Category: Puppy Stuff, Common Problems ¤
  Author: Melinda Johnson ¤
   Title: Teaching a Pup Not to Jump on Company ¤

Shirley (is that your name?  you didn't sign your post.) writes:
>Can someone tell me how to train my 6 month old puppy to greet newcomers
>quietly...not jumping all over them?

Here are some ways to stop a dog from jumping on people (from a breeder of
Wheaten Terriers, what would you expect? <G>)

Practice at Home:
1.)  Human comes home.
2.)  Dog jumps up to greet.
3.)  Human crosses arms across chest, stares at the ceiling, turns their
back on the dog, ignores dog completely, gives no acknowledgement of any
kind, says nothing.
4.)  Dog gets confused, gets off human.
5.)  Human clicks and treats the second dog's paws hit the floor.
or
5.)  Human waits for dog to sit, clicks the instant the dog's
       rump hits the floor, and treats.

The jumping behavior is extinguished because it is not reinforced in any
way, and is followed by positive reinforcement for 'all four feet on the
ground' or 'sit'.  An exhuberant puppy will often jump back up as soon as
you reward the desired behavior.  In this case repeat steps 3.) and 4.), or
steps 3.) and 5.) as often as needed.  I preefer to geet a sit, but if you
are taking your dog into conformation competition, you may prefer the stand.

What you will see here is an "extinction burst".  That means that before
your puppy gets better, he will get worse.  He probably has a history of
getting attention (reward) for jumping on folks.  When the reward is
withdrawn, at first, he will try harder to get the reward.  He may paw you
from behind, but just be patient and wait him out.  Afteer he tries harder
to get the reward for awhile, he will give up.

Add Visitors:
After your dog is sitting or standing automatically at the approach of all
family members, ask a friend to come over and help with your training.  Try
it with different friends.  Explain to them that you're trying to train
your dog not to jump on folks, and they should be happy to cooperate.  They
may even want to trade favors if their dog jumps on people too.  Be sure to
tell everyone that's coming over, beecause if even one person comes over
and rewards your dog for jumping up on them, they will be putting the
behavior on a VSR (variable schedule of reward), which will strengthen the
behavior.

A Session for Stopping Jumping on Walks:
Request the cooperation of several friends for a specific training session.
This is an Ian Dunbar trick, but we'll add the clicker.  Have several
friends walk clockwise around a large building or city block.  You and your
puppy walk counter-clockwise.  As each friend approaches, you'll have a
fresh opportunity to train, using the steps outlined above.  Remember, even
though you are on the other end of the leash, you must do absolutely
nothing.  No commands, no jerking, no yelling (that's the hard part).  The
approaching friend is actually doing the part of removing the positive
stimulus (attention) for jumping.  Your job will be to c/t the desired
behavior.  After you've circled the building 3 times, have your friends do
the clicking and treating.  This should cement the desired behavior into
your puppy's brain.  You will find that when your pup thinks she thought of
this by himself, the behavior will be much more permanent.

Teach a Sit:
Another way to approach this is to get your puppy's "Sit" behavior very
firmly on cue and to give the cue, "Sit" whenever the dog is likely to jump
up.

Baby Gate Practice:
You can put up a baby gate in a doorway in your home.  Put the dog on one
side of the baby gate, while you stand on the other side.  Approach the
gate.  Dog jumps up on gate.  Back away from gate.  Dog gets off of gate (4
on the floor) and you c/t.  When the dog remains calmly off the gate at
your approach, you can enter the room and c/t, love him up, etc.

Adding a Cue:
When the behavior of four-on-the-floor is firmly learned, you can add the
cue, "Off".  OFF can mean off the furniture, off the people, off the baby
gate.  It's a very useful cue!

One Word of Warning:
Be careful that what you are teaching is, "Sit when human approaches", and
not, "Jump on human and then sit".  If you relize that you've taught the
latter, put the jumping up on a cue, such as, "Paws up", then don't give
the cue.

Remember to jackpot all 'breakthroughs'.

Warmly,

Melinda Johnson