Behavior Tip of the Month

By Carole Beck Schatz

Jumping on Guests at the Door - #2

QUESTION

Question: My dog has learned not to jump on us. However he's terrible at the front door. He jumps on all our guests when they come in the door. I'm tempted to put him in the backyard. What can I do instead of isolating him?

ANSWER

So, you’ve tried all the suggestions in last month’s column and Fido’s still jumping on your guests. In that case, why don’t you try one more approach. This one is called “The Freeze Game” and was introduced by September Morn, a well known dog trainer and writer. The idea is to teach your dog how to hold a sit even if very excited. After all, what can be more exciting than strangers coming into the house? Ms. Morn calls this game “Go Wild and Freeze”.

  1. Teach your dog to sit using a food lure. If you need help training Fido, there’s an excellent new book written by Pat Miller titled “The Power of Positive Dog training”.
  2. Teach everyone in the family how to use food lures to sit your pet.
  3. As September Morn says, “call ‘Go Wild’ and have everyone jump around, wiggle, wave arms, and make happy sounds. After a few seconds, call ‘Freeze!’ and have everyone stop and stand tall. When the action stops, the player closest to Fido asks him to sit and gives him a treat when he does. Then start another round. Each time wait a little longer before calling ‘Freeze.’”
  4. Play the game by the front door. Have a family member ring the doorbell and come in the door. You yell “Freeze” and, when Fido sits, reward him with a fantastic treat.
  5. Practice this over and over with family members knocking and ringing the bell. Reward your sitting dog with super-fantastic treats.
  6. When Fido can sit when family members come in the front door, you can try practicing with good friends. If Fido “Freezes” and sits, he receives unbelievable goodies and maybe his favorite toy thrown into the house.

If you want even more ideas on how to discourage jumping, read Pat Miller’ s book mentioned above. Your dog will thank you for it.

Hopefully, one of these methods will make the new year NOT a “leap year” for you and your pet.

Carole

Carole Schatz, CPDT Certified Pet Dog Trainer
Best Friend Behavior Counseling and Training
San Diego, Ca.
619-460-6888
www.sancarlosvet.com and click on "Behavior Tips"

"Positively teaching pets and their people since 1977"

Do you have a question for Carole? You can reach her at the email address listed on her resume. Perhaps she will use it in an upcoming article on this Web site.