Is your dog always jumping up at you or other people?
Dogs can jump up for a variety of reasons, but it’s often either because they want attention or because they’re excited. If your dog’s ever jumped up at a favorite guest when they walk through the door or at you when you’ve not been able to play with them for a while, this is unlikely to be surprising!
But many of us look to stop our dogs from jumping up. Even if you don’t mind your dog jumping up at you personally, there could be a safety risk if they jump up at someone who’s older, injured, or carrying a hot drink, for example, especially if they’re a larger dog breed. But size aside, it’s just bad manners.
That’s why professional dog trainer and behavioral consultant Amelia Steele, or Amelia the Dog Trainer, has shared one way to stop a dog from jumping up in a recent Instagram post. Let’s take a closer look here.
In her video, Steele is working with a rescue dog in Romania, explaining that for dogs like these, being taught not to jump up can be the difference between them finding a home or not.
“I’m going to have a piece of food, and I’m going to reward him for literally anything he’s doing other than jumping,” she says, rewarding the treat to the floor so he’s more likely to keep his feet on the ground.
“I like to get him thinking about alternative ways to engage with me and touch helps him to get problem-solving about how to get the treat,” she explains.
When the dog does jump up, she waits and lets the dog work out how to get rewarded again – then, when he jumps back down, he’ll get treats again. He then calms down enough to get some cuddles from Steele, which is a much more desirable behavior.
Of course, if you’re working with your own dog, your reasons for encouraging them not to jump will be slightly different from Steele’s in this scenario. But you can still carry out the same process, showing your dog that it’ll benefit them to remain on the floor – it’s the way to get more tasty treats!
Read next: I tried everything to get my dog to stop jumping up, here’s what actually worked or learn about the highest jumping dogs
