| Questioner: | Shirley |
| Category: | Dog Training |
| Private: | No |
| Subject: | Jumping |
| Question: | I have a female, 8 month old yellow lab. She is still jumping on people. A squirt bottle, knee and snaping on the leash will not work. Any ideas? thanks, Shirley |
| Answer: | Hi Shirley, All the things you've mentioned will work. My favorite is to first teach the dog the universal command for undesirable behavior, which is simply "NO". Once she understands the command, I would accompany the command with a firm touch to her neck (firm enough to stop her in mid-jump). The big picture and the real source of your frustration is that you are essentially dealing with a puppy at 8 months old. Your puppy is excitable and showing a common puppy behavior. The "secret" to professional dog training is infinite patience. Whether you use a squirt bottle, knee, touch to the neck, or any of the various ways to show your displeasure with her jumping, it will stop in time. In addition to patience, you must also show consistency in that her jumping must always be met with the same reprimand each and every time. Dogs will not engage in unrewarding behavior. If her every jump becomes associated with you making it unpleasant, then she will associate jumping with unpleasantness and stop. In some dogs this will take a day. In other dogs it will take months. But it will work if you are patient and consistent. Good Luck Sandy Finley |
