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Puppy jumping – How to stop it!

The majority of complaints I receive from my clients is their new puppy will not stop jumping.  This behavior can become extremely frustrating for puppy owners. We help owners learn how to recognize puppy jumping – and how to stop it.

So why do puppies jump?

Puppies usually start jumping as soon as they are able.  Through the excitement of owning a puppy, the puppy is often jumping and the owner is also petting and interacting with the puppy during this behavior.

The puppy learns jumping results in getting greeted as well as gaining attention and affection. As a result the puppies jumping behavior is reinforced.

Teaching your puppy an alternative behavior

When you think about it. If we can teach your puppy a behavior that is incompatible with jumping and reinforce the alternative behavior. We begin to teach your puppy to exhibit a more acceptable behavior for greeting as opposed to jumping.

The most natural behavior to teach your puppy is “sit”!  “Sit” is a command that provides value in every situation.  If you teach your puppy to “sit” for everything then  he / she begins to learn that sitting gets the greeting, affection  and attention.  Translated, Sit results in earning life rewards.

Whilst you are training your puppy to sit for everything. Its important that you do not acknowledge your puppy when they start jumping. Ignore your puppy when jumping and reward your puppy when your puppy sits.

Providing your puppy with the right feedback 

How does your puppy know when he is offering you the behavior you desire?  The answer to this is simple.  Providing your puppy with the right feedback.. If he “sits” he gets a reward and if he is jumping he receives nothing!  i.e no attention, not petting nothing.. Wait until he stops jumping and then reward with attention.  As you consistently respond to your puppy when all four paws are placed on the floor. Your puppy will learn not jumping is the more desired behavior. The more you reinforce what you want and provide your puppy with the right feedback the quicker you will see your puppy responding and exhibiting this new behavior.

Need Maryland puppy training help from our Certified Professional Dog trainer.  contact us.