Dogs jumping on people is one of the biggest complaints pet owners have. Does this sound familiar? You wake up in the morning and your dog immediately starts jumping on you trying to give you some wet and slimy good morning kisses. Every time the two of you meet after you’ve been out of the house for two minutes, your dog jumps on you. It’s enough to drive you crazy!

Let’s not even get into your dog’s jumps on every visitor that walks through your front door, including young children, which is really a problem because they can be knocked over or end up with a lifelong traumatic fear of dogs.

My dog ​​always thought people were coming to see her. She would move to a spot in front of me just as she was reaching for the doorknob, and this couldn’t be easy considering she’s a 70 pound Lab! The guest enters and my dog ​​jumps. He got so bad that he would lock her in the bathroom if she was expecting guests. He would also make her stay in the backyard if she had any nice clothes because he didn’t want her to ruin them with her big paws.

Well I finally got some much needed information and advice on jumping dogs. They learn to jump when they are young. The cubs jump on their littermates and on their mother. In fact, licking mom’s muzzle is an inherited way of greeting her. I found that letting her jump on me when she was a cute little thing only reinforced behavior that I would one day regret. And picking her up and letting her lick my “nuzzle” was a mistake.

With a few things going for me, like persistence, stubbornness, and patience, I was able to break my adult dog’s jumping habit much easier than I thought possible. The main thing is to be the alpha dog; the one in charge, and let the dog know what you like and dislike about certain behaviors. Trust me, if I can stop my dog ​​from jumping, you can too.