When you bring in a new, adorable pup, its behavior is usually considered “so sweet”. The dog puts its paws on you to get your attention, or jumps in your lap, or jumps up and down on its hind legs begging to be picked up.
So what do you do? Without thinking, you reinforce those behaviors as being acceptable! Then sooner or later the pup grows from 15 pounds to 75 pounds and is still jumping on you. That cute puppy behavior is no longer cute. In fact, it’s downright difficult, and you can not get it to stop.
You probably do not even know you have been sending mixed signals.
But it can become a real problem when you have visitors, or the dog jumps on you when you are dressed up and now dirty feet have ruined your outfit, or when it is simply not practical.
As human beings, it is our job to teach our dogs what is acceptable behavior. Here are some easy tips to change any unwanted dog behavior.
First of all, be consistent. Figure out what you want your pup’s behavior to be, and then teach it consistently. Do you want your dog to jump or not?
Dogs do not understand “sometimes”. You will have endless frustration if you try to allow “some” jumping.
So, it is easiest to stop ALL jumping.
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