Dog is jumping on visitors, but now not to jump on us

[IONA DUPLESSIS]

Hi!

 

Our 8 month golden retriever is trained to not jump on us by either sitting in front of us or laying down on his bed when we enter the house/room. However when a visitor arrives, he will jump on them continuously unless he is on a leash or on his bed. It's frustrating because we can never relax with someone else in the house.  It's unrealistic to keep him on a leash or on his bed 24/7 when we have visitors as this is only managing his behaviour, so we would like him to also learn to not jump on visitors so we can all move freely in the house. 

1. Why is he not jumping on us, but he jumps on visitors?

2. How can we teach him to not jump on visitors?

Thanks for all your help!

Iona

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there, great questions!

First of all, if your dog jumps on visitors, and not on you, kudos to you! There is surely some progress made. It is more difficult to tackle a dog who jumps on their owners, close family members and visitors, compared to a dog who jumps only on visitors. 

Question 1: Why is he not jumping on us, but he jumps on visitors?

The reason why your dog is not jumping on you, but is jumping on visitors is because of several reasons, let's explore some of them.

-Lack of Consistency 
If your dog is not jumping on you or other family members, this is likely because you have all been very consistent. Being on the same page is fundamental to help dogs succeed in training, and a lack of consistency among people sharing the home is a primary reason for dogs who struggle mastering their obedience kills.  

Unless you have actively coached your visitors on how to prevent your dog from jumping on them and how to react should your dog still manage to jump on them, from your dog's perspective, they are worth of being jumped just because there is no consistency going on. 

-Sense of Familiarity
Because you and other family members are often around, your dog may not feel compelled to express his overly excited greetings which is often dedicated to dog owners or people who have been away for some time.

-The Novelty Factor 
Dogs can be particularly drawn to new people and may become overly excited when they're interacting with people they have never met before or who they see sparingly. 

-Inability to Follow Directions

When dogs greet visitors, they may be too excited and over threshold to be able to listen to familiar cues. This causes the dog to rehearse a problematic behavior and continue to greet them in a hyper, overly aroused state. 

-Not Following Through

Because many visitors downplay a dog's jumping ("oh, it's no big deal, Rover just wants to say hello! Right Rover? Now give me a little kissy!") we may not be as consistent as we would like in enforcing our no-jumping-on-guests rule.  Or perhaps we may be distracted too or somewhat embarrassed or worried to upset guests who may have a different view towards dogs who jump. 

-The Power of Reinforcement 
If your dog receives *any* form of attention when he jumps on strangers, consider that this will reinforce the jumping behavior, allowing it to persist and strengthen.  Many visitors will interact in some way when a dog who happens to jump on them. They may look at your dog, pet your dog or sweet talk to your dog. 

Dogs who love attention will seek these interactions, even if the attention happens to be of the "negative type," such as a stranger pushing your dog away or scolding your dog because he has left paw prints all over his new business suit.

-A Matter of Fear
In certain circumstances, the dog may jump as a way to manifest negative feelings such as stress, fear or anxiety. This form of jumping allows dogs to increase distance from the strangers. 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Question 2: How can we teach him to not jump on visitors?

In order to tackle this issue it is import to involve strangers and willing visitors to participate in your dog's training. If you have guests who are willing to collaborate, invite them over for a "no-jump party." In other words, instruct them on what to do and what not to do so that you can practice with your dog in a more systematic way. 

Make sure that all your visitors follow the same consistent rules that you and your family have applied so far. This often consists of having your guests follow the rule of ignoring the dog (resisting the temptation to make eye contact, touch the dog or say hello), and having a plan in place if the dog manages to jump (such as turning around and leaving). 

Here is a more in-depth guide on how to accomplish this (scroll down to the section on jumping on guests/other people: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/jumping/

Once your visitors are able to enter the house without your dog jumping, you can have them walk around the house and try to preempt any jumping *before* it happens.

In other words, as soon as they see your dog approaching them, they should quickly say "sit" and then praise and toss a treat at a distance. If your dog manages to jump, they should turn around, and ignore the dog counting up to 10.  Once they have counted up to ten, they can turn around and try again to preempt the jump by asking for a sit. After several trials, your dog may learn to automatically sit upon approaching guests. This may initially look like a dog sitting and begging for treats, but what we are trying to do here is replace the undesirable behavior with a desirable one so that that the undesirable one no longer gains reinforcement and extinguishes. On top of this, the running back and forth between approaching and chasing treats may help remove some of the excited or anxious energy. 

After several of these trials, most dogs grow bored of the game at some point and look for something else to do. You may end with a final sit being praised and rewarded with a long-lasting reward such as a  frozen Kong to enjoy on a mat while you and your guests chit-chat on the couch. 

To be thorough, it would also help to find out if there are any particular triggers that seem to evoke jumping. These can be a guest's hand movements or excited talking, to which you can work on desensitizing your dog to, here is a case study demonstrating how to accomplish this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/02-maggie-assessing-jumping-behavior-desensitization/

What if My Dog Won't Sit?

If your dog is too over threshold to obey a sit, skip the sit for now, and start easy peasy, by having your dog on leash and a volunteer enter the door as you toss several small pieces of tasty treats on the ground. Once the dog is about to finish the treats, the volunteer leaves. Rinse and repeat several times, until your dog seems calmer. 

After several trials, have the volunteer enter and try asking for a sit before tossing the treats. If your dog was able to sit, toss the treats and once again, have the volunteer leave once the dog is about to finish the treats. Rinse and repeat several times, until your dog seems calmer. 

Next, further raise criteria, see if you can ask your dog to lie down before tossing the treats. If your dog complies, toss the treats and have the volunteer leave once the dog is about to finish the treats. Rinse and repeat several times, until your dog seems calmer. 

Repeat the above now with your dog off leash. If your primary door leads to unfenced yard, practice only with a door that leads to a fenced yard for safety (many dogs will escape if a door is opened just a bit and they see something that attracts them). 

Next, further raise criteria. Add a mat, place it nearby the door and as your volunteer is about to enter, ask your dog to go lie down on it. Give the treats there. Have the volunteer leave once the dog is about to finish the treats. Rinse and repeat several times, until your dog seems calmer. 

Next, ask for a long down/stay on the mat. As your volunteer enters, ask your dog to lie on the mat and this time offer a longer-lasting chew *(like a whole dog cookie). Have your dog stay there as you chit-chat and shake hands with the guest. As your dog is about to finish the chew, have your guest leave. 

Further raise criteria. As your volunteer enters, ask your dog to lie on the mat and this time offer a much longer-lasting chew like a stuffed Kong or safe long-lasting edible. Have your guest sit down on the couch for some time. As your dog is about to finish the chew, have your guest leave.

The goal once again is to be able to have the dog engage in alternate behaviors. These alternate behaviors help dogs swap to a rational, cognitive state versus acting over the top. The alternate behaviors can be several (doesn't have to be lie on a mat, although this may work best as it has built-in duration) and you can pick which ones you prefer. Having the dogs hand target the guest's hands when the guests are sitting works also well to replace obnoxious hyper behaviors. 

I hope this helps, let me know how things go! The more you can practice with volunteers the better!