Polite Greetings
When a human walks through your front door, does your dog:
.... want to get as close to them as possible, shooting love-beams directly into their eyes?
... attempt to climb to the top of Mount Person and lick the summit for ever and ever?
... do their best to joyfully put the person's head, torso, and arms inside their mouth?
... identify the Person Most Likely to Fall Over and proceed to happily body slam them?
... bark very loudly in a way that you know is just excitement, but sounds like they want to completely obliterate everyone and everything in their path?
If you answered yes to any of the above, first know this: your dog is normal and is just being a dog.
While the Canis familiaris species is domesticated to the Homo sapiens species, dogs do not magically understand humans’ complex behavior norms, especially when these norms may be counterintuitive to them.
Your dog is not "bad” when they jump, bark at, or enthusiastically greet a human. They are just doing what is inherently reinforcing to them as a species that has been domesticated for over 15,000 years. Dogs will always start out by being dogs, doing dog things. If we want them to do different things, we need to actively teach them what to do… and then to build a very strong reinforcement history with those human-preferred behaviors. Here’s how.
Management Equipment and Supplies
Management tools allow a dog to be successful by completely taking away the ability to display undesirable behavior. A puppy cannot chew shoes if they do not have access to shoes. A dog cannot run away if they are on a leash. A husband cannot change the channel if you hide the remote. You know... for example.
At my home, I use all of the management strategies below for Board & Learn pups. To continue the work at home, set up your entry area with one or more of the following:
Baby Gate
We love baby gates at Dog Adventures Northwest! Baby gates for dayzzzzz! Baby gates provide such an easy way to limit your dog's access to areas of your home, without being too much of a pain in the neck. Get a cheap pressure-mounted gate or get a tricked out gate with all the bells and whistles. It honestly doesn't matter much. All that matters is that a gate in your entry area will keep your dog from jumping on people coming through the door.
Will a baby gate teach your dog to not jump? Nah. But every time your dog jumps on a person, the jumping is reinforced (touch! attention! eye contact!), and the chance of jumping in the future increases. Practice makes perfect, especially for undesirable-yet-self-reinforcing behaviors. A baby gate will keep your dog from practicing the behavior you want to extinguish.
Tether Point
Tether your dog to a piece of furniture or to the wall with a bit of hardware! And then, use this handy training guide by our pals over at Instinct Dog Behavior and Training to get your dog used to the tether. Tethering should be a relaxing and rewarding (and supervised!) activity, and not a scary or aversive experience.
Exercise Pen
If your space doesn’t allow for easy gating or tethering, consider purchasing an exercise pen as a relatively inexpensive way to confine your dog when you need to create space between your dog and the people in their lives.
Mat/Bed
Put a dog bed or a simple mat (old yoga mats are great for this!) on the far side of the baby gate or at the tether point. You may want to teach your dog to "go to your bed" and settle down as a part of this training.
Leash
In the absence of a baby gate or a tether point, have your pup drag a leash while saying hello to people. You will be able to step on the leash to tether your dog to the floor while saying hello. (This works great for walks as well!) Again, is your dog learning to not jump by being on leash? No. But! Your dog is not practicing a self-reinforcing behavior (jumping) when they have “all four on the floor."
Door Sign
Put a sign on your front door that says something like: "My dog is in training! Please text me when you arrive, and do not knock or ring the doorbell. Thank you!"
Setting the Human Up for Success
It’s important to manipulate the environment so that you, the human, can be successful. Consider mounting this bad boy, or something like it, in your entry area. The shelf will give you a good place to store stinky training treats (in an airtight container), and you can use the hooks for your treat pouch and leash. This will ensure you have reinforcers handy when and where you need them.
Option: Stop Right Here
OK, I know you haven't even started training yet. But whenever you train a behavior for your dog , first give consideration to whether or not you need the behavior... or if it's actually just a behavior you think your dog should have.
Aside from a really reliable recall, there aren't many skills your dog has to learn. Prime example: I haven't done any of the management or training below for my dog JoJo. Why? Because she is eight pounds. I don't really care if she jumps up. And if I sense that she's about to jump on a person who wouldn't be cool with it, I just call her to me and put her on-leash (because her recall is on-point). Jumping up for JoJo is not a big deal. At her full paws-up height, she hits the 10" mark.
With JoJo, I also know that every. single. person. we meet sees her adorable little scruffy self, bends right over, and reinforces the jumping by giving her attention. People think that a little dog jumping is cute and I don't want to have to micromanage every situation when we are out. JoJo jumping is usually, quite simply, not a problem. I don't care about it and others don't care about it.
The reason I ask you to consider this question for your dog is because it's always ok to decide what training works best for you and your family, and what you'd prefer to just manage. Some people love when their dog jumps all over them, and don't want that to stop. They just... want to stop their dog from knocking Granny over. For these folks, though, they don't necessarily have to stop letting their dog jump on them. Instead, they may decide to just manage their dog with a tether when Granny is visiting. And that's OK.
Training a Mutually Exclusive Behavior
Dogs have a difficult time understanding the absence of a behavior. Telling them "off!" doesn't really give them anything to... do. Instead, you could instead train a strong “sit” "down," or "go to your bed" as an active, alternative behavior. Note that the best body position for a dog to say hello is usually a casual stand. While we often make our dogs sit to greet, this body position is not how dogs are accustomed to “saying hello.” Forcing a change in their natural body language can lead them to feel anxious, unsettled, or frustrated. If possible, teach your dog a “four on the floor” cue so that they have the freedom to approach the guest, retreat from the guest, and/or offer more naturally appropriate body language.
When Oops Happens
It's gonna happen. your dog is going to jump on you or a guest at some point. First: Turn away from your dog and do your best to ignore her. This is called "negative punishment," and it will work to suppress the jumping behavior by removing the good thing. (In this case, the good thing is you, and most especially your face.)
Then: Mark and reward when your dog has all four paws on the floor to get back on the training track. (Be sure to then change the situation so that your dog can be successful. Otherwise, you risk creating a behavior chain of “< jumping up + getting down = reward.>)
If: your dog is not able to stop jumping, manage the situation by putting them (or you) behind a baby gate or by tethering her. (Note that turning your back on some dogs actually makes them jump more.)
Finally: Think about how to make training a little easier so that your dog is successful more often. If your dog continues to jump all over you or others, that's on you, not on your dog!
