[deleted]

Hi Josilou,
5 months is still very young, and she will carry on behaving like a puppy for some time yet! But she will grow up eventually. What breed is she?

When puppies greet their mother/other pack members they are "programmed" to lick their faces, so she is treating you as she would a superior 'pack member'. When you greet her make try to get down to her level, so that she doesn't feel she has to jump. Get hold of her collar and make a fuss of her when she has all 4 feet on the ground.

With your children, get them to stand still with their hands in their armpits when she starts jumping, so that they become much less exciting to her, and try to keep their games with her calm.

Hope this helps.

Hi Jeangenie

Breed - not sure - I'll post a pic here if someone can tell me how to do it. We got her from the local dogs home and were told that she was a border collie cross. The rest of the pups in the pen with her were black or black and white, but she is a tan colour with white paws, and we are wondering if she'd just been put in with the others but wasn't actually related.

I've told the children to put their hands in their armpits as you suggest, so we'll see if that helps - thanks for the tip. As for getting them to play calm games with her, I have been trying but their mere existence is enough to send her whizzing around the room with glee.

Josilou

HI Josilou

Grab a copy of "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey for starters, this will help you so much and help you understand what to expect :) Please don't rehome your pup, she sounds super but just boisterous. She is still very young and needs to settle in and learn the rules, but it will take a little time.

Consider taking her to puppy classes, as she will need to be socialised to other dogs and people, and good classes will help wiht training and give advice on how to stop juming up, etc :)

LIndsau

I will look out for that book - thanks for the recommendation. We've had her since she was 6 weeks old so I think she is as settled in as she's going to get :-) (she's very comfy here and seems very happy). We started puppy classes 3 weeks ago - because she is with me all day long, my husband and 9yo son take her to the classes, and it's my son who does it all with her whilst my husband watches. The classes are as much for my son as for the puppy, and they do seem to be enjoying them, but the puppy has also started jumping up at him more (for treats I think as that's what they do in the classes), and also pulling him by the trouser leg or sleeve, whereas she doesn't do that to the rest of us.
Jo

For jumping up u could keep the leash on and just before she goes to jump step on the leash. Don't say anything to her act like nothing happened. Then u can make her sit and give her a treat. Do this everytime until she stops. This way she will not think that u r the one stopping her and giving her heck. Good luck and hope this helps some.

ttfn :)

I think its extremely sad that a pup who is so pleased to see you that she jumps up would have to be rehomed !!!?! :(
As mentioned , she is only a baby - please keep at it with her training and dont give up on her so easily
Lel

I can see what you mean, but I don't think it would be practical or very fair to keep her leash on her all day long :-(
Thanks for the suggestion though :-)

One of the best techniques I have found for dealing with the jumping up when you come into the house is to totally ignore the pup. Don't acknowledge they are there for about 5 - 10 minutes. It sounds really harsh and is hard to do but it works. Everyone who comes into the house must do it though or it won't work. After the time has lapsed - call her to you and give her a cuddle and praise - if she jumps up - stand straight up and look away - fold your arms and again ignore her. You mustn't push her down or she will see that as getting attention and do it more to get more. Within a few days you will have a much calmer puppy.

Jumping at people outside is more difficult as they tend to instigate it with a puppy by looking straight at it and smiling indicating to the puppy that they want to interact. It's human nature as opposed to canine and is almost impossible to deal with unless oyu have the guts to tell people to ignore her. It's so hard because you don't have the time to explain what you are trying to do. Sorry can't be much help on this one.

Pam n the boys

You sound as if you are doing all the right things - (try www.crosskeysbooks.com for the book) and the classes sound good, but if you don't mind me suggesting, have a word with the trainer about the jumping up for treats. I personally like this method of training, and started my dog off this way, but it is important that A) the pup never gets a treat for jumping up, or she will take this as a rewrd for what she is doing, and B) that your son con tinues to enjoy the classes, and not get upset as he is only young. It might be good if your hubby took over or helped for a few weeks?

Also have a chat with the instructor and tell her of your concerns. If it helps, many pups trained in this way do go through an exciteable phase - I always think it is because they feel they are training us :D - but with the correct application of treats it does go away, and the dog should be well behaved :)

She should always be doing something for you or your son, before she gets any treat or reward. She can learn to Sit before she gets a treat, and if she jumps up the treat gets put away and doe'st come out again for a few minutes. YOu can also say "ah ah" as this may help her understand too :)

Good luck
LIndsay

Lindsay

Thanks for your reply & tip for getting the book. In the classes, they do give treats for doing what is required of them - my son takes a little bag of cut up sausages or whatever to use and the puppy (Nellie) is very responsive to him, for them. I don't give her treats myself for behaviour, I give her lots of praise instead - I don't want her to always assume that she will get a treat. I do sometimes give her a treats but it's at times when I would be giving them to her anyway e.g. leftover bits of meat & I'll make her sit for them & give them to her rather than just put them in her bowl.

My husband does sit and watch in the classes and would help or take over if my son needed him to, but so far my son is doing very well. It's more day to day and when we are out with her that it's a problem, but I will speak to the trainer and see what she suggests as well.

We've been folding our arms since having that tip on here, and it already seems to have made a little difference.

Thanks so much
Jo

My pet hate is people who allow their dogs to wander over to mine when out walking. One of my dogs nips dogs that she doesn't know.
I ALWAYS put her on a lead when i see someone else coming.
You DO NOT need to keep her on the lead at all times but there is no reason why you can't put her on a lead when you see someone else coming. You just need to be vigilant. And it is only common courtesy to put her on a lead if she bothers other people. Don't forget that not everyone likes dogs, and there are more and more people out there who are afraid.

Snoopy
The place where I usually walk her is a public garden opposite my house, where lots of people walk their dogs, and naturally I've gotten used to seeing some of them regularly. Their advice has been to let her off the lead early on so that she will learn to come back etc. & I really do want her to learn how to behave and not to jump up at people and not have to put her on the lead every time we see someone, because in this particular park, it would be every few minutes. Likewise on the beach which is our other regular place to walk.

I do understand what you mean though, which is also why I didn't verbally object when this man struck her with his newspaper.

Jo

your pup sounds just like my 8 month old Border Terrier, a total delight and a real charmer but very excitable. I promise you it does get better, don't do anything hasty like rehoming. I've found that it really helps if I ignore her when I come in, she soon calms down, and when out on a walk if she trys to jump up on anyone then I give a little sharp tug on the lead and say 'leave it' in a firm way. I love that she loves everyone and everything but it can tire you out sometimes!

Hi Moo
Thanks for the reassurance of it getting better and the understanding of how tiring it can be :-)
We are trying to ignore her for a few minutes in the morning when we come downstairs and when we come in the front door etc. and putting our hands in our armpits as also suggested, and I think it is helping a bit.

When you take your border terrier out walking, do you ever let him off the lead or do you always keep him on the lead? If the former, how do you handle it when he rushes over to someone else and jumps up at them?

thanks
Jo

As far as rehoming goes, I do think it's much easier to rehome a puppy than it is an older dog so if we were going to go down that route, I'd rather do it sooner than later, for everyone's sakes, including the puppy.

Hello,
Can i just say i find it very sad that you are considering getting rid of a 5 month old puppy because she jumps up at you :-(! This is normal puppy behaviour! Why did you get a puppy if you cant cope with how it behaves?!
Vikki

Vikki

I know & I don't really want to rehome her - think I was exasperated when I wrote the first post. It is difficult when you see your toddler with scratches on his face, even though he doesn't mind, and your 7yo son is frightened of the dog <sigh>.

We have always had dogs, always rescue dogs, and have had a puppy before without any problems. I do know what normal puppy behaviour is like, but this dog really is a lot more excitable than any other puppies I come into contact with.

Jo

You could try clicker training, this will reward the good behaviour, and should be more enforcing that just a good girl for when she greets you without jumping up! if you get what i mean?
Vikki

I haven't got any experience at all with clicker training - I wonder how it would work within a family environment, where it will be different members of us taking the dog for walks and play.
Jo

I think consistency is the way on this one . You all have to train the same ( or click for the same reasons ).

I tried clicker training and although i agree it can work very well -with 4 people in the family- it can be very confusing for pup
Lel

Ok what I have to say may not be what some would like to hear but here goes .
Some puppies do not settle in some homes , it is a fact of life and so when this happens the best and kindest thing to do is rehome .
I think Jo has more or less told herself this is the case with this puppy . She has had dogs with no problems settling but this one is hyper making it unsuitable for children as they can and do get hurt .
I love my dogs passionetly but children must come first . Children need to feel secure in their homes too
and the worry of the puppy jumping up scratching faces and knocking them is bad for them as well.
Jo I firmly agree if you feel you cant handle this puppy let him go
You wont be the first or the last to do this .
That does not mean you cant have another puppy only that this one is not the best one to have with the kids
It happens and I admire the person that has the responsibility to admit it and tries to sort it out.
best wishes Mari

Mari
Thanks very much for your message and understanding :-)
We have decided to try most of the suggestions that people have mentioned on here and see if that improves things. We don't really want to rehome her - we all love her. I will not keep her though if we can't sort out this behaviour because in the longterm it would not be fair to her or to the children. I also feel it is probably much easier to rehome a pup than an older dog, and less traumatic for her too.
I appreciated your message.
Josilou

There's an interesting theory in Jan Fennel's book about this behaviour.
Basically her solution comes down to totally ignoring the pup (by every member of the family) when you reunite, even if you only stepped out the room for 5 minutes, until she settles down. Under no circumstances make eyecontact and turn your body away if she jumps up etc.
Then if she settles down, give it another 5 minutes and then call her to you.
If she starts jumping, immediately turn away and ignore again. She should soon get the message, I hope for the both of you! :)
There's more too it, but for that I suggest you read Jan's book. Sooner or later people are bound to come with violent remedies like whacking her with a newspaper or throwing down a very loud object when she jumps etc, but if the problem can be solved without that I think it would greatly benefit your relationship with your pup. :)
You might want to have a qiuck read before you decide to do something drastic like rehoming your pup :)

Turning away has helped with my crew and they all soon got the message !

Lucy

You may think it is sad and mean to do the leash thing but it won't hurt her, she would only correct herself and stop the jumping. Now if it's something that works in a couple of weeks isn't it worth it to stop the behaviour? Then praise/treat when both feet are on the ground, u can use a word like feet and when all 4 are down praise/treat. U can also use a spray bottle and everytime she jumps up spray and say feet, when all 4 are on the ground praise/treat. If the pup gets back up do it again and do not praise/treat until all 4 feet are on the ground.

If ur child runs around this will encourage the pup to jump. U can set up the situation, when pup goes to jump on ur child get ur child to say feet and u step on the leash before the pup has a chance to jump up and let the child praise/treat but only till all 4 feet remain on the floor. This way u are setting it up and not waiting for the pup to jump.

Me personally I would be trying every suggestion for a week or so and stick to the one that works the best.

ttfn :)

Dollface

I'll bear your suggestion about the leash in mind and may try it if the other ideas don't work, but I don't really see it being a practical answer for us with a family. Thanks though.

Josilou

Lucy

When you've had your crew (how old are they) turn their backs, how have the coped with the scrabbling frenzy that then goes on on their thighs and backs?

thanks
Jo

Hi Jo

My lot are Min 13yrs, Moose 18 months and MB 17 weeks.

They are manic when you first start doing it and are like little kids at first all wanting our attention first before anybody else but now if they start we turn away, a few seconds later three very good girls sitting waiting for the next move ! Have patience and you will see the rewards !

Lucy

Hi

I think Josilou is asking how your children cope with the scrabbling that goes on their backs and thighs whilst the dog goes mad at being ignored.... but I could be wrong... :)

Josi, I have a great dane puppy (6months) who is taller than I am (5'6"!) on his back legs and loves jumping up me. He doesn't do it to the kids anymore as I stopped him with a bottle of water and a saucepan and wooden spoon. I armed the kids with the saucepan and spoon and I had the water bottle.... The minute he went to jump up Zack (aged 3) Zack whacked the saucepan (not a pleasant noise), I chucked some water at him and we all screamed NO!!! We did it twice and it stopped him jumping up. It became an unpleasant experience.

I have since taught him to jump up and put his legs on my shoulders only when asked, and he does it perfectly. Sometimes he forgets himself though, like yesterday, when he pushed me head first into the Guinea Pig hutch. Which was nice :D

Hope this helps

Wolfwitch
Thanks for your message. At the moment we are trying the hands in armpits, and telling her to get down, and then sit, and not giving her the cuddles etc. until she's at least trying hard to sit still :-) We're also ignoring her more when possible if she's going hyper - difficult because when she jumps her claws can hurt and scratch, but the kids are keeping their coats on to help.

We won't come down to violent 'remedies' - the worst thing I think we'd ever do would be to shout. I have no intention of ever hitting a dog with newspaper or frightening it with loud bangs - that's not our way.

One of the dogs we rescued before we had children was a dog who was aggressive with other dogs & he taught us so much about how important it was to be gentle and to instil trust - we helped him to completely change his behaviour in about 5 months and he ended up being the most wonderful dog we'd ever had :-)

Thanks for the tip of the book - I'm going to look up all of these.
Josilou