We have a 4 1/2 month old yellow lab puppy who won't stop jumping up on us when he gets excited. For instance, he is so excited when he comes out of his crate in the morning that he will jump up 3 or 4 times to say hello. This worries us because our vet expects him to be around 90-100 pounds at full grown. My husband & I are expecting our first child & figure we need to get this under control before he gets any bigger. He's constantly all over other people that come over...we just can't seem to teach him that we can come to him instead of him jumping all over us. Will he get over this stage as he gets older? He jumps up when we're sitting on the couch & has started to "talk back" if we tell him to get off. His latest obsession is to bark continuously when he wants attention or is bored (we've been told this is somewhat normal with lab pups), but it absolutely drives us crazy. We try to ignore the barking, no eye contact or anything, but he won't stop until we get so mad that we have to give him a time out. We have tried to teach him the "off" command, giving him a little push and telling him what a good boy he is once he's back on the floor. Is there anything else anyone can recommend? We have thought about dropping a little treat each time he gets off, but we don't want him to think it's acceptable to jump up because he knows he'll eventually get something rewarding out of it. Any help would be really appreciated, thanks!
Teaching puppy to stay "off"
- Thread starter Baileybear
- Start date
well there are a few things you can do. You mentioned pushing him off, which is a big uh-oh because that is attention and like you said, he wants attention. When he does this you should A) completely ignore him B) turn your back to him or C) if he knows the sit command have him do that. Since he is a puppy I'm just gonna assume he is not reliable with the sit command but if he is VERY good with it just tell me and I'll explain it that way.
A) he comes out and jumps on you. You should just stand there, don't talk touch or look at the dog. Eventually he will get off of you. When he does, you should immediately get down on your knees (very important you are on your knees so he won't try to jump when you pull out the treat) and give him a treat saying how good he is (make sure you already had the treat in your hand behind your back so you are ready to give it to him as soon as he gets off, but do not show it to him until he gets off). You will have to do this every time and everyone in the house must participate. At this point do not use the off command, just wait until he has "all four on the floor" then kneel down, treat, and praise. Don't shake him off or anything just wait. Be stone faced and look away from him until he stops jumping. If you are about to kneel to praise and he jumps immediately stand back up and look away. Eventually he will learn in order to get your attention he needs to stop jumping up. When he stops jumping altogether or will only jump once before he figures out he should stop you can start using the "off" command. When you see he is about to stop jumping on you say "off" then praise when his feet touch the ground. Do not repeat the command over and over if he does not get off just wait until he does and then praise, you need only say the command once.
B) this is basically the same as the other method except when he jumps you turn away from him so he sees your back, and when he gets off you turn around with a big happy face and kneel down and give him a treat and praise him. This method does not always work though. If your dog will run around your body to be in front of you, so you keep having to turn and he keeps running around, this will turn into a game so you should use the first method. Eventually with this method you will have to stop turning, that is why you must use the command. When you get to the point that he stops jumping as soon as you turn around you can introduce the "off" command. Say "off" then turn around. He will stop jumping so you can then turn and praise. Do this a lot for a couple of days. Then say the command but do not turn. he should still stop. If he does not you should go back to turning after you give the command.
These will take a lot of patience on your part, especially the first method. You can not under any circumstances talk to, yell at, push away or look at the dog until he stops jumping!
This command can either be used just for not jumping on people or it can be used, as it was for my dog, to mean get all your paws on the floor. So when he was on furniture you can get him off that too. Only do one at a time though, for now stick to people, later, if you want, you can use it on furniture, but that is for a different thread
. Good Luck, and Hope I helped!
A) he comes out and jumps on you. You should just stand there, don't talk touch or look at the dog. Eventually he will get off of you. When he does, you should immediately get down on your knees (very important you are on your knees so he won't try to jump when you pull out the treat) and give him a treat saying how good he is (make sure you already had the treat in your hand behind your back so you are ready to give it to him as soon as he gets off, but do not show it to him until he gets off). You will have to do this every time and everyone in the house must participate. At this point do not use the off command, just wait until he has "all four on the floor" then kneel down, treat, and praise. Don't shake him off or anything just wait. Be stone faced and look away from him until he stops jumping. If you are about to kneel to praise and he jumps immediately stand back up and look away. Eventually he will learn in order to get your attention he needs to stop jumping up. When he stops jumping altogether or will only jump once before he figures out he should stop you can start using the "off" command. When you see he is about to stop jumping on you say "off" then praise when his feet touch the ground. Do not repeat the command over and over if he does not get off just wait until he does and then praise, you need only say the command once.
B) this is basically the same as the other method except when he jumps you turn away from him so he sees your back, and when he gets off you turn around with a big happy face and kneel down and give him a treat and praise him. This method does not always work though. If your dog will run around your body to be in front of you, so you keep having to turn and he keeps running around, this will turn into a game so you should use the first method. Eventually with this method you will have to stop turning, that is why you must use the command. When you get to the point that he stops jumping as soon as you turn around you can introduce the "off" command. Say "off" then turn around. He will stop jumping so you can then turn and praise. Do this a lot for a couple of days. Then say the command but do not turn. he should still stop. If he does not you should go back to turning after you give the command.
These will take a lot of patience on your part, especially the first method. You can not under any circumstances talk to, yell at, push away or look at the dog until he stops jumping!
This command can either be used just for not jumping on people or it can be used, as it was for my dog, to mean get all your paws on the floor. So when he was on furniture you can get him off that too. Only do one at a time though, for now stick to people, later, if you want, you can use it on furniture, but that is for a different thread
. Good Luck, and Hope I helped!Thank you for the advice! We will start with this, and I have a feeling it will work because he just loves attention and will be beside himself if he doesn't get it. He's definitely a lab, that's for sure! I'm curious to know what your advice is to keeping him off the couch, also. As it is right now we can't even sit down without him jumping up to see what's going on. We hate to put him in his crate just to be able to relax, but sometimes that's what it comes to. So we'll try the "four on the floor" method & see what happens, thanks!
Sure! well first off, always have a pocket full of treats! If you ever see him jumping off the couch say "off" and then give him the treat.
Do you want him off the couch all the time or is he allowed on but only when you tell him it's ok or he can go on whenever as long as he gets off when you tell him?
If you only want him on when you say it's ok then he will also need to be taught the "up" command, you can also teach it if you want him on whenever as long as he gets off when you tell him to. This game can be very fun. When he is on the couch entice him off with a treat saying"off" when he starts to jump and then giving the treat when he is on the ground. then entice him back up saying "up" when he goes to jump back on, then give the treat when he gets there. Do this back and forth (don't go to fast or you'll risk confusing him).
You'll also want some sessions of just the "off" command and just the "up" command. Place him on the couch and entice him off using the treat and saying "off" when he starts to jump. Then give the treat when he gets on the ground. Do this over and over, don't give praise while he is on the couch, only once he jumps down. As soon as you think he is ready stop enticing him with the treat, hold it behind your back and give the command. If he does not get down start backing up and see if that makes him jump off, then give the treat when he does. if he does not jump down use the treat with commands a few more times then try again.
For "up" sessions it is the same thing except you entice him up.
You said he has a crate, that's perfect! if you can, put the crate in the same room as the furniture he likes to jump on or you are currently using for the training session. Make sure it is wide open. This is most important if he is never allowed on the furniture. This will require you to always watch him and make sure he never has the chance to jump on the couch without being caught right away. The best time to stop him is when he is about to jump, not after he's done it. So if you see him eying the couch or crouching to jump interrupt him, clap your hands, say his name or wave a treat in front of him, anything that will make him stop. Once he stops going to jump give him a treat. Then carrying, or somehow lead him to his crate and get him inside it saying a command like "kennel up" "go to bed" "crate" or whatever you want to say that means go into your crate. Once he is in give him another treat. Do this every single time he is about to jump on the furniture.
If he does get on the furniture and you did not stop him in time, you must entice him off giving the "off" command as he jumps down and then praise him. Once again lead him to his crate and give him the treat and praise. he must learn that the furniture is an inappropriate place to sleep and the crate is much better, he even gets food when he goes in there instead of the couch!
If I were you I'd work on the "off" training more than the "up" training, that is because he is probably more happy to get on than he is to jump off so that will take more work.
Something very important I forgot to mention in my last post is to praise him whenever he is doing the right thing without being told. most people forget how important that is. They walk in the front door and there dog comes over and does not jump on them! They kind of ignore this. What you should do if you open his crate door and he does not jump is praise him with treats, this is what you wanted after all! Some with not going on the couch. if you see him laying in his crate without being asked he should still get a treat for going there instead of the couch! If you need more info or clarification I'll be more than happy to help!
Do you want him off the couch all the time or is he allowed on but only when you tell him it's ok or he can go on whenever as long as he gets off when you tell him?
If you only want him on when you say it's ok then he will also need to be taught the "up" command, you can also teach it if you want him on whenever as long as he gets off when you tell him to. This game can be very fun. When he is on the couch entice him off with a treat saying"off" when he starts to jump and then giving the treat when he is on the ground. then entice him back up saying "up" when he goes to jump back on, then give the treat when he gets there. Do this back and forth (don't go to fast or you'll risk confusing him).
You'll also want some sessions of just the "off" command and just the "up" command. Place him on the couch and entice him off using the treat and saying "off" when he starts to jump. Then give the treat when he gets on the ground. Do this over and over, don't give praise while he is on the couch, only once he jumps down. As soon as you think he is ready stop enticing him with the treat, hold it behind your back and give the command. If he does not get down start backing up and see if that makes him jump off, then give the treat when he does. if he does not jump down use the treat with commands a few more times then try again.
For "up" sessions it is the same thing except you entice him up.
You said he has a crate, that's perfect! if you can, put the crate in the same room as the furniture he likes to jump on or you are currently using for the training session. Make sure it is wide open. This is most important if he is never allowed on the furniture. This will require you to always watch him and make sure he never has the chance to jump on the couch without being caught right away. The best time to stop him is when he is about to jump, not after he's done it. So if you see him eying the couch or crouching to jump interrupt him, clap your hands, say his name or wave a treat in front of him, anything that will make him stop. Once he stops going to jump give him a treat. Then carrying, or somehow lead him to his crate and get him inside it saying a command like "kennel up" "go to bed" "crate" or whatever you want to say that means go into your crate. Once he is in give him another treat. Do this every single time he is about to jump on the furniture.
If he does get on the furniture and you did not stop him in time, you must entice him off giving the "off" command as he jumps down and then praise him. Once again lead him to his crate and give him the treat and praise. he must learn that the furniture is an inappropriate place to sleep and the crate is much better, he even gets food when he goes in there instead of the couch!
If I were you I'd work on the "off" training more than the "up" training, that is because he is probably more happy to get on than he is to jump off so that will take more work.
Something very important I forgot to mention in my last post is to praise him whenever he is doing the right thing without being told. most people forget how important that is. They walk in the front door and there dog comes over and does not jump on them! They kind of ignore this. What you should do if you open his crate door and he does not jump is praise him with treats, this is what you wanted after all! Some with not going on the couch. if you see him laying in his crate without being asked he should still get a treat for going there instead of the couch! If you need more info or clarification I'll be more than happy to help!