A simple tried and tested method of helping your dog to stop jumping up on you

Are you tired of your dog jumping up on you, your house guests and even complete strangers? Does your dog ignore you when you tell him to stop, or more to the point, does he become more excited, which often makes him jump all the more?

Yes, a dog that constantly jumps upon people is at least embarrassing, and at most a potential danger, especially around children and the infirm for example.

This brief but tried and tested method will help you to stop your dog from jumping up on you and your family and friends with the help of a little time anf effort on your part.

The first thing to do as part of your strategy, is to discover the underlying cause to your dogs jumping behaviour. Dogs jump for all sorts of reasons; one of the most common reasons for this kind of behaviour is a result of encouraging it from puppy hood. When your puppy is very small,you want to love him and pet him, you get caught in the moment and it's not long before this social interaction becomes highly rewarding to him and of course difficult to stop.

In some cases a dog may jump on his owners as a way of asserting dominance, or is just outright bad mannered. Often in these situations the dog in question may jump over excitedly and may even pull at your clothes.

Anxious or nervous dogs may also jump on their owners in a bid for reassurance. What ever the reason for this kind of behaviour there is usually some human intervention as it's primary cause.

The best approach to take if you have a new puppy is not to have him jump on you in the first place. Teach your puppy that whenever he greets a human, all his paws must be on the floor or he must be in a sitting position.

If you have a puppy or older dog who has got into the habit of jumping however, you can stop this unwanted behaviour with some consistent training.

Begin by ignoring and calmly turning your back on your dog when he jumps up on you. Don't shout at him and don't make eye contact with him. If your dog runs around to face you after you have turned your back on him, in order to try jumping up on you again, simply turn in the opposite direction again.

Don't squeeze your dogs paws, or make any physical contact with him, as is often advised. The trick here is to starve your dog of the attention he usually gets from jumping up on you, this is much easily achieved by ignoring him. Dogs don't usually expend too much energy doing things that don't work for them, so you will probably find that eventually your dog begins to back off and look at you quite confused.

When your dog begins to get the message and starts backing away from you, tell him the command 'sit'. As soon as he is in the sitting position, give him a food treat, or give him is favourite toy to play with as a reward. Don't praise him excitedly at this point, as it may trigger more of his jumping behaviour.

If your dog in inclined to jump on anyone he meets, try asking a few friends around to the house to take part in the same exercise, and make sure each and every person in your household follows the new rule of not allowing your dog to jump on them.

This kind of unwanted behaviour may take some time to remedy however, remember consistency and patience are the keys to success. Commit yourself to a regular regime of training, where you offer your dog a more appropriate way of enjoying your attention, and you will soon see an improvement in his behaviour.