Jasper jumps. A lot. He jumps when you get home as he tries to greet you. He jumps when you have something interesting in your hand that he thinks he might like. He jumps on visitors as they enter the house, and even when they stand up from the couch. He jumps when he wants to play. He jumps when he wants to eat. He jumps every time he wants attention from you… All you want is for Jasper to PLEASE STOP JUMPING ALL THE TIME!!!!!!

There are some tricks and techniques we can use to help Jasper learn that jumping is not the right behavior (unless it's by request). It takes time, practice, consistency and persistence – more persistence than Jasper has. You see, Jasper jumps because so far it has worked for him. When he jumps, you make direct eye contact with him, you touch him as you try to either push him off you, or in an effort to appease him so he’ll (hopefully) stop jumping, you talk to him or you hand him whatever is in your hand. So, up until now, whenever Jasper has jumped, he’s gotten what he’s looking for – attention.

The only way to change this behavior is to change the consequences for the behavior. This means that we need to stop giving him attention when he’s jumping. This can be really difficult to do for several reasons, not the least of which is that even though it’s annoying, at some level it’s sweet and kind of cute that he gets so darned excited to see us. It’s also very difficult because every human who interacts with Jasper from now on must be complicit in the training technique and MUST be consistent in the implementation of that technique.

Something  to keep in mind before I even begin to talk about how we will help Jasper find a new approach: We are going to try to extinguish Jasper’s jumping behavior. It’s really important to remember that whenever we try to extinguish a behavior, there will be something called an ‘extinction burst.’ This is a process by which Jasper will try even harder than usual, meaning that he’ll jump higher, more frequently and take longer to calm down.  This is NORMAL AND EXPECTED BEHAVIOR. The reason for the extinction burst is that up until now, jumping has been a successful way for Jasper to get attention. When jumping suddenly stops getting the attention he’s seeking, he will believe that he didn’t successfully jump (high enough, with enough force, enough times, etc.). He will try harder to get your attention. He will be very persistent in this effort because he expects it to work. It is crucial during that extinction burst that you are more persistent than Jasper. If you understand that his increased effort is actually a sign that your training technique is working, then you will hopefully find the will to wait him out.

Think of this example: You typically get in your car and turn the key to start the engine. One day, you go through your routine only the engine doesn’t kick into gear. Do you automatically understand that the car battery is dead? Not likely. First you will try turning the key again. When it doesn’t work the second time, you will likely try a third time, only this time you might pump the gas a bit and hold the key in that “ignite” position for a few seconds as you hope the engine will turn over. That is an extinction burst. Now, think about this: The third time you try (after pumping the gas and holding the key longer), the engine does turn over. SUCCESS! You worked harder and tried harder and got the car to start! Hurray! So, the next time the car doesn’t start, you will be prepared to try at least 3 times. If it doesn’t start after 3 tries, you will likely try one or two more times before you finally decide that perhaps it’s time to get a new battery, or take the bus…

Jasper’s jumping will work the same way. Jumping usually works. When it suddenly stops, he’ll try harder. If after 5 or 6 jumps, you give in and show him some attention, then he was successful. Now he’ll be prepared to jump 5 or 6 times to get your attention, and if it doesn’t work, he’ll add in a 7^th and 8^th attempt, and so goes the cycle of the dog whose jumping gets worse instead of better when the owners are trying to train the dog to stop jumping. So, YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO HOLD YOUR GROUND UNTIL HE STOPS JUMPING. If you are more persistent than Jasper, you will, in the end, successfully train him to stop jumping.

 

TRAINING TECHNIQUES (IN THE REAL WORLD)

First we’ll talk about the real world things that you’ll need to do. Jasper must have a polite Sit command in his repertoire. You’ll want to be able to ask him to Sit before he begins to jump (it won’t always be successful in the beginning, but we need to give him an alternative to jumping).  So, if Jasper doesn’t know how to Sit on command – every time you ask him – then work on this first. Make sure that he has both a verbal command (Sit) and a visual cue (palm facing the sky and arm moves from parallel to the floor up to about 45 degrees).

Once Jasper will Sit on command, then there will be a couple things you’ll do in the real world. First, as Jasper approaches you, tell him to Sit. If you can see him through the door, tell him to Sit before you even enter the room. If you don’t think he can hear you well through the door/window, or to further drive the command home, use the visual cue. Many dogs respond much better to visual cues than verbal commands anyway. Tell him to Sit before you invite guests inside.

When he sits, tell him “Yes” to mark the behavior and then begin to enter the room. If his bottom pops up, step back and close the door immediately. (The first several times you do this, it may take you as much as 20 or 30 minutes just to get inside. But if you are consistent, Jasper will quickly learn the new rules at doorways and you will be able to come in without being “mauled” by love.) Once you’ve stepped back and the door is closed again, ask him to Sit and try to enter again. If you are able to get the door open, but as you step through, he gets up, then step back and close the door part way – ask him to Sit and try to enter again. If you can get through the door, but before it’s closed, his bottom comes up, step back outside and ask him to Sit. Continue this way until you can get all the way into the house and close the door. When you can get into the space, and close the door and Jasper is still sitting nicely, it’s time to greet him. Very calmly (we don’t want to get him all riled up now), come down to his level and give him some love and tell him how proud you are of him.

If, once you get in and close the door, he begins to jump, turn your back and take a step or two away. Do not speak to him, do not look at him, do not touch him. Take away ALL of your attention until he has stopped trying to jump. All four paws should be on the floor for between 20 and 30 seconds before you turn to try and greet again. As above, if when you turn back, he begins to jump again, simply turn again and take a step or two away. Repeat until you are able to have a nice greeting.

If turning your back is not sufficient deterrent, then leave the room. Do not speak to him, but you can act disgusted and appalled, with a heavy sigh, as you leave without even looking at him. Leave the room for between 20 and 30 seconds,* and then return as if it is the first time you’re trying to enter the room. Calmly try to greet him. If he jumps, repeat the departure and then try again, until you are able to enter the room and have a polite greeting.

*Timing is crucial. If you turn your back or leave the room for just 5 or 10 seconds, the lesson is not learned because you did not really take your attention away. On the flip side, if you leave the room (or turn your back) for more than 30 seconds ,the lesson is lost because you were gone so long the dog is no longer thinking about what just happened and will find some other way to distract himself until your return.

Again, these exercises may require many, many repetitions during a single effort to enter the room, and may at first take as long as 30 minutes before you can get in and greet the dog politely. But, if you are diligent for the first couple weeks, Jasper will start to pick up on it, and you will start to find that what was taking perhaps 20 minutes is now only taking 10 minutes. That’s a huge improvement, so keep up the great work! And remember, every human who will be entering the space needs to be prepared to do this with Jasper. You may find that Jasper stops jumping on you almost immediately, but continues to jump on your partner, children or visitors. As Jasper learns the new rules, he will need to learn it with each human individually before he starts to generalize that this is the rule for every human. Don’t get discouraged if he’s taking longer with some people than others. It just means that that person needs to continue practicing with him.

Once he’s getting good at not jumping, you can ask him to stay calm with all four feet on the floor for a few seconds before the greeting. While we use the Sit command in the beginning because it’s useful to give him a specific behavior that is incompatible with the jumping behavior (if he’s sitting, he can’t also be jumping), it is not always going to be necessary for him to sit for every encounter. Once he’s clearly learning that jumping no longer gets the attention, you can accept him in a standing position, so long as all four feet remain on the floor. So, at this point, when you enter the room, count to 5 before interacting with him. Take the time to put your purse down, or slip off your shoes, or turn off the house alarm, etc. But don’t forget to greet him while he’s being polite. At first we’re just waiting about 5 seconds. If we wait longer, his frustration will grow and Jasper may try jumping again.

When he’ll comfortably stand by and wait for about 5 seconds, you can start to build up by 5-second increments until you reach a point that is convenient for you to do your normal “coming in” activity. If he will wait happily for 30 seconds, but if you try to push it to 40 seconds you find he tries to jump – first react as above and leave the room. Second, go back to only making him wait 20 or 25 seconds – a duration that we know he’s good at, and then build up more slowly. You can even add in a verbal greeting, or a glance at him to let him know you haven’t forgotten about him, and will be with him in a minute. A greeting such as, “Good waiting, Jasper. I’ll be right there…” works well.

Ideally, you will eventually be able to walk into the house, put down whatever is in your hand, turn off the house alarm, take off your shoes and call Jasper over to you for that greeting – all while he is happily trotting along after you, but keeping all four on the floor as he waits eagerly for your love and attention.

 

SETTING UP FORMAL TRAINING SESSIONS

You can also set up formal training sessions to practice with Jasper. I use a Premier Easy Walk Harness for this. I like this harness specifically because the leash attaches at the chest of the dog, rather than on the back. This is useful for the exercise I’m going to describe. We also don’t want the leash on the collar during this exercise because we don’t want to irritate Jasper’s neck. Do not use face/halter type collars in this exercise.

You can do this exercise with a partner or you can use a sturdy object like a tree or the stair rail in your house if you’re working alone.

Once you’ve got the harness on and the leash attached, if you are working with a partner, you will want one person to stand on the leash such that Jasper has enough slack that he can easily take a couple of steps toward the arriving person, and so that he can sit comfortably without ANY tension on the leash. But, you want to make sure that there is only enough slack that if Jasper tries to jump, his front feet can’t get more than a few inches off the ground. It may require a bit of trial-and-error to find the right spot on the leash to step on, and once you figure out where that is, you should mark the leash for future reference (this can be tying a knot right there, or marking it with a Sharpie). We want the leash on the floor – we are not holding it, we are stepping on it.

The exercise looks like this: Jasper is near a person who is standing on his leash. Another person approaches to greet person and dog. Jasper steps forward and tries to jump, but the short leash and gravity immediately correct him and he’s pulled back to the floor before he can even jump high enough to land on the arriving person. Both humans will ignore him (no eye contact, speaking to him or touching him), as he may try to jump a couple more times before he accepts that he cannot jump at that moment. Then he will either stand calmly, or Sit by default. Once he has been calm (standing or sitting) for at least 30 seconds, then the arriving person will look to him and greet him calmly. The person will then turn and walk away. Wait 1-2 minutes and repeat the exercise. Repeat between 5 and 10 times in a single training session. If you see that after the second “arrival” Jasper just stops trying to jump, and instead sits down or just stands calmly, then you know he’s beginning to learn the new rule. Practice a few more times so that you have several positive trials, then end with a game that he loves.

As he gets good at this exercise, the partner who is standing on the leash will slowly start to give a bit more slack (perhaps an inch or so) at each training session. Make sure that the amount of leash available to Jasper remains constant for the entire session. If you think Jasper can handle a bit more freedom, wait until the next full session (not just the next trial of the current session). Build up slowly until the person can be standing nearby, but not actually on the leash. Then you can switch to a long leash (15 foot) and continue practicing until the ‘nearby’ person is actually several feet away (practice with the person in front of, next to but several feet away, and behind Jasper) and he’s still staying polite for the greeting.

If you are working alone, then you can tie the leash to something sturdy like a stair rail or piece of heavy furniture if you’re inside, or a tree or light pole if you’re outside. Then you will practice the greeting by approaching, but stopping so that you are far enough away that if Jasper jumps, he cannot reach you. Again, wait until he’s been calm and all four on the floor for at least 30 seconds before you greet, then turn and walk away for a minute or two so you can repeat the exercise. As he gets good and stops trying to jump, you will stop closer and closer (by an inch or so each session) until you can walk right up to him and greet him politely.

Remember, that even if he’s learned to greet you politely, that does not mean he will great everyone politely. You will need to help him generalize this rule by asking lots of people to approach (without making eye contact with Jasper), and to please just turn and walk away if Jasper starts to jump. Tell them that they will get the chance to meet Jasper before you’re done, but it’s really important and they are being such a great help if they will only get close and interact with him while he’s being polite. Start with friends and family and then work to the strangers who just want to love your dog. When you’re holding his leash and other people are approaching, ask him to Sit before they walk up, as this will help reinforce for him that he needs to be polite in order to get that attention.

 

HE WAS DOING GREAT AND THEN….

So what do we do if he kept all four feet on the floor until we were petting him and loving him, and then while we were doing that, Jasper started to jump???

This will happen. It’s normal. When it does, be prepared. There are two things you can do here. If you feel those front feet leave the floor, let go, stand up tall and walk away. Be disgusted. You’re body language will make your point for you. If you abruptly end the interaction the moment those feet leave the floor, and I mean THE MICROSECOND, he will figure it out pretty quick. If you linger and love him for 10 seconds before it registers with you that his feet are up, then it’s too late because he will not understand what caused the moment to end suddenly. So be diligent and be prepared to react.

You can help your dog avoid this mistake with simple hand placement during the greeting. Instead of putting your hands over his head or on his cheeks, put one hand on his back – between his shoulders, and the other hand on his chest just below his neck. If you are petting him like that, then with a simple, gentle squeeze (your hands sort of squeezing together), you can remind him to stay down. So here’s how this technique works. You have one hand on his back and one on his chest. You’re loving and petting and he’s wiggling and happy. You feel his body either push forward into the hand at his chest, or you feel the push against the hand on his back as he tries to jump. You are NOT going to create counter pressure; you are going to create a dead-stop. Your hand should be like a brick wall. So you stiffen that hand, and as he comes into it, you’re ready and holding that hand still. It becomes a force field off which his body will bounce. When all four feet are firmly on the floor again, tell him what a good boy he is. Then you can disengage.

Sounds easy enough, right? Lots of things about training dogs is easy on paper, but not quite so simple to really implement. Patience and consistency is the key. Try to end every training session (even the real world ones) on a positive note. While you are going to be “disgusted” when you interrupt the greeting to walk away, be sweet and happy with all of your interaction with Jasper. If you find yourself getting frustrated, take a moment and a few deep breaths. Know that it is up to us to be patient and to teach him what we want. Dogs don’t come to us understanding that it’s not OK to do these things. The calmer and more relaxed we are while teaching, the quicker they will be to learn. If you’re already frustrated (bad day at work), don’t try to do any formal training until you feel you can really exude a positive, calm energy to your dog.

Good luck, stay focused on the grand prize and you will be met with success!