# Jumping Bentley! Need to stop!



## BentleysMom (Dec 14, 2014)

Bentley is a big boy and keeps jumping on me! I have to tighten up my tummy muscles prior to letting him out of his kennel or he would knock the breath out of me! How do I get him to stop this behavior when he's so excited to see me? He calms down after awhile and stops on his own and I tried ignoring the behavior and that didn't work either... The bigger this boy gets the harder it'll be for me to stay on my feet!


----------



## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

when you open the kennel door, are you moving aside with the door so as to cut down his opportunity to get at you immediately? then the next question is, how are you ignoring him?


----------



## BentleysMom (Dec 14, 2014)

I definitely get out of the way, but on the way from the bedroom to the backdoor he's jumping up the entire way and outside. I tried not reacting (ignoring) to the jumping as some folks suggested on other sites online but he will jump up regardless. It's crazy!


----------



## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i hate to say this, but a couple of people here have had to simply wait out the jumping, mouthing and biting part of puppyhood. there are suggestions people can make, but they don't always work. much depends on the dog himself. i asked how you ignore bentley, because the real basis of "ignore" by turning your back appears to be to send a calming signal to the dog. (see turid rugaas on dog body language.) so how you do that may make a difference. if turning your back at the first attempt to jump and continuing to ignore his antics doesn't work, try folding your arms and turning your head to the side with your nose in the air. stay still. don't look at your dog at all. do this consistently. don't expect it to work at once. when he calms down, praise him.

and that's another side of the issue - when he is calm, sitting or lying down, praise him - especially if it is not preceded by your having to ask him to be calm. if he's into treats, that's the time to give tiny tidbits, so he learns that the best things come when he is calm.

of course your dog seems to be high energy, too, and it sounds as though he just wants to go go go. he may need a lot more exercise to burn off some of that energy.

hopefully others will chime in with suggestions that have worked for them.


----------



## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

So what happens when you let him out? Do you ignore him for a bit, he keeps jumping, and then eventually you react? If you are doing something like that, he may be learning that if he's persistent enough he will eventually get a reaction. Hans was really, really bad about jumping on people at first (especially if we had something he wanted, like a dummy), so here is what we did. 

We instituted a policy of "4 on the floor." He only gets attention if his feet are on the ground. Also, when you ignore the jumping, you have to really, really ignore. No eye contact, no talking, not movement. Until he gives up. 

I'll use an example of the retrieving dummy since that's the easiest to explain. So if we were out in the field with the dummy, Hans would start jumping, nipping, trying to grab the dummy, etc. We just committed to outlasting him, no matter how obnoxious he was. Stood perfectly still with a secure grip on the dummy and ignored him, no matter how long it took (long pants and long sleeve shirt help, too). If we stood there for 15 or 20 minutes with him acting like some sort of demented kangaroo - Tasmanian devil hybrid then that was how it was. The instant he stopped, we threw the dummy (his reward). It didn't take him long to figure out that the only way to get what he wanted was to behave appropriately.

So in your case, what I would do is open the crate, and if he starts jumping, be a statue. He's bound to stop eventually, and you can reward him the instant he does. If he starts jumping again, go back to statue. It might help to practice a few times when you haven't actually been gone a long time so he gets the idea when he isn't excited or really needing to go outside. 

I also think he might benefit from practicing self control in some other settings. I'll try to write up some of the exercises we did with Hans later...I need to do it for another thread anyway. Most of them are from the book "Train Your Dog Like a Pro" which I really like. I just want to make sure I explain them right.


----------



## BentleysMom (Dec 14, 2014)

I would appreciate that training info VERY much! Thanks! I did try the turn my back, crossed my arms and stood very still, he stopped and looked confused and I praised him for sitting still lol, then we did it two or three more times, then he was done! Yahoo for one moment! Progress!!


----------



## Axeldog (Aug 29, 2014)

Bentleys Mom, thanks for posting this question. 

Axel has just recently started this obnoxious behavior of jumping on us when we come home. So, I am reading the replies and helpful suggestions with great interest.


----------



## Charlygrl2 (Mar 30, 2014)

My boy Trick was a jumper from the first time I saw him, ran right at the front of me when I picked him up as a puppy, I thought it was cute at that time it is what made me pick him to start with however once it became a big dog it's not so cute.
I have tried a couple different techniques to get him to stop the one that works for me is a to keep turning my back to him, do not say a word or knowledge him in anyway until he sits, once he sets quickly praise him and tell him he's a good boy. If he starts to jump again turn your back on him again until he sits then quickly give him I loving and praising again. The first few days you may spend five minutes turning around in circles, praising and then turning around in circles again. A trainer told me that by speaking to them or knowledge even pushing them down with your hands and telling them know you're still giving them what they want your attentionin your attention. Turning your back on them and not touching them or talking to them you're giving them what they do not want no attention. The key is to stay consistent, trick is now 11 if I let him get away with jumping on me one time I have to start all over again.


----------



## BentleysMom (Dec 14, 2014)

It's working pretty good so far! I haven't been punched in the stomach in two days!


----------



## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

My SPOO, Buck, will be 7 months in a few days and I have been beyond frustrated with the jumping. Bentley, is a puppy, so make sure everyone in the household is on board with the rules. No acknowledgement, wait him out like a statue until he's 4 on the floor. It is not cute behavior as they get bigger and can knock people down. (My husband, "weak link" has inadvertently rewarded this behavior.) So more drastic measures are now in order, as Buck is entering the teenage stage. I have a leash or slip lead with me at all times in the house and when we're playing in the yard. If he starts jumping and cannot gather himself, I hook him up and step on the leash until he calms down. I can no longer stand like a statue with a Tasme Devil attack. I've also put a tether around the base of a solid table in my kitchen. If I'm busy in the kitchen and he's jumping, I hook him there. And I say NO jumping! As soon as he settles, I release him praise and treat. Of course, I still try distractions and try to calm him down, but at this stage NO means NO. And I AM the boss of your life, you teenager! I hope Bentley learns this with treats, distractions and consistent training.


----------



## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

standard poodle size is the reason i am looking for a toy. i realized that i might not be able to control a dog that size before he or she inadvertently hurts me or someone else as a result of excitement. more importantly, i worry that i could not lift my dog due to size if i needed to to get to the vet in an emergency.


----------



## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Yeah, some days I wish that I hadn't super sized from a Scottie. Most days, I'm happy that I have a dog that can get maximum enjoyment out of my huge fenced yard. If I could cure the jumping, I would have no regrets.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I like Firestorm's suggestions. I agree that poodles will figure out very quickly that to get what they want they can't act crazy. It has worked very well with Lily to follow that strategy. The key is to be consistent with it.


----------



## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Mfmst said:


> ... * If I could cure the jumping, I would have no regrets.*


You will! What I did was to put jumping on cue. 

Dr. Dunbar Answers The Top F.A.Qs | Dog Star Daily
Dogs jump up primarily because we’ve trained them to from the time they were puppies. When they jumped up and put their little paws on our legs, we bent down and patted them on the head and said, “Oh good puppy!”

Now that the dog is fully grown, jumping up isn’t so cute, and we don’t want to reinforce the behavior. A smart approach is to think of what you’d like to see instead from your dog when he greets people, and train him to do it. Personally, I think sitting is a great way for dogs to say hello, and there’s a very simple way to teach it:

• Invite a group of friends to your house. 
• Tell your friends to completely ignore everything your dog does (including barking and jumping up) to try to get attention.
• But, when the dog sits in front of or near one of your friends, instruct that person to quickly say, “Good boy!” and give your dog a reward and some positive attention.

It only takes a dozen or so repetitions before your dog gets it. And the beauty is, your dog thinks he’s training you: “Wow, all you have to do is sit in front of these people and they feed you food!”

*I like to think about the dog’s feelings in this situation too. Dogs behave in a way they find enjoyable so we can assume dogs enjoy jumping up. So, put jumping up on cue: teach your dog to jump up and give a “hug” on request. The dog learns that the default setting is to sit, but if requested, he can jump up and give a hug. It’s a lovely way for you and your dog to greet each other, and your dog truly enjoys it.*


----------



## BentleysMom (Dec 14, 2014)

He's already doing sooo much better thanks to all y'all's suggestions and SUPPORT on here! Thanks a million!


----------



## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Happy for the improvement you're seeing and much appreciate you giving us the update. (So good of you!) Keep at it! As a pup my mini jumped like a bouncing super ball. He saw more of my back than front for a while but that did tamp down the jumping. Putting jumping on cue sealed the deal for managing it.:bounce:


----------



## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

I'm so glad to hear that Bentley is doing better with the jumping! 

As promised, here are some of the things we did with Hans that I think helped his impulse control. He's very high drive and we work off lead a lot, so we really focused on being able to control him in distracting areas. 

The first thing is the way we taught him to stay. It seems kind of backwards, because you sort of start with stays with distraction but it really does work. I think you could start with either a sit-stay or down-stay...probably whichever command your dog knows best will work. What you do is have the dog sit, reward for the sit and then immediately after rewarding the sit dangle a treat about 2 feet away, so the dog would have to move to get it. Of course, he'll get up. As soon as he gets up you remove the reward (we moved it up and away) and say "too bad". Repeat. After several repetitions, the dog will eventually stay sitting for just a second. Reward immediately, while the dog is still sitting. 

We repeated this until he was consistent at this level, then did the same thing for longer stays, with the reward/distraction in different locations (i.e. on the floor instead of in hand, etc). We practice the same general thing with all sorts of distractions other than food now. Stay for retrieve, stay then chase a squirrel, stay while one of us runs around the yard with a fun toy. If he gets up, we freeze and there is no play. If he stays, he gets an exciting play session. I think the stays for play sessions are great because he gets to do the exciting play and then go back to a stay so he practices stay even though he's pretty hyped up. Now he has rock solid stays, and he looks so happy to be staying. The more he wants the distraction, the "harder" he stays - he gets this really focused look with his tail going the whole time. 

Another thing we did was the way we taught recall. It's called a "Premack Recall" in the book I have, after psychologist David Premack. It is a little complicated so I'm reading the section in the book while I try to explain it. 
Phase one is this: 
1) Get a super awesome reward that your dog has never had before. I mean really awesome. 

2) Decide on a cue that your dog has never heard. We used 3 blasts of a whistle. 

3)Make 5 1 serving bags of the awesome reward. 

4)Once a day for 5 days, hide a serving of the awesome reward near you but out of reach for the dog. If the dog comes over to check it out, wait until he gives up. 

5)While the dog isn't paying any attention to you, make the sound you chose ONCE. Wait 1 or 2 seconds. Then, where ever the dog is, reward him (even if you have to go find him in another room). Praise him while he eats the reward, then walk away. Repeat this once a day for 5 days. 

Phase 2 (you need a helper): 

1)Give the helper a handful of rewards (it can be food or a toy but I used food) and let your dog sniff, lick, nibble, etc but not actually have the rewards. 
2)Stand 6 feet or so away (you should not have any rewards).
3)Make the sound you used in phase one ONCE then encourage the dog to come. Keep coaxing but don't repeat the sound, even if it takes several minutes. 
4)Eventually the dog will come. No matter how long it took, praise him when he does. While you are praising him, the helper should race over and reward the dog. The dog has to get the reward while he's in position (with you). Repeat. 

Then we practiced this in other locations, with other rewards, over a longer distance, etc. 

The last thing is something I came up with on my own, that I do while clicker training (I'm addicted to clicker training so Hans is learning lots of random things like how to turn on light switches). A lot of times when we do a clicker session I sit on the floor with a pile of treats next to me in plain sight. Of course Hans doesn't get any unless he does whatever behavior we are working on and he knows that now. But every now and then he stares at the treats and you can see the wheels turning. The treats are right there, but he can't just take them. He has to do whatever he's supposed to be doing. I think it is good practice for him, but maybe it's my imagination. 

Sorry this is so long, but I couldn't figure out how to explain the stuff that helped Hans the most with self control without it being long. The book goes into a lot more detail but I tried to summarize as best as I could. I really think those exercises made a big difference for him, because we chose the highest drive, most dominant, highest energy puppy out of the litter and he's turning into a polite, civilized dog even with a lot of chaos going on. Anyways, hopefully this helps,


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Firestorm that is all brilliant! I can't think of a thing to add other than that for those among us who are clicker timing challenged such as myself, you can use a marker word like yes or good or nice said with emphasis to distinguish the marker from your conversational uses of that word.


----------



## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Good to hear of the progress. I go with Catherine. Consistency is everything. If just one person in a family is out of line with training it can go awry. That being said some smart dogs will behave differently with different people. They learn a behaviour that works with each.
Eric


----------



## BentleysMom (Dec 14, 2014)

Bentley continued to do very well thank goodness but of course every now and then he tests us... Goober


----------



## Brad (Jan 21, 2015)

First of all, I'm NOT an experienced trainer. But I did begin general obedience classes with my 6-month standard and after one week I saw tremendous improvement across several areas (walking on a leash, following commands, jumping, counter surfing, etc). So, with this in mind, I'll share my thoughts on jumping.

My spoo WAS a big jumper...on me, guests, etc. The thing with dogs is to let them know you are in charge, not them. By standing like a statue, ignoring them, etc you are conveying to them that they are in charge and they can keep doing their negative behavior until they stop. This is analagous to letting a child throw a tantrum in the grocery store without correcting it..."let them get it out of their system". 

What I was taught, and it works, is when your dog jumps on you:

1). Take your foot and tap them in their groin/inner hind leg area. Don't do it so hard that you bruise/hurt them but enough so that they feel it. 

2). They will jump down, look around to see what just hit them. Keep repeating this action. 

3). Soon they will say "geez, everytime I jump, something hits my back leg. I'm going to stop jumping". 

4). It may seem like it won't work, but try it.


I've tried commands (like "down"), treats, praise, etc and what I've learned is that the latter two (treats and praises) really don't teach the dog associations rather its positive reinforcement...i.e. "if I jump, they'll tell me to get down and I'll get a treat. I want a treat so let me jump now".

Hope it helps!


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Brad said:


> First of all, I'm NOT an experienced trainer. But I did begin general obedience classes with my 6-month standard and after one week I saw tremendous improvement across several areas (walking on a leash, following commands, jumping, counter surfing, etc). So, with this in mind, I'll share my thoughts on jumping.
> 
> My spoo WAS a big jumper...on me, guests, etc. The thing with dogs is to let them know you are in charge, not them. *By standing like a statue, ignoring them, etc you are conveying to them that they are in charge and they can keep doing their negative behavior until they stop.* This is analagous to letting a child throw a tantrum in the grocery store without correcting it..."let them get it out of their system".
> 
> ...


I am an experienced trainer and what you were taught is old school and lacks any sophistication as methods used more and more now...which are based on proof. Sure it "worked" to stop the behavior. Your dog had no choice and no need to think. He was simply forced by discomfort or fear if he jumped. 

Being in charge has nothing to do with anything in dog training. A status or ranking system is irrelevant. "Tapping" in the groin or otherwise using some form of punishment on a dog is unnecessary and can carry with it many detrimental side effects. 

What the others posted about turning one's back and ignoring the attention seeking behavior of jumping up removes the motivation because it doesn't _work_ for the dog to jump for attention. This follows the laws of learning behavior. Behavior is a science and there are certain rules that govern behavior, just as gravity is a law of physics and an apple falling from a tree follows that law of gravity. Then the dog learns what_ does _work to get attention....sitting nicely or standing on all fours. Dogs do what works. Period. Figure out what the motivator is, remove it... remove the reinforcer for an unwanted behavior and it will extinguish.* LAW*. So what is bolded in your quote is false. I hate to be the bad news messenger, but feel compelled in case some unsuspecting, other inexperienced dog owner lurks and reads.

Now, why on earth would someone shove their foot into a dog's body or knee him in the chest, or step on his back toes (I've heard of all these ridiculous methods) when there are proven ways that are used extensively by dog owners, experienced trainers, behaviorists with advanced degrees in behavior, university behavior departments, zoos where they train far less biddable animals, such as jackals and lions to come to the edge of their cage for injections, Sea World where they train dolphins, etc....that don't risk eroding the trust an animal has for humans, do not involve force or intimidation and do not cause pain or fear? Now here we have domestic dogs which have grown up with humans for thousands of years. Surely we don't need to use harsher methods than what are used on wild animals that didn't have a convergent evolution with humans as dogs did.

Anything you've heard about pack theory, rank and status seeking by dogs has been _proven_ irrelevant and something humans made up. It's all based on faulty studies which have been _admitted_ false by the researchers who came up with this nonsense in the first place and from which these training methods and dominance theory sprang. Dogs are social animals, yes, but they're not trying to take over the house hold and the mortgage payments. They're not trying to be in charge. They're behavior might be obnoxious but that's behavior, not them conniving and plotting while they go to sleep nights on how they're going to stage a palace coupe. 

I stopped that same behavior in many dogs within a very short time and few repetitions by methods such as what Chagall'smom posted and what some of the others posted. (can't remember everyone's names without going back) Putting jumping on cue. Turning away and ignoring, praising lavishly and treating when all four are on the floor. Asking for an alternative and incompatible behavior BEFORE the dog is about to jump if you can catch it in time... and reinforcing that other behavior...in other words, intercepting and asking for a sit or down. The dog can't jump when he's sitting or lying down. 

These types of things create a working relationship where the dog is a participant in his education. Dogs become much smarter and better learners when they're active and working while they learn instead of being suppressed by punishment. Reward and the absence of harsh aversives makes a dog throw new behaviors much more readily and therefore, learn _HOW_ to learn much, much better. And the relationship or trust doesn't risk being eroded by an unsureness from the dog as to what's going to happen to him next.

Here's a great trainer who has videos on all kinds of training tasks. Wonderful. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC_OKgQFgzw


----------



## Brad (Jan 21, 2015)

So, then, how do you stop chewing on furniture? Ignore it?

How do you stop them from barking constantly? Ignore it?

How do you stop them from biting/nipping? Ignore it?

Two more things:

1) I expected nothing else than a harshly written response from this forum

2) You're absolutely right...humans made up a story about dogs and packs. It was written in a children's book one day and people ran with out. How foolish was I to think that dogs run in packs. Of course, they are loners.


----------



## Brad (Jan 21, 2015)

And one more thing...how do you stop a dog from pulling? Allow him to pull on a leash until he's tired? Do you stand still, let him pull and wait for him to stop?


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Only attention seeking behavior is stopped by ignoring. You need to think about what is it the dog is wanting. Why is he doing this? If your answer to yourself is that he's trying to get you to pay attention to him, then you know you must not give him attention because he'll learn that this obnoxious behavior gets him what he wants. Show him what DOES work. If it's a behavior such as barking, no...ignoring won't work because barking is rewarding in itself. Dogs love to bark and hear themselves. It's exhilarating or something. So, there are great methods to stop that. (Jean Donaldson in her book Culture Clash has a great method that works. I used it on my Chihuahuas) There are methods for stopping all those other annoying behaviors you mention. If you're interested in learning, do a Google search for those behaviors and kiko pup. She has something for just about anything you can think of and she's good. I'm sorry if I come across bluntly. It's just that I have seen on these forums so much resistance to using methods that don't involve punishment and not just on these forums. I just saw some guy walking up my sidewalk in front kicking his dog in the ribs for I don't know what. The dog didn't appear to be doing one thing wrong. So, I'm a little impatient with people these days. Sorry. Please be focused on learning more effective ways and not focused on how things like this affect you. Your dog and you are more important. Kiko pup is excellent and I highly recommend her videos. I'll see if I can find some for you but you can also do a search.

I'm not being harsh to you personally. I'm harsh about these methods that keep on being touted on TV by certain pack theorists who promote very harsh methods and who do not know what they're seeing when they describe body language and behavior. I'm sick of dogs being mistreated in the name of training. Especially when it's not necessary at all. Not with any dog. I've worked with many, many dogs of all types, soft, hard, tough, abused, aggressive to humans and animals and I've never had to use harsh aversives to rehabilitate any one of them.


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Loose leash walking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ

nipping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c77--cCHPyU

I haven't found one on chewing on furniture. Here's my explanation. Supervise puppies diligently. If he shows interest in furniture, give him an alternative. Show him what he CAN chew on. Be sure he's exercised amply and has training times throughout the day to ward off boredom. Dogs do stuff like that....those obnoxious behaviors when they're bored. So, redirect...show him what he can chew on that is also REWARDABLE and PREVENT the unwanted behavior in the first place by supervision. When a dog gets a chance to practice unwanted behaviors, he's being reinforced because it's fun. So prevention is a big part of progressive training...redirecting to an alternative behavior that is wanted and reinforcing that.


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Brad said:


> So, then, how do you stop chewing on furniture? Ignore it?
> 
> How do you stop them from barking constantly? Ignore it?
> 
> ...


They're not loners. They're social. But that doesn't make them true pack animals that rely on a hierarchy to work together to take down large game. Most wild dogs aren't pack animals. They're more scavengers than they are hunters and scavenging animals aren't pack animals. There are only a very few reasons for animals to form a pack and dogs living with us don't have those reasons generally speaking.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Occasionally Poppy falls back into bad habits, usually when she is excited or frustrated or otherwise unable to concentrate on what she is doing. It happened the other day when just as we got to the door to go for a walk I was overcome, as one can be at my age, by a sudden need to ... well, TMI! So there I was, sitting in a somewhat vulnerable and occupied state, with a poodle almost equally deperate for a walk, and she jumped up and scrabbled at my bare legs and it HURT! As I told her, in no uncertain terms, with ouches and moans and general intimations as to how unkind it was of her. And since then she has started to jump, thought better of it, and bounced on the spot instead. I am sure she will forget again in time, but it would seem that she understands my expressions of genuine pain just as readily as she does those of another dog... And, of course, she gets loads of praise and attention for being kind and NOT jumping up at me!


----------



## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

I used to walk around 20 Labrador retrievers for a rescue. These dogs were locked up in 6X4 pens all day every day and when I walked them was the only time they ever got out. You could imagine the amount of energy and excitement they had bottled up in them. That being paired with their breed made them jump up on people all the time. I being quite small (5 ft) could not really handle a 100+ lbs dogs constantly jumping on me, but the only thing that would ever get those dogs to not jump on me would be ignoring the behavior. So yes I might have gotten quite a few bruises as they continued to jump while I kept turning my back to them but in the long run it would work. After a few minuets of ignoring the behavior they would learn that jumping gets them no where and they would sit and wait to continue their walk. Of course the next time I would walk them id have to go through the same routine because other walkers would let them get away with the jumping. But after that while they were with me they knew better. The rescue tried other more negative training techniques and they never did a thing. One person was adamant about kneeing the dogs in the chest to get them to stop. She got pushed to the ground quite a few times by dogs continuing to jump on her. Sorry but really the best way to teach a dog not to jump (and have it be a good stable learned behavior) is by the ignoring method.
To teach a dog not to pull on a leash you take them away from the thing they are pulling to. So say they are just pulling to go forward you can stop and wait for slack in the leash or if the dog is continuing you walk the dog in the opposite direction. With the constant turning, the dog will come to learn that if he pulls or there is tension on the leash he gets to go nowhere but once he stops pulling or the leash is slack he gets to go forward to where he wants to go. 
No matter what situation a dog can always be taught with positive training. Although maybe not doable for some people it will always be the optimum way to train a dog. Don't get me wrong I feel like negative training methods have there place for some people and some dogs but if it's a choice I have I will always go for the positive way.


----------

