My yellow lab [4 1/2 y/o M] keeps jumping on everyone

[jaetii]

Sorry if this was asked already but i am new and couldn't find it.

I have a yellow lab named Tank who is very friendly and lovable. He also LOVES attention. Whenever anyone comes in the door he jumps on them. A 75lb dog jumping on you after a long day of work can be a bit much. We tried to stop him from jumping since he was a puppy, but its becoming a problem. He almost knocked out my elderly grandma last week. ( It was kinda funny tbh but i didn't laugh in front of him) We ignore him when we come in until he settles down then we acknowledge him. Has anyone else had this problem, if so, how did you handle it?

 

[ayensu]

@jaetii We have a 1 yo Husky mix who jumps and slaps our senior dog and us with his paws to get our attention or to play. It hurts! The other day a friend came to visit and bent down to see the dog and our dog jumped up at the same time. Luckily nobody got hurt but I’m scared someone will.

We have tried the method of keeping treats near the door but we have forgotten to refill, plus we have two separate entrances which makes remembering even more difficult. I suppose if we had seen actual progress with him jumping less at other times (like when he’s hungry or wants to play or is just stretching after a nap) we would have made a bigger effort but it wasn’t. I was getting super frustrated.

Recently I saw a video that suggested whenever the dog jumps up, you take hold of dog’s paws, gently squeeze, and walk backwards a bit while holding on. You’re also supposed to firmly say, off! (not down, since down is the command for having them lie down).

They do not like this at all. It’s awkward for them and I suspect not very comfortable. I was reluctant to try because I don’t want to rely on punitive training methods but I gave it a try and my dog immediately yanked his legs away and stopped jumping. I’ve done it on 3 separate occasions and now when I even look like I might hold onto his paws, he chills out. He’s still bouncy and does little jumps, but it’s not the kind where he might scratch my face off. So I’d say that’s progress.

 

[blever]

@ayensu After months of trying the standard methods (having the dog sit and hoping they'll stay down, physically restraining them with a leash) with essentially no success, our dog trainer recommended we try basically this but the opposite. When the dog jumps on you, walk right into them (slowly) so that they need to back up and get down.

It's too soon to say whether it's working, but it certainly works in the short term.

 

[masterduckie]

@blever thats like the text book method. you just need a lot more training with enough time/patience!

 

[blever]

@masterduckie Yeah, we're staying consistent. I'm sure it'll pay off some day! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow...maybe not next month or the one after...but some day.

 

[ayensu]

@blever I had tried this but it didn’t work. He thought I wanted to play!

 

[blever]

@ayensu Figures!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@ayensu This is genius, I’m going to have to try this!

 

[jaetii]

@ayensu It does hurt when you bump heads!! And It’s funny now when he almost knocked her out but in the moment it was really scary. I’m going to have to try this method and see if it works with him. Thanks for the tip!

 

[johnskat]

@ayensu I was coming here to suggest just this. Our trainer has us grab and hang on for a little bit, basically until they are annoyed. It is supposed to make them solve the problem themselves; they don’t like you taking their paws so you make the dog decide that it doesn’t want to give you it’s paws.

 

[ayensu]

@johnskat Exactly! I like the idea of them making the connection: if I do A, B will happen, and B isn’t fun.

 

[blever]

@johnskat My dog loves having her paws held/petted/massaged. Weird little dog.

 

[robertdlindstrom]

@jaetii Jumping is a self reinforcing behavior so you need to stop it before it starts. Yelling and physically pushing him off is attention that he’ll keep going for.

When guests come leash him and keep him on a sit stay. When you release him to say hi, keep your foot on the leash so he physically can’t jump. He can only sniff from ground level. If he does manage a jump, turn your back to him and completely disengage.

This is what worked for us. As for all things dog, consistency is key.

Good luck!!

 

[blever]

@robertdlindstrom We've been doing exactly this with our 6-month old puppy from the day we got her at 9 weeks old, and she has yet to learn not to jump. She is way, way too excited by people. She also sees people very frequently, so it's not as though she's excited by the rare chance to meet a new human.

She's gotten slightly better in the past month or so, in that she will now sometimes eventually sit while she's waiting to be allowed to say hi, before typically popping back up again. She's going to be very large, so we're really hoping consistency will, in fact, some day pay off a lot more than it has so far.

Same thing with barking, in fact. She has never in her life (since we got her) received attention of any kind for barking. She sure hasn't figured out that it doesn't get her anything, though.

Puppy life....

 

[robertdlindstrom]

@blever Puppy adolescence is brutal!

 

[jaetii]

@robertdlindstrom We tried the leash when guest come over and he behaves but then he’ll wait when he’s off the leash and do a surprise attack on them! Sometimes I think he’s like part ninja lol but I’ll give it another try. Thanks for the tip!

 

[robertdlindstrom]

@jaetii Ha! Yeah the sounds right. Honestly, Stella had a leash on her almost nonstop (except for crate) for the first several months. We just never took it off! Went through a few from chewing but it was worth it!

 

[brizg]

@jaetii Our husky is beyond excited when anyone comes home or over. She gets vocal and punches people with her front paws. We've tried turning our backs with no success. I'm going to try the paw holding but I'm skeptical because she gives hugs when you hold her front paws. If you grab her front paws while she's jumping, she'll wrap her neck around you and hug you. Honestly, it's the cutest thing.

 

[randks]

@jaetii My 5 month old pup is forever jumping on people when he greets them and it drives me crazy. He’s 40 lbs and is getting bigger and taller by the day.

I ALWAYS make him sit when a person is approaching but honestly it’s the strangers or my neighbours who reinforce his jumping behaviour because they give him attention immediately when he jumps. I have maybe one neighbour who will not pet him until he’s settled and sitting nicely and I appreciate it so much.

It’s sooooo difficult when other people are undermining your training.

 

[jaetii]

@randks It really is hard. There’s 6 of us in the house. The adults wants him to settle down and sit but the kids (16 and 12) love to pet him especially if they just got home from school. So I told them it’s really becoming a problem and we need to get it under control.