Dog training question

I have an 18 month old chocolate lab. She is a calm dog most of the time, but when someone visits at the house or she sees another person or animal outside she gets excited. I know this is common behavior, but I’d like to stop her from jumping on people as they walk through the door or knock over small children when on walks. She does not bite or bark, just pure excitement to see others. She is in a portable crate in the kitchen during the day when my wife and I are at work. I usually come home first, and as soon as she is let out of the crate, she starts jumping on me. The same thing happens when my wife walks in the door at night, she jumps all over her with excitement. If we get down to her level it seems to help, but small children or people that can’t bend over are a concern.

We are in the process of training her to be part of Animal Assisted Therapy. We will go out into the community to makes visits to nursing homes, hospitals, schools, etc. Her basic obedience is good; we just need to work on the jumping.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

My suggestion is two-fold. First off – although this seems really basic – you’ve got to make jumping onto people result in a bad experience for the dog. A quick knee to the chest, and not a gentle nudge either. Coupled with a clear “No”. The key is to do this everytime. Everytime. I’ll repeat – everytime the dog jumps up. Aside from the correction, do not give her any attention until she’s acting appropriately. If you (and everyone in the family) is consistant with this, the behavior will cease.

How does she do with the “sit” command? You might try working a lot on having her sit on command so that she immediately obeys the command. Then progress to having her sit when you come home. Have her sit while you greet and pet her. The idea is to work up to the point that you can have her sit when company arrives and then they can greet her one at a time.

They also make harnesses that I saw at PetSmart the other day, that basically ties the back legs to the chest. There is enough slack that they can walk with no problem, but it restricts there movement so that the dog can’t jump. I’m sure it works, but have my concerns that the dog would begin to think that all jumping is bad, which I don’t feel is the case.

I personally support the other posters ideas, but felt that I should at least let you know of something else that is out there if you choose to do so.

I know it stinks , and its hard to do , but try ignoring her completely when you or anyone in your family come home. Do that till she settles , then reward. Be consistant.

When the dog jumps you can try grabbing the front paws and putting pressure on them. Keep squeezing until the front paws are back on the ground and let go. I was told to do this and it has worked pretty well.

i agree with deerdragger on this one, my brother has a lab pup that likes to jump on people, i’ve roled this dog over with a knee (no the dog does not get hurt) and she no longer jumps on me when i stop over (you can see she wants to but knows the results)

I would knee her when she jumps, but some people are uncomfortable doing that.

I would also try putting her on the lease (I use a choke chain) immediately when you get home. Any time she jumps give an immediate correction. Keep her on the lead until the rest of the family gets home and issue immediate correction when she jumps.

She will start to understand what you want, and when she does not jump, she gets taken off lead. She jumps, immediatly back on lead.

The main thing to remember with dogs is immediate and CONSISTENT correction. Your wife/kids/friends/mailman should do the same thing, evertime they see her until she gets it, which should not be long.

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I know it stinks , and its hard to do , but try ignoring her completely when you or anyone in your family come home. Do that till she settles , then reward. Be consistant.

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I heard that too. Leave the dog in the kennel for about ten minutes. Apparently then the dog thinks you didn’t get home and open the kennel just for them.

I bought those electronic training collars for my shepherd pups and they’re great! I’ve found them to be even more effective than a choke-collar and you can correct behaviour even if they’re not on a lead. My pups are about 6 months old now and have done quite well with training. I highly recommend the electronic collars…

When you get home keep her in the crate until she settles down and don’t make it a big production when she is let out. It’s tough because they are so darn cute but it will pay off in the end.