Jumping

Hi there.

Jumping can be a very frustrating vice and not one program will work for every dog. So i will give you some ideas and hope that one of them will suit your situation.

The first advice i would give you is to ensure you and your family members have read and understand the techniques in the bonus book "Secrets to becoming the Alpha Dog". These are great techniques for maintaining or establishing your position at the head of the household. No matter what the problem is all dogs need to know where the stand in the house for both yours and their peace and comfort.

Here are some ways to reinforce your position-

1) If you come across your dog while she is sleeping or lying on the floor then you can reinforce your position as alpha dog by making her move so that you can pass by.

2) Make sure that you always go through doorways first. A good method to reinforce your position as alpha dog is to walk your dog around the house on the leash, making your dog wait while you walk through doorways first.

3) At mealtimes make sure that your dogs eat after all of the humans have.

4) Do not feed your dogs tidbits or let it pester you at the table. Save the morsels and tidbits for training sessions instead.

5) Do not greet your dogs straightaway when you arrive home. Make it wait until you are ready and then call it to you.

6) Whenever your dogs want attention or anything wait till they are sitting and being well behaved.

7) When you give a command make sure that you are in a position to enforce the action that you require from your dog, especially in the initial stages of Alpha Dog training. Also, use the Alarm-No-Command technique as described in the Alpha Dog bonus book to reprimand your dog if it does not obey your command.

She needs to know that the rest of the family are dominant animals and what they say goes. The more she understands this the easier it is later when you try and correct problem behaviours.

The next advice i would give you is to work very hard on her obedience. The more obedient a dog is the easier it is to control them in any situation.
Start with 15 min training sessions twice a day. Work on commands like sit, stay, and come as mentioned in SitStayFetch. BE patient and consistent.


The most successful is the method of teaching the dog that it will only get attention when it has all four feet on the ground. The next time she jumps growl and reprimand her as above, and push her off you. When she is off you give her the Sit command. The second she sits you must praise her to reinforce her good behaviour. Petting, playing and talking to her are great ways to do this. You have to be very consistent with this method and it will take time before you see results so don't give up if she doesn't respond straight away.

Another method is when they jump to firmly step on the dogs toes (not hard as you may cause damage). Combine this with the reprimand as above and if you like you should also use this with the sit and calm method.

The last way is to lift your knee up into her chest gently and push her back when she jumps. At the same time reprimand her. The second she hits the floor give her a sit command and praise her if she responds.

Everyone in the family and visitors need to follow the same program so she isn't getting confused
The problems your dog has are correctable and it is your commitment, patience and consistency that will rule things. You sound very dedicated to this so keep up all the good work and i am sure you will have some results soon. Good luck.

Todd