[Amos]

Hello all, I'm in need of a little training advice for my 5.5 month old lab/pit boy. I've read through the stickies and tried just about everything I can think of to no avail. The main problem is we just cannot get him to stop jumping up on people and basically just being in everyone's face. Along with that is he is a submissive urinator which I'm not quite so worried about because I'm still hoping he will grow out of it in time. So if anyone has had experience with jumping and pawing where conventional training methods just didn't work I'd love to hear what you did.

The only other real issue we have with him is we cannot take him on walks. He refuses to leave the yard because he gets scared. When he was younger I didn't think as much of it because I can see how a young pup would get freaked out by things in a new environment, but I really thought he would be over it by now. I've tried coaxing, bribing with treats, but nothing works he is just too scared which stinks since we have friends that have a pup nearly the same age that they walk all the time and we can't go with them.

 

[Nil]

Try clicker training. It's a lot of fun and teaches the dog what you want. Everything is a game and the dog enjoys learning and spending time with you.

Jumping Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC_OKgQFgzw

For the walks, start slow. Do what she does in the video but do it outside. Teach him outside is a fun place. DON'T DRAG HIM. Everything should be fun. Even if you only get a step on the sidewalk. Take it slow.

Conquering Fears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-CCJxF-9U4

 

[Amaryllis]

Generally when people say the conventional methods don't work, it's because they didn't do them long enough and/or consistently enough. Teaching no jumping can take weeks, especially with labs and pits, both of which are energetic, people oriented dogs. And if he gets even one reward for jumping on you, if you even acknowledge him for a second while he's doing it, you push the training way back. So keep trying and be patient and consistent.

As to the outside, is your dog food motivated? Not all dogs are. Some dogs are play motivated or attention motivated, so you may want to try rewarding with a game of tug, or just a good, full body rub. Really, if you can get him out there once, you'll probably break the fear, but don't force it. That could completely backfire if you force it.

 

[Amos]

Trust me, I've been trying for quite awhile ever since he started doing it, so at least 2-2.5 months. I did get him to walk almost all the way to the end of the street today using the method described in the "conquering fears" video before he got all nervous and wanted to run back home. So that's a plus. He is both food and play motivated, especially sticks outside.

As for the jumping, while he does jump on me, its seems he has a thing for the ladies. He is all over my girlfriend whereas he may jump up on me a couple times then stop. Also, her sister came over tonight and we had to put him up because he would just not leave her alone. And yes its a struggle when people come over and you tell them if he jumps up on you just turn away and give no acknowledgment. You would think that's easy but especially women want to be all like "oh get down now puppy" in a sweet voice, which merely rewards him for doing it.

I'm going to try and have a friend come over this weekend and help me work on it and see if we can't start making good progress on it. Thanks for the tips everyone.

 

[trainingjunkie]

First, stop letting him jump on people. Then, train a better response, He is being rewarded with attention for jumping. Just stop him. This means that he is on a leash. This means that for a little while, he can't play with new people. Dogs can't jump on people if they are crated or if someone is standing on their leash. Once he stops trying to mob people, then start letting people get in close. Have him sit. If he gets up, people go away. If he stays sitting, people come to him.

But first things first: stop the behavior. And if people won't listen to your requests about managing your dog, put your dog away.

Manage behavior. Then train. But it's meaningless to train when you aren't managing behavior that undermines training.

 

[Amaryllis]

I get what your saying. Kabota walks right up to people to get attention on walks. I don't want him bothering strangers on walks, but most everyone indulges the cute doggy, which makes my job harder.

Do you have female friends or family who would be willing to spend 30 minutes or so a few times for the next week to help you? They could stop by, work on it as described here, then leave. If any other woman comes over before he's trained, crate him before they come inside. My old dog used to jump only on men. I had male friends stop by every night for week to help me train him. Once we had him trained to sit during greetings, his good behavior got him lots of good attention from everyone else.

 

[chocolabs]

New to the forums here, my 6 month old loves jumping up on anyone she meets to say hello. Something I've done to curb the behavior is that she has to sit before the person can say hello. This obviously has to be done on a leash, and you have to be consistent with this. Firm no's and telling her to sit usually calm her enough to where she wont leap up on people. This is after months of practice that she now won't jump up on people and will usually just run up and sit right next to them to say hello.

 

[hanksimon]

Does he jump on people when he is offleash (when people come over?) or only when onleash? ... In any case, here are some ideas:
1. He sounds typical Lab/Pit overjoyed to see people (much better than the reverse !)
2.Teach him to Sit on cue and tell people to ignore him unless he sits and is somewhat quiet.
3. Tell people to progressively look away, turn sideways, and turn their back when he jumps.
4. Give the potential victim some treats and have them 'bribe' him to sit, then pet him.
5. What happens if the victim kneels? Does the dog down the victim, knock him down, or stand and vibrate/pee enthusiastically? Try it...

One last suggestion... I don't like this method, but see no problem with it. Put a leash on the dog, put the dog is a Down position, and stand on the leash so that the dog cannot get up. Be careful not to jerk the leash, just use it as a restraint. The dog will calm down after a few minutes, and the victim can pet the restrained dog safely. The dog won't learn perfectly, but will learn to be calm to get attention.

 

[Shell]

For his fear of walking, do you know anyone with a really calm solid "bombproof" adult dog?

I had a fearful foster, she would walk fine but would jump in fear and run from everything the least bit of out of the ordinary (fire truck sirens, blowing plastic bags, road work signs etc). Once I started walking her with my steady adult dog (she had kennel cough, so I had her 2 weeks before they could be around each other), she learned quickly to look at his reaction. She would still startle a little, but then would look back at him and see he was still walking along and would hurry to follow next to him. If you have another dog available, try walking that dog a few feet ahead of your dog and see if he follows. Have a handful of really awesome treats at the ready and reward every few feet.

One last suggestion... I don't like this method, but see no problem with it. Put a leash on the dog, put the dog is a Down position, and stand on the leash so that the dog cannot get up. Be careful not to jerk the leash, just use it as a restraint. The dog will calm down after a few minutes, and the victim can pet the restrained dog safely. The dog won't learn perfectly, but will learn to be calm to get attention.

I actually like this method, modified slightly. Ask the dog to lay down, have treats ready and get the dog focused on the treats. Stand on the leash but with a little bit of slack. Just a few inches. Do it so the dog doesn't notice that you are standing on the leash. Then start giving him treats, just his regular dog food works since you want to give him lots. If he jumps up, put the treats behind your back. He will get tugged back down by the leash, but he won't know that you did anything. Ask for down again and start treating again. Repeat daily. Then, when he is really solid at the DOWN command, ask someone else to come up and give him constant treats while standing on the leash and repeat the process. I will use this method in combination with other training for the really exuberant dog.

Remember that dogs don't generalize well, so it takes a lot of repetition till they understand that no one is okay to jump on rather than learning than person A, person B and person C cannot be jumped on but hey, maybe that new person D is okay!