[shallbe]

Jubilee, my newest dog, is supposedly a Kelpie mix--and I believe it, because she is probably part Kangaroo.

We've made some progress toward teaching her not to jump on us, but I know why we aren't getting any further: it's because my timing sucks. I need to give her the "floor" command before she ever gets both feet off the ground or at least is only part way up...but I can't seem to catch her at it.

Usually this happens when I am working around the house and Jubilee comes up behind me or beside me and decides she is excited about being with me and she jumps up. My concentration is not on the dog. It's on whatever I'm doing, and as a result I don't catch her in time.

I would like to find a way to get her to jump up when I'm concentrating on the problem without encouraging the problem, if you get what I mean.

One thing that I am going to do soon is teach her "up" (for getting on the furniture by invitation) and then the "floor" command to get her down. So that will help reinforce the "floor" command. But I need some ideas to help me get better at my timing using the command at other times.

Any comments or ideas would be appreciated, as I am soon to have major abdominal surgery and her jumping is going to be AN ISSUE following that, as you can imagine.

shallbe

 

[elrohwen]

Have you tried ignoring her and capturing the instant she's on the ground? Giving them a command before the jump to prevent it isn't a bad idea, but it means you need to always catch her and tell her what to do. Ignoring her until she gets down and then rewarding that choice is teaching her to figure it out for herself.

 

[shallbe]

elrohwen;

Good point...I think I probably correct her with an "eh" or something: I will take more careful notice and make sure I am completely ignoring her.

shallbe

 

[elrohwen]

elrohwen;

Good point...I think I probably correct her with an "eh" or something: I will take more careful notice and make sure I am completely ignoring her.

shallbe

Yeah, I wouldn't even correct for that, because with things like jumping negative attention is still attention and can reinforce the behavior. Once my puppy jumped up on a friend during a party and her response was to take his front paws in her hands and say "no" firmly. Knowing my dog, he thought she had just played a great game with him by grabbing his paws and talking to him. lol When she ignored him and went back to her conversation, he left her alone.

I don't think there's anything wrong with using the "floor" command if you see her approaching a new person she will likely jump on, but I think it's definitely easier long term to let her learn to make the right choice on her own.

 

[shallbe]

Just an update: the ignoring is working. The hardest part is...to ignore it when I've been in the habit of "correcting" it! But when I'm successful at it, she is successful at changing her behavior.

Thanks!

shallbe