How to teach Fido not to jump on people

One of the many problems most dog owners struggle with is that their dogs jump up against them and their friends and family. Most dogs get overly excited when they hear a car pulling into the driveway or when they hear the doorbell ring. They charge to the front door with a loud noise and with you following and shouting at them to get quiet, which of cause they cannot hear. When you open the door they all jump together at this poor person standing there. You don’t even have the opportunity to greet your friend because you are just shouting and grabbing dogs all over.

When the first ten minutes of excitement is over, then you can invite your friend in and start apologising for your dogs’ misbehaviour. If this is what you are experiencing day after day, it is time for some serious behaviour modification training. It is, of cause, more difficult when you have more than one or two dogs, but it is possible.

Why do dogs jump up on people?
There are basically two reasons why dogs jump up, but both of these reasons are normal canine behaviour. Unfortunately it is not appropriate for dog-human interaction and therefor we must train them to display more appropriate behaviour.

The first reason is that the dog wants to say "hi". Dogs greet each other by sniffing the behinds (which is also not very appropriate for us!) and also by touching noses. If you do not get down to the dog’s level, he feels a very strong instinct to jump up to touch noses with you. This behaviour is also strengthened from puppy days when many people actually encourage the puppy to jump up and even more so when they pick up the puppy and kiss it on it’s nose. This is a mistake most people make when they don’t think about the fact that within a few months this little adorable puppy will not be so little anymore.

The second reason why a dog will jump up against someone is to show dominance. This often happens when an adult dog jumps up on a child or strangers. This type of jumping can have serious consequences.

How to teach your dog not to jump up

Who is Alpha?
The very first thing you should do is to establish your role as Alpha. Your dog should very clearly understand that you are his leader. One of the most important rules that you should follow to accomplish that is to totally ignore your dog when you leave the house and also when you come in again. Ask everybody that visits you to do the same. If the dog jumps up, you should just turn your back on him. Do not say a word, do not touch him and do not even make eye contact. If you do this consistently, the jumping up behaviour will already be reduced.

The Sit-Stay
You can also teach your dog to sit-stay, while you open the door and the visitor enters. Have your dog on lead and have your clicker and treats ready. Ask a friend to help you. When he rings the doorbell, instead of racing your dog to the door, just remain calm, take hold of the lead, lure your dog into the sit position and click and treat. Now, give the stay command and call to your friend to come in. He should totally ignore your dog. Click and treat for a good sit-stay. You should remain at your dog’s side to ensure he does not break his stay. Now with the dog still on lead walk to the living room and ask your friend to sit down. Now you can bring your dog closer to greet your friend. When your dog has settled down a bit, you can take the lead off.

Repeat this exercise many times over and with different people to help you. Your dog will learn but you will have to be very consistent. If you have more than one dog, it will be more difficult. First practise with them separately and then together.

Dog Problems and Solutions

House training
Probably the number one problem puppy owners have to deal with is house training.

I hear these questions every day:

• How to I get my puppy to go outside?
• My puppy messes in the house, what should I do?
• House training 11 month male dog?
• House training a dog in cold weather?
• Please give me advice on puppy toilet training?
  

I have written and posted an article: How to house train a dog - easy steps.
The keywords are patience and consistency.

Stop Leash Pulling
This is probably the second most asked question:

• How can I teach my dog not to pull on his leash when I take him for a walk?
• How to break dog from pulling on leash?
• How to stop a boxer from pulling on a leash?

Read my article: Don't let Fido pull you.
Here I would really advise you to start early. Do not let your dog even come into the habit of pulling you, especially if it is a strong large breed. Again be patient and consistent.

Do not give in!

Dog Barking

Another question that I'm often asked goes like this:

• My dog barks all night, why?
• My dog barks at the ceiling, how can I stop that?
• My dog barks in the morning to wake us, what can I do?
• Dog barks while I'm gone, what must I do?
• My dog barks at people in hats, why?
• My Australian Cattle dog barks at husband, is the dog jealous?

All these and many more are questions I hear regularly. Most barking is because the dog seeks your attention, and it mostly works for him and that is why he will continue to do so. Read my article Stop the Barking.

Training Your Dog to Listen to You

Training Your Dog to Listen to You

Why Won't My Dog Listen To Me?

This is a common question that most first-time Dog owners ask me. Before I answer your question, let me ask you a few instead:

• Do you use cookies, collars, head halters or clickers to make your Dog listen to your commands?

• Do you have to raise your voice every time you want your Dog to listen to you?

• Does your Dog always come or sit on command - anytime and anywhere you want him to?

If your answers are mostly in the negative, its time you seriously reconsider your role as a sincere Dog trainer and an ideal pet parent.

Learn how to bond with your Dog with this free mini course.

Get Your Dog To Listen To You

Before you begin any training, you must first establish yourself as the "ALPHA dog" of your family. Your Dog must know that you’re the leader of the pack and it is YOU who is in charge.

Here is a list of simple DO's and DONT's that you must follow if you want to be the Alpha:

• Always go out or come in through the door first - remember you are the leader;

• Always eat first - give your Dog something to eat only after you've finished your meal;

• Don’t circle around your Dog when he is lying on the floor - make your Dog move out of your way instead;

• Don't let your Dog set the rules - pay attention to him when you think fit and not whenever he demands;

• Don’t permit your Dog to sleep with you in your bed - demarcate his sleeping area clearly.

Once you successfully established yourself as the Alpha, training your Dog and making him listen will be a lot easier than you can imagine. Remember, if your Dog does not learn to "listen", all your training efforts will be in vain!

Does your Dog know his name? Does your Dog look at you whenever you call him by his name? This is the first and the most critical step involved in Dog Training. If your Dog doesn't respond to his name, you cannot have his attention for teaching him any other commands.

To make sure that your Dog recognizes his name, take a treat in your hand and hold it away from your body. Call your Dog's name. He is most likely to look at the treat in your hand. Continue calling his name untill he turns and looks at your eyes. Give him the treat immediately. Repeat this exercise by holding the treat in the other hand. Once you're sure that your Dog has learnt to recognize his name, just call his name and reward him for looking at you by petting or with a hug.

You must understand that Dogs respond far better to positive reinforcement than they do to coercion or force.

Learn how to train your Dog better with this free mini course.

Copyright (c) 2009 TrainPetDog.com

How to train a dog to carry his toys to his bed

First of all I would suggest you should use clicker training. If your dog is not yet clicker trained, first make him understand how the clicker works. Click and treat a couple of times. Now give him one of his toys to hold in his mouth. If he cannot do that, you should first work on the retrieve exercise. I assume here that your dog can retrieve. Now with the toy in his mouth, walk with him and encourage him to bring the toy. Walk with him to his bed. Now show him a treat - he will most probably just drop the toy, because he wants the treat. As he drops the toy, click and give the treat. Repeat this many times. You can start giving a command - any descriptive word you can come up with. Your dog will learn to associate the command with the action of taking the toy to his bed with the click and with the treat.

Latest Dog Training Blog

Dogs Training is my new blog that you can look at and get some really nice information. This is going to be a really interesting blog, not just about dog training but dogs in general. So go there, bookmark that site and visit it often. It is going to be updated very often.