Jumping.....

[ValleyGirl]

My one year old GSD is a very stubborn jumper. We have tried the ignore routine but we just get jumped on from behind or she jumps and runs so she does not even know you are "ignoring" her. We have tried the method of anticipating the jumping and throwing a treat on the floor away from us and saying"get it". This works but is impractical in many situations.

Giving a command like "sit" or "place" simply does not work because the dog is too keyed up to listen even though the dog will obey in other situations. Trainer says dog is getting some type of reward from jumping but that the reward may be internal and thus difficult to turn off. That is, she does not jump for attention so ignoring her does not work. We are now squirtng her with water and that is working great. But -- again -- is not practical when she wants to jump when you may not have the bottle handy or other people are involved. Maturity may help -- we can only hope.

[bianca11]

ValleyGirl ....You have just described my GSD to a tee.....thanks for your comment at least I know that I am not alone on this....my only fear is that someone who does not know her will be intimidated by her and may think that she is lunging at them and freak out....her size is really intimidating but she is just a big softy....the only thing she may do is lick you to death....but I feel so much better knowing that I am not the only one...I have tried just about everything and nothing seems to work.....

[KZoppa]

Originally Posted by AbbyK9

I just talked about this in another thread, actually.

What I have (always) done to teach a dog not to jump has been to IGNORE them. Basically, if the dog starts to jump, I will cross my arms and turn my back to the dog, looking anywhere but at the dog. If the dog keeps jumping, I will step one step away, or keep turning away, looking everywhere but the dog.

Happy, excited dogs jump because they're happy and excited and because it gets them attention. You might think you are correcting the dog by shoving her away or yelling NO or telling her things to do, but you ARE reinforcing the behavior by giving her attention and making her even more excited with the shoving and the yelling.

When you ignore them in return for the attention-seeking jumping, they will figure out before long that jumping = no attention but offering a good behavior, such as sitting or standing with all four paws on the ground = attention. But you have to really reinforce both by being consistent with turning away and ignoring when she jumps and praising and rewarding when she has calmed down.

Also, another thing I recommend is coming up with one consistent word that you'll use to keep her off the table, furniture, counter, etc. I've found that lots of people use DOWN for many different things - getting off the table, getting off the couch, not jumping on people, and laying down. You need to use one command for one thing, not different things if that's what you're currently doing. If your word for the dog to lay down is "down", then your word to tell her to stay off things needs to be something different, like "off".

This exactly!

[bianca11]

Thanks KZoppa I have been trying this and she still gets excited and does not listen, as for the table she jumps up on the table but stays off the furniture....I have been trying to keep the words consistent and it is somewhat working....but like a child...everything takes time and I am hopeful that she will get it...She's really a great dog, this is her only quirk....otherwise she has a great personality and listens well....she just gets toooo excited and she gets out of control whenever she sees us, and when we try to ignore and turn our backs she just jumps on us from behind....She gets so worked up that and she's so strong that when she jumps you really feel it, she nearly knocked my 73yr old mother down the stairs when she turned her back to ignore her....but I am really working with her to try and correct this behaviour, thank you so much for your comments and suggestions....much appreciated

[KZoppa]

Originally Posted by bianca11

Thanks KZoppa I have been trying this and she still gets excited and does not listen, as for the table she jumps up on the table but stays off the furniture....I have been trying to keep the words consistent and it is somewhat working....but like a child...everything takes time and I am hopeful that she will get it...She's really a great dog, this is her only quirk....otherwise she has a great personality and listens well....she just gets toooo excited and she gets out of control whenever she sees us, and when we try to ignore and turn our backs she just jumps on us from behind....She gets so worked up that and she's so strong that when she jumps you really feel it, she nearly knocked my 73yr old mother down the stairs when she turned her back to ignore her....but I am really working with her to try and correct this behaviour, thank you so much for your comments and suggestions....much appreciated

is she crated when you leave? If not, i would suggest you start. Its another easy method to teach her that she can still be excited about seeing you but she doesnt need to let it all pour out like a maniac. When she is calm after you get home, you would let her out of the crate. If she gets crazy, back in she goes. Its not a punishment, merely a training tool. She comes out when she's calm. Another thing i would suggest and highly recommend along with the ignoring, is when she is loose, she has a drag line attached to her collar. When she goes to jump, you step on the line and she self corrects. Praise for all 4 on the floor when her feet drop back down. Best to try and step on the line where she wont notice it but stepping on it will still have the same result. Also maturity will help but work on the training now. Stay consistent with one thing otherwise you're only going to confuse her.


for the table/counter surfing issue... you can either look into a static mat or go the cheaper route of getting some carpet runners. The ones that have the prongs on the bottom to grip the carpet. Put those, prong side up. It doesnt feel good on feet and works to discourage. Also continue working to teach her "off" for use when you're home. Teaching her "off" can also help with the jumping. I and several other teach off to mean basically GET THE HECK OFF!!! Whether its the couch, the counter or a person.

[KZoppa]

also consider a shaker can. When she goes to jump, you interrupt the behavior with the shaker can (behind your back where she cant see it). praise for all four on the floor. The noise should distract her enough to praise her for the right behavior. Also, encourage her to sit and praise heavily for that as well as its an appropriate behavior.

[cuttingedge]

I agree with ignoring and turning your back to the dog when it jumps.
It is really hard to explain to people (Visitors) how to react when the dog jumps because the first instinct is to put your hands out and grab the paws or push the dog away. This is in fact reinforcing the undesired behavior. Practice folding your arms and turning away. It takes time but it Will Work! We have also used the place/ spot command with sucess.

As far as Counter Surfing - Get a bagel and about 5 empty soda cans. Tie the soda cans together with string or fishing line and tie the other end to the bagel. place the bagel within reach on the table or counter and have the cans set-up right behind it. When the dog goes for the bagel and pulls it down the cans will come crashing down and scare the dog. This works very well for a couple of reasons the most important being that the dog learns itself that grabbing something off of the counter results in scary things happening. This is also a great method because you do not have to interact (Correct) the dog or be there when it happens. I would suggest that you monitor this in action as you do not want the dog to actually walk off with the food or the string or in my labs case the cans.

Hope this helps.
Jason