Puppy jumping is a very common concern for new puppy owners. It can be cute at first, but less adorable when they’re covering you with mud or knocking over children or elderly relatives. Plus, of course, they will only be small for a few months and jumping up can be quite a big problem when your pup is bigger. If you’re looking for help with your adult dogs jumping up, have a read of our post here.
Why do puppies jump?
So firstly let’s look at why puppies jump. It’s a very normal, natural behaviour for young dogs and one way in which they explore the world around them. Jumping in itself is not a problem and something you may want to train with your pup once they are older, as part of agility work or other sports. Confident puppies will naturally investigate different objects by pawing, stepping and jumping on them. Your pup might jump up on you to get your attention and engage in play. They might be looking to get closer to you, seeking reassurance if they’re unsure about something. Puppies will often jump up on people in general to gather more information about them through their sense of smell.
Whilst puppy jumping is a very normal, natural behaviour, there may be several reasons why we want to discourage it in certain contexts. Most importantly, your puppy can injure themselves through excessive jumping as they’re growth plates aren’t yet closed. Puppies don’t have as much muscle to support their bones so can do themselves long term damage by jumping.
Preventing puppy jumping
Management is going to form a big part of your plan to prevent your puppy from jumping. Management refers to the tools and techniques we can use to prevent the jumping happening in the first place. Prevention is always better than a cure! Think about the specific situations in which your puppy is most likely to jump up and how you can prepare management in advance. This might include the following:
- Having your puppy in a crate, X-pen or behind a baby gate when visitors come to the door. This prevents your puppy not only from jumping up at the visitor, but also from bolting out the door.
- Keeping your puppy on a lead whilst on walks until they have a reliable recall. This helps you to prevent them jumping up on strangers.
- Bringing a treat pouch with you on your walks and wearing one around the house. You can then scatter a handful of treats on the ground for your puppy to sniff out. This distracts them from jumping and helps promote calm.
What to do
To teach your puppy not to jump, we need to teach them what you want them to do instead. Often, we think we should ask our puppies to ‘sit’ in situations where they might be tempted to jump. However, this can make puppies who are worried about the situation feel even more vulnerable. It’s absolutely fine to let your puppy stay standing. The whole time they have all four paws on the ground, you can mark and reward them. You can throw treats on the floor in the opposite direction of the person or object they are tempted to jump up on. This sniffing out of food helps to promote calm and adds distance between them and the temptation.
Ideally, you want to combine management and training to teach your puppy to not jump up. So if you want your puppy to learn not to jump up on strangers in the street, you should have them on lead and do a scatter feed away from the stranger. Remember, jumping is such a natural behaviour for puppies. It will take a long time for them to learn to approach people without jumping up. It’s your job to set them up for success.
What not to do about puppy jumping
Unfortunately, there is still some old fashioned and very out-dated advice out there about dealing with puppy jumping. Many of those tips use punishment, which is often ineffective and can severely damage the relationship you have with your puppy. So here’s what you don’t need to do:
- You don’t need to shout at your puppy and tell them off for jumping up.
- Don’t bother turning around if your puppy jumps up at you. It’s unlikely to change the behaviour in the long term. It can actually exacerbate the problem if your puppy has already learned that jumping up gets you or others to interact with them.
- Don’t knee your puppy in the chest – just cruel and unnecessary.
What next?
- Looking for more help with your reactive dog? Contact us to arrange in person or online training.
- Read more blog posts here.
- Perfect Recall: Teaching your dog to come back when called every time. Our guide is free to download when you join our email list- sign up here.