Desperate...anyone have good dog training advice?

Good Morning Everyone,

DH and I are major dog lovers. We have had Max, a chocolate lab since 2003 and Winston, a long-haired doxie since 2001. They are both wonderful, well trained and well behaved dogs.

About 4 weeks ago, we rescued a one year old female golden lab named Molly. The poor thing was so underweight, you could count her ribs. Since having her put on a special diet through our vet, we have managed to put 6 pounds on her and she is looking much healthier. She is also just the sweetest baby and loves to cuddle.

Our one and only problem with her is she won't quit jumping on people. Every time she does, we gently push her down and sternly tell her no! But, she doesn't get it and just keeps on jumping up even after being told no. So, I am looking for suggestions from my fellow dog lovers on how to break her of this habit. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Take her to dog training classes. My dog loves to go.

my trainer/breeder does this:

As soon as the dog jumps she quickly turns her back and at the same time says "wrong" eventually the instant the dog sits she gives it a little treat.

The idea is that the dog starts to figure out that if you sit in front of people they give you attention and perhaps a treat. Alternatively if you jump on them you get no attention, except a stern "wrong" and no possibility of a treat.

Good luck

Hey Susan, I'm going to be your best friend and help you fix this ;)

I have a boxer, and it seems this breed loves to jump and use their front paws to push.. so our dog was horrble with this as a puppy, I took her to puppy class to no avail. So I forked out $75 a week to have a personal trainer come to my house. What she did, she could have told me over the phone, but lesson learned. There's this collar, I'm going to google or take a pic of mine to show you..forgot the name of it.. but it loops over their nose and attaches to their neck. If they try to jump (also helps with leash behavior) or pull from the leash, it causes their head to pull down into their chest--which they do not like. In less than 2 weeks with keeping this & leash on the dog at all times.. she stopped jumping!
Less drastic (even though I don't consider it drastic, but you do have to buy the special collar) is put your knee out anytime they try to jump up, so it knees their chest and they fall back.. and ignore them when they jump.. if they sit and aren't jumping on people to greet them, it's important you or whoever comes over praises & pets the dog for sitting.. if they try to jump, knee & ignore till they sit.. repeat.
Ok, going to go see if I can remember the name of this collar, if I don't find it I'll take a pic of ours.

Woohoo found it.. called a Gentle Leader
Premier Gentle Leader Dog Training Collar - New Puppy Center - PetSmart

With this & leash on, have people come to the door, and have your foot on the leash on the floor, with enough lead that the dog can sit comfortably. When someone comes in, if it tries to jump up, it's head will pull into its chest.. do the ignoring till they calm down.. when it sits calmly have people pet it-- keep your foot on the leash on the floor the whole time to reinforce if they get excited again, etc.
Hopefully I explained this well, if you have any questions let me know!!

You would think I get commission on these, hah but I swear by them. My dog, if you met her, is so hyper and crazy..acts like a puppy all the time. She won't jump though, she does her sitting and it kills her, her butt is wiggling all over the ground and she's shaking waiting for someone to pet her for being a 'good girl' then she wiggles around excitedly.. but won't jump!

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I am going to give them a try and will let you know how it works. She is such a perfect sweetheart in every other way.

If you have cable you really should check out the national geographic channel. For a show called the dog whisperer. Not only does he tell people how to solve behaviors like jumping he explains why dogs do it in the first place.

You can teach the dog to sit before being petted, that is the "gentle" way to do it. They can't get any attention unless they are sitting. (it is great for dogs who go crazy at the door bell and such)

The most effective way is a knee to their chest - you don't "Knee them", but when you see them jump, pop your knee out, after they bounce into it a couple of times, they will start jumping up, but not touching you - then eventually stop all together.

Another way, when they jump, gently press down on their back paws with your foot (best if you can be barefoot). Until the dog jumps down. You aren't trying to injure the paw, you are just giving them a negative feeling when they jump up. this works fast too. (just don't do it if you are angry, you could hurt the dog)

Good Luck!

gently pushing them down actually encourages them to jump.."She touched me! Im gonna do it again!"

The gentle leader is great..it acts like a more dominant dog which will come up and grab a submissive dog by his mouth to remind them of thier place..unfort. alot of people freak out when thier dog wears one for the 1st time because the dog will throw a fit and pretend to choke and just have a flip out

Kneeing them in the chest will work, if you can get them in the chest..you can also teach them to sit when excited..this is what my dogs do..theyll sit there and thier tails go 90 to nothing..

if you still have problems message me. I worked as a personal dog trainer through college..Id love to help

While I like dogs, I have allergies and so I don't like them to jump up on me or to lick me, especially if there is no soap and water near by. If folks could train their dogs to come in caution but in friendliness, that would be a good trick to pull. Anyone with pets has to remember that there are those who have allergies or phobias to treasured family pets. I am someone who has problems with snakes and I knew a guy who had a very though time with my two cats.

I've trained a half-dozen dogs with great success.

While there are variations between the schools of thought, I prefer elements of the "Wodehouse" approach. And of UTMOST importance, is that YOU establish who is ALPHA......

It really isn't hard to teach the 'no jumping on people.

I'm pleased the last 3 dobermans we've had were all very well socialized and VERY well behaved. They were all stubborn until they mature about 3 years of age, but are very smart and make lovey sweet companions.

They all died of old age in the 12-13 1/2 years old range.

Tiff (& Jack)- You're right, my dog knows *I* am the alpha dog, she does not do anything without my approval.. and I used the gentle leader for a couple of weeks. It corrected more bad behavior, but the jumping was a big one for me because I hate when people's dogs jump on me and I don't want mine being that dog.
She did flip out when she first had it on, but I also remember at 6 weeks old she freaked out with a normal collar & leash on. The trainer kept feeding her treats to distract her from the leader and it didn't take long before she was use to it.

Some dominant things I read to try, and do (may or may not help, but I am the dominant one so who knows)...I make her lay quietly and watch tv, she is not allowed on furniture, and especially never let them in bed with you!
Sometimes when you feed them, put your hand all over the bowl and act like you're taking it.. they should not protest.

One technique I found very useful was the 'rattle can'.....astounding how effective it can be.....never had the chance to try it on children!!!

You guys have all given me some great suggestions, thanks so much. We have been doing the knee one. When she goes to jump on us, we gently push her back with our knee, then we turn and walk away and do not give her any attention. If she comes to us and sits nicely, then we are loading her up with attention and telling her what a good dog she is. This seems to be working as the amount of jumping is definitely getting less and less.