This is fixable but it will take some time and mostly consistency.
First, let me explain to you something that humans tend to get wrong when we train dogs. We tend to label the behavior we DON’T want. Rover doesn’t have a good recall. He is running away from us. Regardless, what do most owners do? They call “Rover, come!”
Rover learns “come” means run away from my human.
“Off” suffers this fate even worse than “come.” Dog jumps on human. Human says “off.” Dog leans “off”’ means jump on human.
Make sense?
First, we train the recall behavior (running to us) then we label it. When the dog is running toward us, we happily shout “yes, Rover! come!”
We should be training “off” the same.
Couple issues. If you’re using “Down” for lie down and “off,” (quite a few owners do without realizing it) you’re confusing the dog. Pick new cues (commands for one or preferably both.
If you’re using “off” (or whatever cue) but you’ve accidentally trained it to mean jump up on me, you need a new word. “Floor” works well enough. Pick whatever you’d like. Heck, “raspberries” works. It’s a cue, that’s all.
Ok, now we have a young dog that has no clear idea what you want.
You probably don’t really know exactly what you want to train either. (I’ve had this conversation with many pet owners and they’re always surprised when I point it out to them).
You need to train four paws on the floor.
That means ( this works best with a clicker, but you don’t need to use one), every time your dog is standing, relaxed doing nothing four paws on the floor, you mark that “yes!” And reward it with a tiny high value food. Normally, we’d also have the option to reward with play, but we really want to keep those 4 paws flat on the floor. Lots of loving petting (as well as the treat) is good.
You need to do this throughout the day and evening. I carry around string cheese in my pockets so I’m always prepared.
Pretty soon, you pup will realize, my person likes it when I just stand here. I get attention, rewards and petting. I don’t need to jump into their faces.
It’s easy to overlook a dog that’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing. You and other family members need to make a point to notice her.
Once you’re sure she’s getting it, then, you can swap out your “yes!” For your new cue (command) “floor!”
When you see her just standing there, you happily announce “Floor!” And give her her treat and petting.
This is how she learns what you want.
Don’t try this while you’re sitting in your recliner for quite a while. She’s doing that for attention. If she jumps on you on the recliner, put your hands up, stand up and turn your back. Jumping up gets her zero attention. Don’t yell. Don’t push off. Whatever you do, don’t use your new cue until you’re positive she has it down cold (a couple months most likely).
Entinguishing bad habits always takes longer than training new habits. Here, we’re doing both, getting rid of jumping up and training an opposing behavior (she can’t jump up if she’s four feet on the floor). We do the two simultaneously, but we have to allow time to extinguish the bad habit. Please keep in mind that punishment (even if they seem bothersome more than severe) causes stress that interferes with learning and our whole point is train the new behavior.
Stick with this and once you have this new cue/skill trained, this will be a dog you can call off of a kitchen or bathroom counter from across the room, redirect from chasing a squirrel up a tree, or even putting a paw on a little dog or child (because it’s FOUR paws on the floor).
It's one of the most useful skills I train my dogs. The first thing I train my new dogs is their new name (takes about 3 hours). Then we start on recall for a couple days. Then I train Off. That’s how important I think this cue is.
(I typed this on my phone while I was texting back & forth with my vet. If anything isn’t clear, just drop me a PM)
. This has significantly helped the jumped and biting in our house.
