Find Out Why Your Dog Jumps Up On You And Other People: Also How To Stop It

 

Find Out Why Your Dog Jumps Up On You And Other People: Also How To Stop It

 

I lost a tooth.

To be totally accurate, I lost a tooth and a half.

Not today, but a few years back when I was just starting to go into people’s homes to teach them how to train their dogs.

I will never forget this Golden Lab, her name was Clementine, a beautiful dog full of life and energy, friendly as they come and eager to play with the humans in her pack.

But that’s not what comes to my mind when I think of Clementine.

I’ll get to the what-n-why in a minute.

Clementine’s energy was the problem, it was unharnessed and unfocused, and like many dogs I have met, had no idea what to do with it, at least not in a constructive way.

I worked for ten minutes or so building trust with Clementine which wasn’t a problem she loved people to a fault and was eager to interact with me, but it was clear she was used to things being on her terms.

However she had never met someone like me before and it wasn’t long before I was making progress, I began to set the rules of engagement, and she was calming down and going with the flow much better.

I had her so she would sit for 10 seconds before moving in anticipation of the food reward. Before I came on the scene sitting was something only the people of the house did.

Clementine was not the sitting kind of dog.

Bouncing off the walls, knocking stuff over kind of dog, yes,

Sitting kind of dog,. no, her chaotic behavior knew no bounds.

If she was asked to sit, she would, but only for the fraction of a second it took for her butt to hit the floor and bounce right back up, as if her bum was spring-loaded. 🙂

I remember thinking this is going to be a piece of fried chicken, ( I know the saying is, “It’s going to be like a piece of cake”,.. but I don’t like cake”, I do however,.. looovve fried chicken.)

My cholesterol level not so much,

but it they will never know, as we are not on speaking terms right now.

But I digress…

Any hoo,..just when I thought I had this one in the bag, out comes Clementines owners who up till this point had been watching from inside the house.

The lady of the house hit the yard like a tornado, she almost ran toward me saying that she would never have believed that Clementine would be able to sit still like that if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

Her excitement was electric, even I felt it.

It took all of one second for me to figure out where Clementine learned to be so hyped up and excited.

One Reason Dogs Jump Up

Dogs feel what we feel, and Clementine was expressing in a physical way (jumping up, running hog-wild around the house ect),  what her owner lived everyday, and that was a chaotic life style with periodic high levels of excitement and anxiety.

It was in that moment of Clementines owner coming into the backyard that Clementine picked up on her energy and exploded from her sit position in front of me, straight up into my face.

More precisely, her big hard head,. met my pearly whites,.. in a head on tooth collision that didn’t end well for one and half of my front teeth. 😦

How To Stop Your Dog From Jumping Up

One of the best ways that I know of to get your dog to stop jumping up on you is to not reward him for the behavior, either intentionally or unintentionally.

When dogs are little we tend to meet them with excitement and joy and when the pup gets close enough we go down on one or both knees and coax him up on us to play and rough house a little.

Maybe we pet them when they jump up on us, while saying things like, who’s a good boy, what you want?, wanna get the stick?, and we throw a ball or give him treats just because he is so damn cute,..

That is the human thing to do, but in a dogs eyes this is a humongous reward and you can bet he is going to remember all the good things that came when he put his cute little paws up on you.

Fast forward 18 months and things are not so rosey, he now weighs a heck of a lot more than he did when he was 12 weeks old, and now when he greets us by jumping up, he can hurt us and wreck clean clothes.

Your friends and family stop coming for visits.

You try your best to get him to stop, you try every thing you can think of,

Yelling, scolding, turning your back, maybe even giving him a scruff up side the head, but nothing works.

All these attempts to stop your dog from jumping up on you are in and of themselves,..rewards..all be it..unintentional and negative in nature.

One of the ways to begin to fix this problem, is to take stock of the situation and make changes in your behavior in order to influence your dogs behavior.

Remember I said earlier that your dog feels what you feel, so with that in mind ask yourself these questions.

1- Do you act excited to see your dog when you come home?

2- Are you getting angry with your dog in those times when he jumps on you?

If you answered yes to either of these questions then you have to do some inward looking and try hard to not give your dog attention either positive or negative when you first greet them.

Instead of acknowledging your excited dog when you come home, ignore him and go about work with other chores, like getting supper ready or making a cup of coffee.

Ignore your dog like he was not even there, don’t look at him, don’t talk to him, and don’t touch him.

When you dog is calmer then you can say hello, don’t look them straight in the eye because this will cause more anxiety in an already hyper excited mind.

Call your dog to come and at the moment you know he is going to jump on you, look him right in the eye and say,.. “NO!! .. in your best I mean it voice, show your teeth, turn sideways, and don’t move.

When you show a dog your teeth it speaks volumes to the dog in his native language.

You see,..

 

Dogs are repelled by predators, especially if they are showing teeth and looking them right in the eyes,..

As far as predators go, humans are top of the pile.

Don’t take a step backward because this will only make him want to jump on you more.

Stand still,.. be the rock,.. and if he jumps up,.. let him,.. and when he gets no response,.. either positive or negative,.. he will soon learn that there is no reward in jumping up and he will stop.

Remember the more a dog gets rewarded for a behavior the more likely he is to repeat that behavior often.

As long as you stay consistent with minding your own energy,.. and be aware of the way you feel,.. couple that with providing no reward for your dog,.. before long jumping up will be a thing of the past.

If your dog is rebellious and refuses to respond, then remove him from the room and give him a 1 minute time out in a place where he has nothing to do but wait for you to come and get him.

Short time outs are a very effective method of learning for a dog.

Dogs are very social animals,.. and they don’t like being isolated from the rest of their pack, this will help the learning process move more quickly.

Teach your dog to sit, there are literally a hundred things your dog can’t do when he’s sitting,.. and you guessed it,..jumping up is one of them.

Your friends and family will be so impressed, and relieved,.. they will once again want to spend time with you and your good dog.

Be sure to teach everyone how to do this exercise with your dog.

If your dog is behaving like Clementine and has free run of the house,.. your first order of business should be to crate train your dog.

Not only does crate training allow your dog to have place of their own to sleep and feel safe, the crate is a great tool for managing unwanted behavior while you teach your dog the rules of the house.

Talk soon,

Harley

 

 

 

 

 

Why Dogs Run Hog Wild Crazy Around The House

 

 

 

 

 

 

My dogs are not inclined to run hog-wild around the house.

I believe that it’s because I work hard to make myself the moose that attracts their emotions, and therefore I’m able to help them bring the fear they have accumulated just by virtue of day-to-day living, to the surface, so that it can now become useful energy.

I accomplish this through games that engage their prey drive and urge to hunt, like tug of war, and hide and go find.

Once the fear energy is under control they can use it to connect with me in a meaningful way.

For example, when we take walks through the woods, play tug of war, hide and seek, and other useful avenues of co-operation, like herding and hunting.

Some people mistakenly think this seemingly out of the blue behavior is humorous, and reinforce their dogs fear by chasing them around in a game of sorts,.. thus bringing that initially invisible threat that set them off in the first place,.. into reality.

For most people this is something they will regret doing later on.

Even though my dogs don’ t behave in this hectic, bouncing off the walls way..I have rescued a few dogs that did.

I always thought it was about the stress and confusion of the new environment, memories of past life experiences, and having to deal with my dogs exuberant social behavior.

I was aware of the “fear factor”, because I observed the way they hauled their buts in low to the ground when they ran in random zig- zagging geometric patterns, as if to protect it from getting bitten by what ever was chasing them in their mind.

I gave it very little thought because after a few days of bonding, ie,  walks in the woods, and playing games designed to engage prey drive.

The crazy hog-wild running around just disappeared.

There is only one down side to my dogs not running hog-wild around the house..I don’t have a video to show you..but thankfully there is YouTube.

I found this short video that shows the behavior I am talking about..and you will see the person with the camera is under the false impression that this is funny, and inadvertently reinforces the dogs fear by chasing him around trying to film the action.

This person doesn’t understand that the dog is trying to connect with him, but don’t know how.

If you have questions about this post or anything that is on your mind , I would love to hear from you, leaving a comment here is a good place to start.

All the best,

Harley

Resource: Natural Dog Training.com

 

Why I Think Most Dog Obedience Classes Are A Waste Of Your Time And Money

Let me begin by saying that with all things there are exceptions to the rule.

and now on with my story…

I left this place scratching my head in total confusion.

I kept thinking to myself on the ride home, “Is this what dog training
has evolved into?”

Let me tell you why I will never set foot in another dog obedience class, and why I think they are a total waste of time and good money.

A few years back when I was first starting my online dog training
business, I decided to visit a few obedience classes to see what all the
fuss was about.

What I saw made me more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of
rocking chairs.

There were people walking their dogs in and out of cone pylons, zigging
and zagging in any number of geometric patterns, none of which I could see
had any real world applications, and every so often they would have the
dog sit for maybe 2 seconds and then give the dog a treat.

Not once did the instructor speak about corrections or discipline, which
by the way is one of the corner stones of my dog training philosophy.

I did not see anything that would help keep a dog from jumping up on
people or stealing food off the counter, or be able to be around other
dogs without reacting, which is what most people want from their dogs,
and the thought of treating a dog for basically nothing at all really
made my skin crawl.

Everything the dogs did in these classes was motivated by food rewards.
Not only is this impossible it’s not something you will see in nature.

So I put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and did some investigating.

I asked several people I knew that had problems with their dogs and more
often than not these people had at one time or another had their dogs in
obedience class.

Fast forward 6 years

If anything has changed it’s been for the worse, most of my work is un-
doing what was done to the dogs in a formal obedience class. You only
need to look at the streets in your neighborhood to find dogs pulling
people down the street, and if you knock on any number of doors you will
inevitably hear someone yell, “There’s someone at the door put the dog
away!”, followed by uncontrolled insane barking.

These dogs won’t sit for more than a few seconds, rarely will come when
called without being bribed, and forget about holding a stay for any
length of time, it’s just not going to happen.

The simple truth is that dogs and their owners who attend formal
obedience classes are not taught the correct way and much of what they
are taught is unnecessary.

This is why I think the dog training obedience classes are a waste of your
time and money, not to mention detrimental to your dogs well-being.

People don’t want their dog to be like the “Littlest Hobo”

Most of the people I work with just want well-mannered dogs that for the
most part are easy to handle and stay out of trouble. So you have to ask
yourself..

With the large number of dogs coming out of obedience class with no
usable skill and in most cases worse off than when they went in, is it
the dogs fault, the owners fault, or it the methodology messed up?

So just in case you’re not convinced by my insightful posting and you are
hell-bent on taking your new puppy  or dog to obedience class..here’s my number
506-375-4143.

Keep it in a safe place cause I will be hearing from you real soon.

If you liked this post then let me know by liking my facebook page River Valley Dog Training

if you look to your left you will see the big like button just give it a click..

Your support is very much appreciated.

All the best

Harley

Why More Than One Dog Is Bad News For New Dog Owners

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes new dog owners think they should get two puppies so they will grow up with another dog for
company. I don’t think this is a very good idea, and if you are an inexperienced dog owner/trainer it will
be hard enough for you to work with one puppy let alone two. Just think about the middle of the night
pee breaks.

You will be grouchy enough with one pup,so how will you feel when you take the first one
out at 1:45, get back to bed and start to drift when, the other one has to go. This will go on until
the pups can hold their water for at least 7 hours. They will in most cases be between 10-12 months old
when this happens,but it really depends on your dog.This is the first reason why more than one dog is
bad news for new dog owners.

The second reason I base on emails I get from people who do have more than one dog in the home. The 
problems they are experiencing  could be as a result of having more than one foster or rescued dog, or
they got a new pup to give their old dog a friend. Regardless of the situation the problems all have
one thread of behavior in common.They all say that the dogs seemed fine for a while and then all of a
sudden, something bad happened.

Either one pup attacked the other and he needed 50 stitches to close the wound on his rump, or the younger pup has been terrorizing the old dog and now the old boy won’t come out from under the bed, and he refuses to eat. Grand Father dogs can get down in the dumps real easy if a puppy is tormenting them. Sometimes if the old boy has still got the drive to fight, the pup might not make it out alive. These problems occurred because new dog owners who have very little experience with dogs,make the mistake of thinking dogs can work things out for themselves, well I know from 45 years of experience, they won’t just sit down have a bone and talk about it, they are going to dust it up, that’s the dog way.

If left untrained there will be jostling between two dogs for highest rank in the family pack.This
genetically driven instinct has a powerful effect on how your dog will behave, and this is where new
dog owners make a huge mistake. In the case of getting two puppies, not separating these dogs in
different crates the moment they came into the house. In the case of one pup and one older adult dog the pup needs to be crated.

With the right training, these dogs can eventually be together as long as they are being supervised by the owner.Don’t be falsely lured into thinking, “Oh, I am only going to the store, I’ll be 5 minutes, they’ll be fine.” You might come back to a house that is torn to hell and find one dead dog, and one severely injured dog. You might want to read my article on how to break up a dog fight and not get bitten.

If you already have more than one dog in the house I suggest you get each one a crate and separate them and then begin to establish leadership with all your dogs. When dogs are in the presence of their leader, there will be no fighting, or foolishness of any kind.You might want to read this article I wrote on the subject.

How To Teach A  Grown Dog That You Are Leader

The third reason I think more than two dogs is bad news for new dog owners is because it’s hard enough with our busy lives to spend enough time socializing and training one dog but with two dogs your time will be too thinly spread, and both dogs will suffer because you will only be spending half the time with each dog that you should.

The result of this will be that your pups will grow up bonded and will want to spend more time together than with you. This might sound cute, puppies bonding and playing together, but you have to know that this pups will mature between 18- 24 months, this means that their drive for rank in the pack is going to sky-rocket, and these to bonded buddies are going to draw blood as they fight for rank in the pack.

That’s it for now

Harley

Why Going To The Dog Park Is Risky For You and Your Puppy Or Dog

 

 

 

I get emails every week from people who are trying to figure out how to raise their puppies and dogs to be good canine citizens, but are concerned with some particular behavior that is causing them problems.

I want to share with you one of these emails that I got from a lady who takes her 10 month old Belgian Malinois to the dog park on a regular basis.

The email reads like this:

“Hi,my name is Mary and I have a problem.” “I have this 10 month old Belgian Malinois and I take him to the dog park to play and socialize as often as I can, usually 4-5 times a week.” “Lately he has been showing a nasty bit of behavior towards other dogs at the park.” “He will put his head on them and push them down, if they lay down, he stands over them like a statue growling even louder.”

“I am worried that he is going to attack one of these dogs.” “I try to correct him but he pays no attention to me,..I am worried about him and I don’t want to do something that will scar him for life..please help.”

P.S. “I was wondering if going to a different park would help?”

This was my reply:

“Hi Mary thanks for the great questions.” “What I am about to tell you is straight up dead serious.”

“I don’t fool around when it comes to problems like yours.”

“I’m probably being politically incorrect, but I really don’t give a damn.” “Dog aggression is dangerous, serious, business, and I don’t take it lightly.”

“Neither should you.”

“People get bitten every day by their own dogs, because they tried to break  up a fight at the dog park.”

“I need you to listen to me when I tell you this.”

“You can NEVER take your Malinois to ANY dog park as long as he is showing aggression.” “To ignore this advice is dangerous not only to you and other people, but to any dog that is around your dog.”

You need to learn how drive plays a big part in your dog’s personality.

When an educated dog that is in control of his drive, they will not be aggressive.

I suggest you visit my website and read the article I wrote on how to establish leadership with your puppy.

Thanks for writing, I hope I have been of some help. I completely understand your frustration.

Aggressive and dominant dogs are a pain in the keester

All the best

Harley

This email got me thinking about dog parks so I decided to tell you why I think taking your puppy or dog to a dog park to run wild with 15 or so strange dogs off leash is a very risky idea.

Dog parks were born out of necessity. People who live in town and city apartments needed somewhere to take their dogs to exercise and play.

While the concept was no doubt conceived in good intention, all I see when I visit one of these parks is a lot of dogs off leash with no human leadership to speak of, and just about every one of them is out of control.

A high number of these dog owners don’t know about how powerful the instincts are in their family pet, and how these drives effect a dogs behavior.

When a dog is introduced into the dog park his drive and instinct is running on max power.

If you stand back and observe dogs interacting in the park you will see that the dogs are grouping together in packs. If there are more than 3 dogs in a group then this is a pack. Within that grouping the dogs will vie for rank, the dog with the best leadership skills will set the rules for play.

I see this play out often when the same dogs go to the same park all the time. They will see this area as their territory and if an outside dog comes into the park, he is not going to be welcomed like a long-lost buddy, and this is where the problems start.

The dogs who are familiar to the park will become territorial,dominant,and some will be fearful.All of these behaviors can result in aggression which can very quickly, in the blink of your eye quick, turn into a full on dog fight.

Where a lot of people make a mistake is by thinking that because those dogs are playing with other dogs they will play with yours.

This is dangerous thinking.

Those dogs who are playing have already established the pecking order, and the game is being played by their rules. If your dog has a different idea about how to play the game, he may well be attacked by the leader of that grouping of dogs, and the other dogs in that group might very well attack your dog as well.

Mixing puppies and adult dogs together in this kind of situation is just plain wrong. Some older dogs don’t really tolerate a puppy’s behavior and have no qualms about putting that puppy in his rank. When a older dog corrects a puppy for any certain behavior, the punishment can range from a tooth bump, which might draw a little blood and certainly make the puppy yelp, and run for the hills, to a full on aggressive attack that can result in sever injury to the pup or even death.

If your pup is approached by one of these dominant aggressive older dogs you have got to get your pup behind you and protect him at all cost. If you fail at this and your pup gets attacked you will most likely raise a dog aggressive dog.

And just because you got a Rottweiler or a German Shepard, that really don’t  make any difference, a puppy, regardless of breed, is not ready to defend it’s self against any dog that is not in his age group.

To let your puppy work things out for himself with an older dog is the same as putting your 7 year old pee-wee hockey player into a game with kids 10-13  years old, in most cases the 7 year old is not ready, physically,mentally or in any other way to play with those boys, and is at some point end up hurt.

I take my dogs and puppies to the dog park, but I stay outside the fence and work on having fun and keeping my dog focused on me, not the dogs or people in the park.

The only good thing about a dog park at least for me and my dogs and pups, is that it can serve as a great distraction learning environment, as long as I keep outside the fence.

Harley

Why You Should Never Train A Dog to Stop Growling

 

Here is a scenario that plays out on your street, the dog park and in most people’s homes. It’s a great lesson in why you should not train a dog to stop growling.

Jim takes his dog Bully Boy for a walk through the neighborhood park, it’s a lovely morning the birds are chirping, the sky is sunny and blue, and there are a few people also taking advantage of the early morning, and exercising their dogs. Jim Looks across the park, and just there is a woman with a younger puppy coming directly towards him at a high rate of speed.

 

 

Now Jim is a mindful dog owner and has taught Bully Boy how to properly handle a meet and greet. The puppy however is exuberant and very inexperienced when it comes to interacting with older dogs, so once he was within reach of Bully Boy, he began to jump relentlessly up against Bully Boy, trying to initiate play.

 

 

The woman seemed oblivious to what was happening and did nothing to curb her puppy’s excitement, and Bully Boy while he was not aggressive did not want to be bothered, so he growled at the pup. The puppy did not understand that growl as a warning, so he continued to jump, and lick Bully Boy’s face and nip at his legs, Bully Boy growled louder,.. loud enough to get the attention of not only the pup, but Jim and the woman also.

 

Jim who was throughly embarrassed by Bully Boy’s growling, apologized and quickly walked away.

 
Jim should not have been embarrassed by Bully Boy’s growling, and had nothing to apologize for, you see, growling is a perfectly normal and necessary form of communication, a warning that say’s “Hey I don’t like that”, or Don’t come any closer”

 
It should have been the woman who apologized to Jim for not having her pup on a leash, and hopefully the pup will learn to stop when warned off by older dogs, before he gets the crap beat out of him.

 
The lesson in this story is this:

 
Never punish a dog for growling, it is the same as taking the safety off a loaded gun, it can go off at any moment without notice.

 
Growling is meant to avoid aggression, not cause it.

 
A dog that has been trained to stop growling is a very dangerous dog.

 

There are better ways to deal with a growling dog, like distraction, turn your dog away from the source of their uncomfort, this tells the dog that there is nothing here for you to worry about.

 
Never yell or hit a growling dog, as this will only make things worse, and could end very badly.

 
If it is your dog that is growling at you, for what ever reason, wait until the dog calms down and then work on the issue, for example, resource guarding. If you need help contact a professional trainer to help you.

 
Remember, growling is a perfectly normal way for dog’s to communicate their feelings, and we should never train a dog to stop growling, figure out why your dog is growling, help them to feel better,and don’t view it as bad behavior.

 
I hope you enjoyed today’s post, please share it with your friends, and leave a comment below, let me know what you think, and if there is anything you would like for me to write about, or maybe make a video, tell me about it.

 
Thank you for your continued support.

 

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Why is My Dog So Hard to Train?

Every dog is unique, they have very different personalities and quirks. Some follow direction easily while others would rather set the rules for themselves. If you find you are asking the question, why is my dog so hard to train?, the answer lies in the understanding of your dog.

 

You might be thinking that your last dog was so easy to train, that it just don’t make any sense that this one should be more difficult. You must understand that there are a number of traits that may be the cause. The reason your training efforts are being hampered boils down to your dogs independent nature and the level of dominance he is displaying.

 

Let’s examine the issue of Confidence.

 

A confident dog likes to do things his way, he struts around with his tail curled high up over his back, and he will not take orders very well. He will definitely make you jump through hoops to prove that you deserve his attention. Prepare yourself for the growling when you try to take a favorite toy for him, and maybe even snap at you. This type of dog is trainable, and if you set clear, reasonable rules, boundaries, and limitations, and be consistent with what you want, your dog will learn that you are clearly in charge and your training efforts will get easier.

 

Let’s examine the issue of Independence

 

An independent dog may love you but will seem like he could care less if he pleases you. He will most likely be a loner, chooses not to play with other dogs, and not want to be petted, or groomed, and may protest when you try. He may turn away from you when you try to correct him.

 

Do not try to use physical force, ie, yanking the leash, yelling, ect, when trying to train an independent dog, they will resist and your training will go no where. The best way to train this kind of dog is to find what they like the best, ie, treats, or a toy, and use this to your advantage. When he is getting what he wants he will be more likely to be compliant.

 

If you take the time to learn about what makes your dog tick, your training efforts will be more successful, and you can stop asking the question, why is my dog so hard to train?

 

If you have questions about this or any topic, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me through the form beneath this post. Grab a free copy of my training report on How to have a well-trained dog in 4 easy steps. Just contact me through the form and I will send you a copy as soon as I can.

 

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