
By Anthony Travaglini and Matt Heikkila
I'm Matt and I'm the owner of Diablo Dog. I have a degree and certificates in Animal Training from The Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College and 19 years of experience training a wide variety of animals. Anthony is a CCPDT certified dog trainer and after working for another local dog training company he came to us and designed our own dog training program at Diablo Dog. I'm the guy writing/ghostwriting this and Anthony is filling me in on the specifics of the dog training methods regarding this specific behavior.

Jumping is an interesting problem behavior because it generally just comes out of a dog trying to be affectionate and get attention from the individuals they love. Sometimes that's the owner and family and sometimes it's everyone they meet!
There are a couple of challenges that come along with trying to train away a behavior like this. One is, we want to keep things positive and avoid punishment if possible.
The problem with using punishment is threefold:
It can cause aggression. Toward the trainer, owner, or another animals or people.
It can cause unpredictable results. In order to avoid punishment an animal may panic and make some odd decisions. Some of those decisions may be counterintuitive and make that problem behavior worse, or add another problem behavior.
This one doesn't exactly apply here but the other drawback to punishment is that it only generally only works in the presence of the threat of punishment. That's why training a dog to stop barking while you're away is such a challenge.
There's another reason trying to train this behavior away by using punishment is a mistake. It's because if a dog jumps on you and you push them off or yell at them, they look at that as reinforcement:
"I'm getting the attention I crave. This is fun! We're playing!"-Your dog probably
And the behavior continues or gets worse. So we're almost to the tips and tricks on how to fix this behavior, but if you have trouble and you're located in the East San Francisco Bay Area or Contra Costa County in specific, please let us know and we can set up a free in home training consultation and Anthony will help you and your dog in a more hands on manner.
If you're located outside of our service area, you can find other positive, skilled, certified dog trainers at the CCPDT site where our trainer Anthony is also searchable. So "How do I stop my dog from jumping on me or others?"
Method 1
First, if your dog it larger, you may want to be dressed for them to jump on you. Wear jeans and shoes so you don't get scratched up.
Enter your home, and then act like a statue, put your arms against yourself down, and look down but not at their face. Don't look at your dog. Don't talk to them. Don't touch them.
And then you wait out their jumping, until they give up, sigh, and walk away, lay down or sit.
Then you can calmly give them the attention that they're asking for.
If you have a family member who actually likes the dog jumping on you, still do steps 1-4, but then you can go get on their level, sit on a stool or the floor, or steps and invite them to jump on them.
Method 2
If you have a friend or family member to help, you can put your dog on leash and have one of you hold it.
Approach the dog and if they jump, turn away and back off.
The next time you can ask them to sit.
If they do and stay seated as you approach: give them a treat, give them affection and just generally reinforce that behavior.
Repeat this. You can switch who holds the leash. Also make sure to switch rooms. It's important to correct for context shifts.
Method 3
If you don't have someone to help you you can basically do the same thing. You can either tether them to a wall, a fence or whatever you need and do the same thing as in Method 1.
Method 4 (Game of No's)
This one is fun. Go to an enclosed room with 2-5 people and circle your dog. Everyone should have some high value treats.
Take turns calling the dog.
If they jump on you, turn away and everyone firmly says "No!" Saying "no!" is technically punishment, but it can be more effective because it gives them the ability to very quickly figure out how to get rewarded, and therefore what behavior they're being asked for.
If you call them and they come to you and sit, you give them a treat, and everyone says "good dog!"
Repeat until the dog has figured it out and successfully done the behavior numerous times. This one is an excellent one for the whole family to get involved in. Beyond teaching the dog quickly, it might just help teach the kids that you don't want them to jump on you.
One thing Koa illustrates in this video is a difficulty any of us who've had a trainer work with their dog on an issue and then tried it themselves have probably had to deal with. "They do it perfectly with the trainer and then it all goes out the window with me!" That is why it's so important to do. your homework and keep working on it yourself at home. Koa figured this one out very quickly, but it doesn't mean he's automatically going to stop jumping on people. It's all about reinforcement and repetition. Focus on timing of your reinforcement.
You can also use a vocal "good dog!" or a clicker to bridge to the reinforcement. It lets them know reinforcement is coming. This is something to always be aware of.
It's important to continually reinforce this training, and you can modify the methods to fit situations you may encounter. If you're out and about and someone wants to pet your dog you can let them know that yes you can pet them but we gotta make sure they're calm and sitting first. Tell them you're trying to teach them not to jump on people. If they want to participate in the training: great! If not, keep working on it at home.
Diablo Dog is located in Martinez, California and we serve Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Alamo, Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda. We offer free in-home consultations, and our trainer can come help you in or around your home, or pick them up and work one on one, or bring them to our Day Academy, which is a small group training day in and around our store. We also hold weekly training classes on Sundays. Please give us a call at 925-215-0410, drop in at 725 Alhambra Ave, Martinez or sign up through our website and we'll get to work!
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Matt and Anthony
Diablo Dog
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