thinks it’s part of play and will jump on my back. If my husband and I are hugging, Otis will jump up on us. He’ll also bite - again, just playing, but with enough pressure that I have bruises all over my forearms.

I’ve looked up some training sites and they say ignore the dog till he has four on the floor or is sitting, then reward him. I’m wondering if I stand or get him to sit before giving him a treat, he figures all he needs to do is jump on me, then sit. Is he learning the wrong behavior?

We’ve got our second lesson tomorrow and we will discuss this with the trainer, but if anyone here has dealt with a similar issue, I’d love to hear how you solved it. My husband is thinking shock collar - his aunt used one on their dog and it seems to have worked. We don’t want to hurt the dog or have him fear us, and apart from me, we have 2 young grandkids, and Otis could really hurt them if he knocked them down.

Other than this jumping, he’s a good dog and pretty smart. He’s great on leash - I walk him a bit more than a mile a day and most of that time, he’s chill and the leash is slack. He only seems to pull when he thinks I’m going too slowly (at least that’s how it feels.)

So, suggestions?

2

Breaking a bad habit like this can be challenging, but the sooner you do, the better. If he did it to me, I would loudly say NO! and quickly step backward until all his feet were back on the ground. I would then go into the house and leave him outside for a while. A short time later, I would go back out and repeat the process until he understands you won’t tolerate it. Once he stops doing it, I would kneel down and reward him for not jumping on you. Taking him on long walks will give you an opportunity to see if he still does it in certain situations. Never strike him when he does it, since that can make him aggressive.

3

I’m an advocate of using the least restraint method shown in this video:

Jumping is a normal puppy behavior for a lot of dogs, which they do in an attempt to get to eye level with adult dogs or people, but once a dog gets to a few months of age it needs to be corrected out for exactly the reasons you list (knocking down or injuring children or older people, scratching or tearing clothes,or just being annoying to guests). Just trying to correct them by saying no or ignoring them is only marginally effective, but if they are getting the passive correction of not being physically able to leap up they’ll quickly modify their behavior and find other ways of getting attention which you can encourage. I have used this even on adult dogs several years old who have not been well trained and they respond (at least to me) but the younger you start this the more they will learn to generalize. You also need to make sure that nobody is encouraging the dog to jump up (as some people will).

I am not a fan of shock collars. I know some professional trainers swear by them and get good results but I think that when non-experts try to use them they aren’t disciplined enough in how they apply the shocks such that the dog makes a causal connection between action and response, and it just confuses the dog, and in extreme cases can result in an anxiety problem. If you are going to use a shock collar get professional guidance but for the most part I think it is a tool that people try to use as a quick shortcut the discipline and developing a relationship required to actually control a dog and train them in proper behavior.

Stranger

4

The method in @Stranger_On_A_Train ‘s video is what we learned in my dog obedience classes over the years. You have to help them figure out how to correct themselves.

5

I read a few sites and I’m disinclined to use one, despite what Aunt B says. I’m thinking we might need to have the trainer come to our house to see what’s going on. Something to discuss in the next meeting.

I’ll share the video with my husband - it looks like a good plan. Of course, our issue isn’t visitors but with us, so we need to figure out the best way/time to use the leash. Thanks!!

6

A good trainer, and especially one who can work in your home environment, is worth their weight in gold (or at least in salmon jerky treats). An experienced trainer will have dealt with a lot of different breeds and dog behaviors and will have an instinct for what works best with your dog, and also isn’t as inclined to just get frustrated or to ignore a problematic behavior because it just takes ‘too much’ effort to correct. But it is up to the owner to not only apply the discipline in correcting the dog but also develop the relationship where the dog is both trusting and subordinate such that verbal corrections or slight cues can be used to control behavior. I see so many people who just yell at or try to somehow reason with a dog who is clearly like, “I’m not really interested in the noises coming out of your mouth so I’m going to go over here and do whatever I want.”

Stranger

7

I seem to recall reading somewhere (eons ago) that yelling at your dog is, to him, the same as barking, so he’ll yell (bark) back - conversation, right? I know Otis barks when neighborhood dogs bark so there may be something to that.
Imgur

8

I love this scene from the movie Airport! :grin:

9

I’ve known dog owners like that. “Oh, don’t mind him, he’s just friendly.”

10

Yikes, I just realized I got the name of the movie wrong – it’s Airplane!, of course, not “Airport”. A real classic!

11

Are you sure it wasn’t Zero Hour? That’s the real classic that Abrahams and the Zuckers ripped off to make Airplane!:

“Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”

Stranger

12

My dog had the jumping habit, and I was able to put a stop to it. Your results may vary. Dogs are one of the few animals that make eye contact with us and many want to get closer to your face, and jumping accomplishes this. When my dog would jump on me, I would give it a firm “No” and turn my back to the dog. At first, my dog would run around and jump up again, but I repeated the procedure. After about 3 to 4 sessions of this in as many days, she stopped jumping. Might be worth a try.

13

This is where my problem is - he’ll jump on my back. The trainer suggested turning and walking away and it ended up with me being almost tackled. We’ll see what we can learn in class today.

14

I’ll be interested to hear what your trainer says, but I adopted a fully grown German shepherd dog who had the same issue.

I solved it by never interacting with him except on a leash, anticipating the behavior and when he did it, giving the leash a sharp downward tug to pull him off my back and giving the command, “No!” In his case, it seemed to be a response to feeling insecure. It only took a couple of times and the behavior stopped. I don’t know if it was because of my “training” or that he finally felt more at ease in his new environment. From what you describe of Otis, I think his similar behavior is motivated by something else. The result is the same, though.

Once the behavior stopped, the leash was no longer needed.

I wish you success. It would be a shame to rehome Otis again.

15

We seldom had this problem with our dogs, but I recall a firm NO! accompanied by a knee to the dog’s chest (knocking him to the ground) being an effective deterrent.

16

I just figured out why he jumps on me when I’m in my chair - he wants out! Guess I need to redirect that jump to a bark. But that doesn’t solve why he considers me a chew toy when we’re in the yard. The trainer said I need to turn and walk away. That doesn’t work when he then jumps on my back. The drama continues.