Ask the trainer: how do I stop my dog from barking & jumping on people?

Dear Kevin,
How do I keep my dog, Rocky from barking and jumping up on people?

Hi Rodney,

It sounds like you’re dealing with an over excited dog.

I am going to attach a video below that gives a good visual of how to handle the situation. The overall goal is to teach Rocky that barking and jumping is only going to make him wait longer to meet the person he is so excited about. (I am just assuming this is excitement.)

What we want to do is teach an incompatible behavior. An incompatible behavior for jumping can be sitting. We will want to focus heavily on getting him to sit to greet people, instead of all the other behaviors. If you have multiple people in your household you’ll want to practice the “go say hi” cue that is demonstrated in the video below. With lots of repetition this will teach him to walk up to the guest and sit, which then would result in no jumping or barking.

When doing this, make sure you use a leash so that Rocky can’t gain access to his reward (the person) until he is doing the correct behavior. With lots of repetition and consistency he will stop those unwanted behaviors.

This video provides a good visual of how to train Rocky:

Thanks for the question!

Video: Dog Training: Stop Your Dogs from Barking and Jumping on Guests - Thriving Canine

Kevin is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT.org)  and is a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator through the American Kennel Club. He currently resides in Ohio with his dog, V, a six-year-old Shepherd/Lab mix, where he operates All Dogs Go To Kevin, LLC, specializing in helping build positive relationships between humans and their canine companions using clear communication, not pain and fear. For more training tips and tricks, and to meet his amazing dog, V,  follow him on Facebook by clicking here.

Reviews & Comments