08/26/2026
JOLLY JUMPERS
Dogs jumping up is a common, normal behaviour, but it’s one that’s relatively easy to change as long as our reaction is consistent and everyone that interacts with the dog, follows the same approach.
When dogs have been jumping up for a long time, probably since pups, it takes time to teach an alternative behaviour and doesn’t happen overnight.
Allowing your dog to jump up when you wearing an old pair of jeans because it really doesn’t matter, but getting annoyed when you’re wearing smart clothes, causes confusion.
As with all behaviour we want to change, consistency is really important.
Dogs will continue to do what they find rewarding and we often inadvertently encourage and reward this behaviour by our reactions.
Pushing our dog away, shouting, scolding or interacting with our dogs when they jump up is still providing attention, even though it might be “negative” attention.
We need to show our dogs that jumping up results in no attention, but having 4 paws on the floor, searching for a treat that is thrown, retrieving a favourite toy, or a hand or chin touch is far more rewarding.
Dogs will soon realise that - “I don't have to jump up to get what I need. I can do something else that works much better.”
