[Jason Carlton]

OK, the subject is dramatic, and of course I wouldn't beat him! He's just driving me insane with this one.

My boy is roughly 6 months old, Australian Shepherd / Beagle mix. He was a stray that we saved, and he has been with us since just before Christmas.

He house trained very easily, which made me happy. He went through a phase where he wanted to nip, but following advice on here, he's pretty much cut that out; when he does nip, he doesn't bit down hard, so he's coming along well. He's going through a bit of a destructive phase when we leave the house, but nothing too bad, and bitter spray pretty much resolves that.

The problem is with him jumping up on me. When I'm standing up or walking, he'll jump on me, but I can take his paws off of me and say "off", and he'll get the hint pretty quickly. But that's not the problem. The problem is when I'm sitting at my desk.

See, the dog spends the wide majority of the night in my home office with me. He has plenty of toys in here, but he wants me to play with him, so he constantly jumps up on the side of my chair and scratches my arm. Which HURTS! It doesn't help that I have a mild allergic reaction to the Promeris that he takes (treating red mange), so every time he scratches me it swells up, itches, turns red and develops tiny red bumps, and sometimes temporarily scars (I hope it's temporary, anyway).

I don't know how to handle this, because anything I can do to stop him is giving him attention, which is what he's wanting. But I can't very well ignore him, either... believe me, I've tried!

I've tried pushing him off and saying "off", but he just comes back for more. I've tried slapping the arm of the chair with a rolled up newspaper, which makes him bark because he thinks that we're playing. I've tried spraying him with a water bottle, but then he just runs around in a circle and comes back even harder... again, thinking that we're playing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rosemaryninja]

Do a search for "jumping" in this forum. You may find some helpful threads from people who have had this problem in the past.

 

[LittleFr0g]

I would get up and leave him in the room alone for a few minutes every time he paws at you, and praise and reward him whenever he is behaving himself. This is what happens when puppies are too rough with each other in the litter. You can even try yelping before leaving, sounds funny, but it does work. Good luck with your puppy!

 

[dakotajo]

Can you teach him to "lay down" mine stops pestering when I say GO LAY DOWN OR NO BUGGING

 

[Love's_Sophie]

Do you have a crate that you can put him in? Perhaps giving him as well as yourself a 'break' from the craziness, will help a bit. Not that you have to keep him in there all the time, just every once in a while during your time in your office. Give him a chance to just chill out and relax, as well as yourself a chance to sit down and work!

Leaving the room is also a good tip; he learns that every time he tries to demand your affection\attention, you go away, which he won't like.

Wear him out REALLY good before going into your office each night; take him for a good run, or walk, and make sure he can get a chance to really run around (fetching a ball, or romping in a dog park). That way when you go into the office, he should hopefully be ready for a bit of a nap.

 

[Jason Carlton]

Rosemary, the threads on jumping really have helped a lot when it comes to training him to stay off when I'm standing or walking, but the principles haven't really worked in this scenario.

Kuma, I might have to do that. It will be a HUGE pain because I'm trying to work, and can't concentrate if I have to walk out of the room every 5 minutes, but I might not have a choice. Yelping worked well in training him to stop biting, so it doesn't sound silly at all

Dakota, I have a similar command of "bed" that really means "this is your last warning before being punished". If I stand up, give him a mean look, and say "bed", then he'll run to his bed and lay down as if he's the most innocent dog in the world. It wasn't an intentional training on my part, honestly, but somehow he picked up on the word "bed" so it stuck! LOL

So I can usually get him to stop for a minute by telling him to go to bed, but it doesn't last long, and it certainly doesn't prevent him from doing it again. I honestly think that he's happy with the attention, even if it's negative attention.

 

[LittleFr0g]

It is a pain to have to get up and leave everytime when you're trying to work, but if you're consistent, it shouldn't take long for him to figure out that everytime he tries to demand your attention you go away, and that being calm and quiet gets him what he wants, you!

 

[TooneyDogs]

I honestly think that he's happy with the attention, even if it's negative attention.

I think you've nailed it.....so, do you ever give him attention for laying quietly at your side?....soft petting/sweet nothings in his ear? I think you'll find that if you do that, he will offer more and more quiet time. That all assumes that he's getting enough exercise during the day and isn't reacting out of boredom.

 

[poodleholic]

Demanding attention can be helped by implementing NILIF into daily life, along with getting up and leaving the room, as explained by others.

 

[blackrose]

Chloe does the same thing. I would honestly just ignore your pup when he jumps on you. I do with Chloe. I might lean into her a bit and "body block" her out of my bubble, but I don't speak to her, don't look at her, don't do anything. After she has stopped trying to clobber me, she is told to "sit" or "down". When she complies, then she gets pet or gets played with.

She still jumps up, but if you ignore her when she first does it she stops now and will sit instead of persisting forever.

Although your title made me laugh. That is what I tell Chloe all of the time. "Get off or I'll beat you." LOL

 

[drea]

It's hard to ignore a 90+ pound dog jumping on you (me), but I agree that leaving the room is effective. I'm working with Tucker P to change his "pawing" for attention to sitting for attention.

 

[rogueslg71]

i agree with the crate idea. just crate him when you are working and cannot watch him or play with him. he will learn that time in the office means time to relax. i had to do this with mine when she was a puppy and i needed to study. eventually they will learn that time at the desk means you will not stand to be bothered and they just have to wait and relax doing something else

 

[mostlymutts]

It's hard to ignore a 90+ pound dog jumping on you (me), but I agree that leaving the room is effective. I'm working with Tucker P to change his "pawing" for attention to sitting for attention.

I have one of these... He comes to my chair, and I tell him to sit. If the petting doesn't start that instant, the pawing starts.

When he paws, I ignore him. Course the other problem is his idea of sit is often a quarter of a second butt-bounce. So we are working on sit means sit until I tell you otherwise. That way, the ignoring him doesn't mean stand up and try to climb in the chair.

 

[lizalots]

What if you turn the back of the chair to him?

If he runs around the other side, turn it the other direction.

I don't know, I'd imagine after a few turns he'd get tired of trying. That, or you'll get dizzy. But maybe work a try.