I would like you to first know that everything you are going through is normal for a puppy of her age. Also, depending on what breed you have, they may be more inclined to do some of these behaviours. It is essential before getting a puppy to research the breed, learn what job they have been bred to do, and know what to expect in this little wolf-in-a-puppy-suit who is entering your pack. Prior research and knowing how your puppy has been raised before you got her is vital to understanding her and finding that bond.
Jumping, though annoying and unacceptable, it is something every puppy will do until they are taught otherwise. It is natural for a puppy to try to lick the mouth of an adult dog, which is instinctual since back in the time they were wolves. Puppies often go up to the leaders of the pack after they come home from a hunt or from feeding and lick the sides of their mouths to have them regurgitate the food so they can have some. It is important to remember that dogs only develop to the mental stage of a 30 day old wolf pup, so this means that mentally dogs never become adult and will retain much of the behaviours of a wolf puppy. Trying to lick your mouth is genetically ingrained in them for survival, and as our mouths are higher than a dog’s mouth, they will need to jump up.
Though these behaviours are perfectly normal and you do not have to worry that your puppy is aggressive, crazy or unable to learn, we need to clearly communicate to them what behaviour we would like from them. They are born with different cultures than we have and speak a different language, so it is our task to learn to communicate with them properly so they understand what their new pack expects of them.
All dogs look to the leader to see how to handle a new situation, and this includes jumping up. Your puppy will look to you, and you must act like you want your dog to act when she is an adult. When she jumps on you, it is essential not to become a huge squeaky toy as this will excite your puppy and make her believe you are playing. Keep your breathing calm and regular, stay relaxed, speak in a normal but happy, cheerful tone. Do not resort to “happy-puppy-talk” as this often raises the tone in your voice and makes you sound like prey. Keep it positive and at a calm, lower octave so your puppy will understand that everything is okay. If your puppy leaps up and you, in fear, anger or anticipation, hold your breath, speak in a worried or angry tone, pet her quickly in a nervous way, try to push her away in a quick manner while stepping away from her, she will read your concern and jump more but now not in excitement but worry. So become the behaviour you want and your puppy will follow your lead.
It is always more desirable that a dog greets you in a polite manner, hopefully sitting quietly in front of you. If we want a dog to sit quietly when greeting us, it is necessary that we first teach them the command to “Sit” in a quiet environment without distractions. Once she understands this, we must then take that behaviour and build upon it by having her sit in different positions (in front of us, at our side, on the other side, diagonally across from us) and bring her to different areas to do the same. Only when she can sit calmly and quietly, understanding what we want of her, can we can then add in distractions. It is crucial not to try to train her how to “Sit” on command while she is jumping on us in excitement. A puppy’s attention span is very short and you will only confuse her and make her jump on you more out of confusion.
Usually we end up rewarding some jumping when our puppies are small and cute, but we must be aware that the more we reward a behaviour, the longer it will take to undo it and get it under control. The best is to take a proactive approach by having a family meeting prior to getting the puppy and deciding what behaviours are acceptable and only reward the behaviours which are wanted when the puppy is an adult. It is also best to have one person in the family who is the main “trainer” or main “leader” of the puppy. Having everyone try to train the puppy at the same time in different manners will only confuse her. Imagine trying to learn a new language when everyone is using a different dialect and accent. You will be just as confused as your puppy would be if everyone tries to train her at the same time. Other family members can help take the puppy out to do their business when you are not around, and ignore behaviour that was deemed unacceptable, but training should be the responsibility of one person to help the puppy to understand not only how to communicate with the family (pack) but to learn the dynamics of her new “pack”.
Curbing unwanted puppy jumping, which hopefully has not been rewarded, can be handled by following some of these tips:
Ignoring the behaviour
When your puppy jumps up on you, turn your head to one side and do not look at her or speak to her at all, and do not push her away as you will be touching her and thus rewarding her for her jumping. She is a very social animal and wants attention. The proper body language to use is to stand still, turn your head to the side to look away, and wait. Usually when the puppy is young enough, she will stop jumping and in that instant (timing is everything) praise her in a calm and happy voice (not excited nor in a squeaky toy voice) and give her a treat if you so desire. She will no doubt try to jump up again, happy she had attention. This is good as it will give you another chance to again teach her what you, the leader, wants. Repeat the body language again and stand still, look away, and wait. Eventually she will get the idea. It is important that everyone ignores the behaviour without exception.
Redirection using a Lure
When ignoring is not working, you can try to redirect your puppy with a toy or treat to do a different behaviour. Again, it is crucial not to touch her or pet her when she jumps, and do not speak to her at all, but reach down and lure her off, and then in an unemotional voice add a command such as “Off”. Praise her in a calm manner and then you can go further by luring her into a sit position, which you have already taught her to do, praise her again in a calm manner and give her the reward. This will have to be repeated each time she jumps up until she understands what is expected of her.
Step on the lead
Many times luring or ignoring the behaviour is not enough, especially if you have a very high drive and high energy breed. Therefore, another option is to allow your pup to drag a lead around inside the home attached to a wide, flat buckle collar. At this age, she is too young to have a martingale or any kind of slip collar on her. Having a lead on your pup in the home can help with many behaviour training, so it is a good idea to do this even if the other methods for jumping have worked for you.
When she comes over to greet you, step on the lead keeping your weight over the foot that is on the lead. Often bending that knee to give it more weight can help. If she jumps, she will self-correct herself. The correction does not come from you, nor should she ever believe a correction is coming from you but comes from the environment around her. As with the other methods, ignore the unwanted jumping, do not touch her or push her down, do not speak to her but wait patiently until she stops. Once she stops trying to jump, praise her and reward her with a gentle touch and calm toned words of praise. After doing this for some time you can start trying to incorporate your command of “Off” just as she takes her paws off of you. If she jumps more, ignore her, wait and then try again as soon as the paws are off you. Once she understands “Off”, you can begin to incorporate the “Sit” command and praise her only after she is sitting calmly in front of you. If you find it easier, you can skip the “Off” command and go directly to the “Sit” command which you have already taught her. It is crucial to only say the command once so that she understands it to be “Sit” and not “Sitsitsitsit”. Dogs understand tones not English, and saying the command once has a different tone than repeating it several times in a row.
It is essential that while you are training your puppy that you ask other family members and guests to ignore your puppy. This will help to not confuse her with different messages being sent to her. You are the leader and she should come to you for guidance and you can then guide her to the proper behaviour. This will also aide you later when you want a calm puppy to wait and greet people only on command, and not run up to just anyone for a treat or attention.
Keep emotion out of all your training. Do not squeeze her paws, kick her, push her neck, knee her chest as she will only become confused and will not understand what the correction is for, and may injure herself. Correcting a behaviour must be done in a way that does not inflect any pain, should never be personal, and should only be used after a puppy understands what she is supposed to do. Correction without explanation will only confuse her and may aggravate the behaviour.
If you have tried all these methods and you are still having trouble with your puppy, you may need individual help with a one-on-one private session with a trainer or a personalized email correspondence. Please view the services offered and take advantage of any which may help you build a strong bond with your puppy.