Pawing and jumping

[loren Kristunas]

Is it possible that Sage can be misbehaving in order to get praise when she stops misbehaving and behaves correctly? Example, she has a big problem with pawing us when we are sitting on the couch or when the alarm goes off in the morning. She's a fairly tall dog with strong arms, so pawing can really hurt. She also jumps up on us when we come home from work. We have tried ignoring these behaviors, she simply paws harder and harder, climbs into our laps, and won't stop until she is acknowledged. Sometimes she can really hurt us, not aggressive, but too strong. When we are in bed waking up she will paw our faces. I've noticed that she will put a paw up, we ignore her, and then when she puts all feet on the floor we praise her. I would swear she is putting the paw up knowing that when she puts it down we will pay attention to her. Is this possible? And how on earth can we stop these behaviors? When she gets too much to ignore we will look away from her while pointing to the ground and say off, she will get down right away, but then we praise her for getting down and I swear that's what she was after all. A shaker can worked for a while but she is getting used to the sound.

 

[Gempress]

Yes, it is very possible. Sometimes dogs connect the praise with a different action than the one you're trying to teach. Do you praise her the instant she stops pawing? That might be the problem. She is now connecting the praise with the pawing-stopping combination. Try this: when she paws, stop her and make her sit. Wait until she's been sitting quietly for a moment, and THEN praise her for being still. Eventually, she'll sit in front of you instead of pawing you when there's something she wants.

 

[loren Kristunas]

Yes, we praise her as soon as she stops the pawing, I bet they are connected. She's usually already sitting when she paws us(except when she's jumping up). Perhaps I can put her in a sit stay for a minute, or perhaps a down, sounds like the idea is to praise her for obeying a clear command, rather than getting praise or attention for correcting a misbehavior. Thanks.

 

[Manchesters]

Pawing

Yes, we praise her as soon as she stops the pawing, I bet they are connected. She's usually already sitting when she paws us(except when she's jumping up). Perhaps I can put her in a sit stay for a minute, or perhaps a down, sounds like the idea is to praise her for obeying a clear command, rather than getting praise or attention for correcting a misbehavior. Thanks.

When she paws you, simply take the paw and hold it. DO NOT LET GO!!!! Let her squirm, yelp, etc. When you think she has maybe gotten the message, let go of her paw. And DO NOT say a word to her while you are holding the foot. Every time she paws, hold the foot.

Let me know how many times it takes before she stops pawing at you!!!

 

[Zoom]

Jumping up

I've tried the paw holding technique and it will work for a bit, a few hours at the most. And I've been trying to get it to work for over 2 months now and all that's happened is that I'll get pawed harder and then Sawyer will jump back so I can't grab his feet. What I've noticed works well, at least for me, is that when you even think she might be coming to jump at you, just hold your knee up and let her jump into it. Most dogs hate that feeling a lot more than having their paws held. I combined that with holding my hand up in a 'stop' position like traffic cops and he's made the connection that when I hold my hand up, he'd better not jump on me. He's taken to jumping up a few feet in front of me, which I'll allow as long he sits when I say "no jump!" We're still working on not pawing me in the face when I'm laying down.

 

[Manchesters]

Paw Holding

I've tried the paw holding technique and it will work for a bit, a few hours at the most. And I've been trying to get it to work for over 2 months now and all that's happened is that I'll get pawed harder and then Sawyer will jump back so I can't grab his feet. What I've noticed works well, at least for me, is that when you even think she might be coming to jump at you, just hold your knee up and let her jump into it. Most dogs hate that feeling a lot more than having their paws held. I combined that with holding my hand up in a 'stop' position like traffic cops and he's made the connection that when I hold my hand up, he'd better not jump on me. He's taken to jumping up a few feet in front of me, which I'll allow as long he sits when I say "no jump!" We're still working on not pawing me in the face when I'm laying down.

You aren't holding it long enough. I mean hold it until the dog is turning inside out trying to pull it away from you. You could also be really mean, and when she paws you, grab the paw and start cutting the toenails, rofl. That might teach her a lesson!!! Or him?????

 

[Zoom]

You aren't holding it long enough. I mean hold it until the dog is turning inside out trying to pull it away from you. You could also be really mean, and when she paws you, grab the paw and start cutting the toenails, rofl. That might teach her a lesson!!! Or him?????

I hold on until Sawyer has gone through the whining and pulling part and is now desperatly trying to lay down on the floor. I hold on until he is lying flat on his side and he stays there for a few moments before getting up. How much longer am I supposed to hold on? I also make him waltz with me sometimes when he insists on jumping more than once. And I don't want to try cutting nails when he's jerking around because I don't want to quick him and make him even more difficult to trim when I really need to.

 

[loren Kristunas]

I've tried holding Sage's paws, she pulls and squirms and gnaws at my hand(not hard biting, but still, inappropriate), hasn't learned yet. I don't like when she starts twisting at the elbows because of her minor elbow dysplasia. (By the way, I don't know if you remember our previous posts about that, but I backed off on the jogging at your suggestion and she seemed really hyper and restless, she seems to miss it when we don't do it. After talking to the vet we decided to play it safe by keep the jogging to 2 miles on a softer surface, she is raring to go afterwards, runs all over the house, no signs of stiffness after she rests, so the vet thinks she's okay and her tendency to quit things she used to enjoy was boredom, but we will do follow up x-rays and compare them to the first set just to make sure she's not deteriorating. We've been working on keeping the games we play with her diverse and the quitting things and boredom seems less.) Anyway, we tried putting her in a sit stay across the room so we can greet our older golden first, she stayed in the sit but scooted her butt across the floor closer and closer to us, all the time looking like she was trying to fool me into thinking she was obeying me! What has seemed to work a bit is completely ignoring her when we are in bed, wrapping blanket around ourselves to stop her from pawing us, and that has diminished. Ignoring her when we come home is virtually impossible unless we literally hide behind the door, because she rakes her nails down our back. Putting a leash on her to help her stay in a sit has also worked a little but it can get punitive and I hate to have that battle with her as soon as I come home. I think I will try holding the paws again when she jumps up and really hold on this time, and see what happens. Ignoring the pawing and giving her a command like sit, which was suggested earlier, helps when she is just pawing for attention when we are watching TV, so we've been working on that. She is so frantic when we come home she won't listen to commands so we'll try to hold her paws for that. When grabs our hands with her mouth we have been holding her jaw with our thumb on her tongue, which heps a bit.

 

[Manchesters]

No!

I hold on until Sawyer has gone through the whining and pulling part and is now desperatly trying to lay down on the floor. I hold on until he is lying flat on his side and he stays there for a few moments before getting up. How much longer am I supposed to hold on? I also make him waltz with me sometimes when he insists on jumping more than once. And I don't want to try cutting nails when he's jerking around because I don't want to quick him and make him even more difficult to trim when I really need to.

You just make him think you are going to cut them!!!! Good Lord, it would be a blood bath if you actually did cut them while he was gyrating around, rofl.

 

[opokki]

We have tried ignoring these behaviors, she simply paws harder and harder, climbs into our laps, and won't stop until she is acknowledged.

It's normal for behaviors to get worse before they get better. A dog may try harder when a behavior that previously worked is suddenly no longer working....it is after this that the dog usually gives up trying. If the pawing is just too much because she is so strong that you can't allow sufficient time for extinction, I recommend that you still ignore her but use body blocks as well. For example, stand up to prevent her from climbing on your lap and turn away while doing so. You are still not giving her the attention that she is seeking, so remember not to speak to her or even make eye contact while doing body blocks.

My neighbor has a large husky x that always jumps up on me when I enter their home. I have used body blocks (somewhat difficult because he is so big) or when I notice he is about to jump up I take a step or two back and he then misses me. I wait until he has all 4 paws on the floor and then pet him.
Does your dog greet and jump on you right at the door? If so, you can try opening the door but quickly closing it again the second you see him about to jump up, repeat until he is no longer attempting to jump up.

Good luck.

 

[Fran27]

Ignoring never worked here. Neither does holding the paw, Boris will stay standing on his back legs for 10 minutes, we can dance with him and he doesn't care, lol.

 

[Zoom]

You just make him think you are going to cut them!!!! Good Lord, it would be a blood bath if you actually did cut them while he was gyrating around, rofl.

Just so we're on the same page here.

 

[loren Kristunas]

That's like Sage, I've never seen a dog stand on her hind legs like she does, and she's supposed to have dislocating knee caps!