Jumping For Joy
For dogs that jump-up to greet owners and visitors at home or strangers in the street, a variety of dog training texts recommend the owner shout at the dog, squirt him in the face with water or lemon juice, swat him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper, yank on the dog's leash and/or halter, hang the dog by his choke-collar, squeeze the dog's front paws, tread on his hind paws, knee him in the chest, or flip him over backwards. Surely this is all pretty crazy for a dog that's only trying to say hello. Confucius once said, "No need to use an axe to remove a fly from the forehead of a friend." Indeed, why not just train the dog to sit, or lie down, when greeting people?
Reasons Why
Dogs jump-up for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, most dogs have been unintentionally trained to jump-up ever since puppyhood. When the young pup licked and pawed, and jumped up to say hello, many people reinforced the puppy's behavior by patting the pup on the head or scratching him behind the ear, because they were too lazy to bend down to puppy level and greet the pup with four paws on the floor. All goes well until one day the dog jumps-up to say hello and out of the blue, the owner punishes the dog. And the dog's only crime? He grew!
Some dogs are intentionally trained to jump on people. The classic family scenario comprises one family member, who along with the kids takes the puppy to training school to learn some manners and another family member, who “loves a big dog to jump-up and say hello” and so does everything possible to encourage the dog to jump-up.
Pawing, licking and jumping-up are all friendly appeasement gestures — the dog's way of saying "Welcome home. Pleased to see you. Please don't beat me, I'm a lowly worm compared with you most honored human!" And so what does the person do? — Punish the dog for jumping up. Now of course, the dog has two reasons to show deference — the initial reason and the fact that he now has to appease the angry owner. And how does he try to appease the owner? By pawing, licking and jumping-up! This is one of the many paradoxes in training — the more one punishes the dog, the more the behaviors increase in frequency.
Counterconditioning
Rather than trying to extinguish normal, natural and necessary social behaviors with punishment, it is much easier to teach your dog to perform an alternative and acceptable greeting behavior — one that is mutually exclusive to the problem behavior. A simple solution would be to teach the dog to sit-stay when greeting people. The dog cannot sit and jump-up at the same time. If the dog sits and stays, the owner may praise the dog for not jumping-up. If the dog jumps-up however, the owner has yet to train the dog to sit-stay properly and so ... back to the drawing board!
Counterconditioning measures sound like the symphony of simplicity. And they are — in theory. However, it can be a little more challenging to put theory to practice. For many dogs, the word "uncontrollable" is a kindly euthemism for their behavior when greeting people. Many dogs are so excited and distracted, that they fail to acknowledge the owner's very existence, let alone respond obediently to a request to "sit".
Troubleshooting
Initially, it can be extremely difficult to train a dog during the course of everyday living, for example when returning home from a heavy and harried day at work. At such times, the owner is hurried and can pay only marginal attention to the dog, which in turn pays less than marginal attention to the owner. The solution is to troubleshoot the problem; to set aside a specific time to teach the dog how he is expected to act when greeting people.
First teach your dog to sit-on-cue using a lure-reward training method and then proof the command, especially in the front hallway and on-leash outdoors, i.e., in places where the dog normally greets people. Indoors, the dog may be additionally trained to sit in a specific place, e.g., on a mat in the front hall. As you watch and praise your dog as he sits on his mat (and on-leash for safety), have a friend periodically open and close the front door and repeatedly ring the doorbell. If we are going to expect the dog to sit when greeting people, we must make sure that the dog at least knows how to sit-stay in similar but less distracting circumstances.
Owner's Return
On returning home, instruct your dog to sit (or lie down) on his mat and delay greeting the dog until he does so. If he sits, praise him to excess. If he does not sit, keep trying and do whatever it takes — but do not give up until the dog complies. This is no more difficult than dealing with the dog in everyday situations, only this time, you will persevere and eventually, the dog will sit and be suitably praised for his trouble. Whatever you do, do not give up. Do not greet your dog until he sits. Don’t worry this is the hardest bit — the first time is always the hardest. From here on out it gets easier with each repetition.
Reprimands and punishments are neither necessary nor advisable. Your dog will soon learn that he has to sit before you will deign to say hello. Indeed, as soon as the dog sits, immediately greet him with gentle pets, pats, profuse praise and a couple of food treats.
Now comes the easy part. Once the dog's exuberance has waned following the customary exultation of sniffs, licks and wags, slip out of the house by the back door and then return home once more through the front door, and ask your dog to sit on his mat. This time, however, you will find that it is much (MUCH) easier to get your dog to sit. The dog is not nearly as excited by your return because you had only just left. After greeting your dog the second time, leave and repeat the procedure for a third time, and then once more and so on. Your dog’s performance will improve considerably with each repetition.
With repeated exposures to the same stimulus (you), the dog becomes less and less excited and therefore becomes progressively easier to control with each repetition. Moreover, the initial improvement is quite dramatic. Once your dog’s performance is impeccable, repeat the departure/arrival sequence another half a dozen or so times in order to leave an utterly indelible impression on your dog's brain, — that you are so thoroughly overjoyed with your dog's newly learned (newly taught) social etiquette and mannerly greetings.
Visitors in the Home
Invite a number of friends over for a Sunday dog training party. When the first guest, let’s say Patrick, arrives, you may direct your total attention towards your dog because there is no hurry to open the door. It's a set-up and anyway, it's only Patrick! It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get your dog to sit, or lie-down, take encouragement that the first time will be the hardest and from then on, it will be as easy as teaching a Greyhound to lie on a couch. Once your dog is sitting (or lying) on his mat, instruct Patrick to enter. The door is closed but unlocked and so you do not have to divert your attention from the dog. Continually praise the dog all the time that he remains sitting on the mat. Pat may offer his hand for the dog to sniff and a food reward before sitting down in the living room. Then instruct your dog to say hello. After sitting to greet Pat, your dog may then perform the customary nose-scan of all the olfactory goodies that normally reside on visitors' clothing and on the under-soles of their shoes.
Once the dog has settled down and got used to Pat's presence, Pat should make a surreptitious exit through the back door exit and then ring the front doorbell again. Characteristically, the dog will make a wild and woolly rush to the door with all the uncontrolled exuberance of before, only to calm down a mite after realizing that it's only Pat again. Since the dog is calmer, he is more easily and quickly controlled. Pat enters, gives Rover a treat and then sits down to allow the dog a cursory olfactory investigation. This time your dog will not be quite as intent on nose-vacuuming Pat's pants and soles, anymore than we would reread an old newspaper. Instead, the dog will settle down much more quickly than on the previous greeting. Now, exit Pat stage right, only to ring the doorbell once more. A rapid rush by Rover, but then... those familiar footsteps, the rhythm of the ring, a quick sniff at the bottom of the door and the sober realization — "It’s Pat again!"
Now Pat's presence is no more distracting than shed shepherd hair. Consequently, it is easy to control your dog and to get him to sit-stay on the mat. Your dog gets it right and so, your dog gets rewarded and therefore, will be more likely to get it right in the future. Pat should leave and return a few more times for good luck and then settle down to warm up the TV. Now it's time for the owner to call Susan. The entire multiple-entry program should be repeated with Susan, and then Tammie, and then Stacie, et alia, until the whole crew is assembled. Within just a single session of concentrated training, your dog learns how to greet visitors at the front door and you learn, how to control your dog, such that things will be much easier on Monday morning with bona fide visitors.
If your dog's behavior starts to slide and he fails to greet visitors in the appropriate manner, politely ask the visitors to leave and ring the doorbell again. Just give them a friendly shove and close the front door. You may have some temporarily bemused guests but they always come back. And your dog’s improved behavior will be self-explanatory.
Strangers on the Street
It is difficult to train a dog effectively when rushing to post a letter and so, you need to troubleshoot the problem and teach your dog how to appropriately greet strangers on the street. Supply all your visitors with a bag of food rewards (for your dog) and have the people set off at intervals walking clockwise around the block while you and the dog walk counterclockwise. When meeting each person, request your dog to sit and praise him when he does so. The ersatz strangers have been instructed to gently praise the dog and give him a food reward if he sits. If the dog jumps up, simply re-instruct him to sit but don’t give him a food reward.
The first lap around the block can be pretty wild, with the dog trying to high-five (or high-four) each person he encounters. However, by only the third or fourth lap, the dog begins to get the idea of how to greet people and by the fifth or sixth lap, the dog is now picture-perfect. Try this exercise with a couple of groups of people. In this fashion it is possible to practice a hundred or so street encounters within the hour. The dog has been given the opportunity to master the required domestic social graces when meeting strangers, such that when on the way to post a letter, you will have better control when meeting a bona fide stranger.
Give Us A Hug!
Now, I am one of those people who thoroughly enjoy a big dog (or a little dog, or even a medium-sized dog for that matter) to jump up for a hug — that is... when, and if, the time and situation are right. Most dogs enjoy greeting people in this fashion. However, it would be quite unfair to reinforce a behavior at one time only to punish the dog for the same behavior at other times. We must be consistent or the dog will be punished for jumping on the wrong people, or for jumping on the right people at the wrong times. The solution is really quite simple. Teach your dog that “sitting” is the default setting for greeting people. Then teach your dog that it is acceptable and desirable to jump-up when requested to "Give us a Hug!"
This article is based on Dr. Dunbar's Behavior column in the December 1989 issue of the American Kennel Gazette. Reprinted with the permission of the author and the American Kennel Club.
