How to stop jumping on grandkids

3022 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by doggiedad, Nov 30, 2008

Bruce Wilson

Discussion Starter · Dec 31, 2007

My 5 month old female GSD has been jumping up on people to greet them. Adults can just put up the knee and say "NO", and this has been working. But today, my 2yr old and 4 yr old grandkids came to stay with us for a while. The pup has never been around toddlers and get excited and jumps on them, knocking them to the ground. We grab her immediately when she does it, correct her with a neck grab and "NO!". She just does it so fast we need tips on how to prevent her from doing this, especially since the dog is as tall as the 2 yr old. It wouldn't be fair to keep her on a leash in the house for the next 6 to 12 months while she matures.

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Maraccz

· #2 · Dec 31, 2007

keep her LEASHED when she mets people. I'd have her leashed all the time at her age anyhow. step on the leash so she can not jump. praise her for not jumping.
OR don't let her met people until she is calmed down (still on a leash)
REMEMBER she is still a puppy.
Knee to the chest, is a hit or miss (no pun intended) correction. It is more important for you to not let the jump start. Give her an acceptable alternative. ie Sit. give no attention (greeting from people) until she is sitting. This is enforced by the leash.

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big_dog7777

· #3 · Jan 2, 2008

It is absolutely fair to keep a dog under control in all circumstances until they understand 100% what acceptable behavior is. The only way to keep her under control is with a leash. Scruffing your pup for normal behavior when she has not been taught what proper behavior around children is is what's not fair. Small children run about squealing with their arms flailing and do all kinds of interesting things. This behavior triggers prey and herding instinct in our GSD's. If you want your pup to grow to be a dog that's great with kids you need to socialize the heck out of her with children. She needs to understand that children are a positive source of fun and joy provided she is CALM. This is also a two way street, the children need to be taught how to act around a dog. The 2 year old is a little young for this, not young to socialize the dog with but only in 100% controlled interaction (i.e. on leash). The 4 year old can be taught how to act if the dog gets to pushy (stand still - don't move or squeal and call you) and to be CALM. Use this opportunity to work with children and puppy in a CALM and controlled setting. Exercise the crap out of the pup, feed her, and then get to work with the two year old. Keep puppy on leash, but leave it as loose as you can (as long as she is not trying to pounce on the child) and show the 2 year old how to nicely pet the puppy and show the puppy how to nicely interact. Until a dog/pup proves to me that they can ignore a child that runs past them and totally control themselves with a calm clear head I will not allow any interaction with children unless on lead and supervised only by myself. Reward calm submissive behavior with treats and CALM praise. If puppy will not settle down or shows any signs of taking a dominant stance over the children all interaction is done. I start this process as early as possible with as many children as I can find. Teaching this to a 15 pound puppy is much easier than a 55 pound puppy since they are easier to control without much exertion. Freedom is earned.

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big_dog7777

· #4 · Jan 2, 2008

Ran out of time to edit and add...

Your goal is CALM POSITIVE experiences with children for your puppy. I do everything possible to set up the proper environment to foster success so that I will not have to administer a correction to the puppy while interacting with children. Again, I want positive experiences. I start this process as early as possible with as many children as I can find. Any friends or family that have kids or that have kids visit are enlisted to help if at all possible.

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Bruce Wilson

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 3, 2008

Well, it's been a few days. Thanks for all your input. We kept her on the leash, working with the pup and the kids. I even got the 4 yr old to do some sit, down, here work with her. He loved it when we told him he "was the boss" of the pup. We taught him the hand signs and how to give the command. He did real good with it. Played with her like that for a good 20 minutes. The 2 yr old learned to stop running and stand still if the pup ran at her. So far all your suggestions are working . Thanks again!!

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Bruce Wilson

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 30, 2008

UPDATE: Today Tasha is 16 months and is awesome with the grandkids. Our 17 month old grandson talks to her in his own language and Tasha totally responds!
Our son moved back home a few months ago bringing his 4 yo male shepherd and the dogs are both excellent with the kids.
Thanks again for all the advice!!

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doggiedad

· #7 · Nov 30, 2008

i agree with Mara and ZeusGSD. keep her leashed and slowly introduce her to the children. keep the leash on her when you're introducing her to children this way you can contriol her. when i got my last puppy i went to the local day and asked if i could bring my puppy over to play with the children. they said ok. it worked out just fine. along with being socalized he learned how to behave around children and that carried over to him meeting adults.

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