Hello,

I have a GWP who is just over 4 months old. He has a lovely temperament and is not aggressive at all. He loves children but that is part of the problem.

In the house, he rarely jumps up at me or my husband and when he does he gets told off and doesn't do it again for ages. When he is out and off the lead generally he behaves very well indeed but when he sees a child or an adult for that matter, he hares off to see them ignoring my calls and promptly jumps up at them irrespective of whether they be child or adult. He does respond to recall normally when there's noone around or they are too far away. Today he jumped up at a 7 yr old girl which made me extremely upset and embarrassed. Luckily the girl seemed quite unpeturbed and her dad wasn't hardly bothered. I am though! Thing is, when he does jump up at people, they almost encourage him by giving him a massive fuss and lots of praise despite my shouts of 'don't let him do that!'. I feel that I look like I am out of control of my dog's behaviour but how can I control him when he runs so fast and and gets so far away? In all other aspects he is obediant and respectful. As he is so big I am afraid he may one day knock a child over.

Sorry about the waffle, hope someone can help.
Sarah.

Hi

OK - its really not advisable to allow your puppy off the lead around people until you have sorted this. Someone could end up reporting you under the DDA, and that could end up in a world of pain :(

Walk him somewhere remote off the lead, but oversocialise him with people ON the lead... taking him everywhere but not allowing him to jump up people. There will be more people along in a bit to give you advice on the jumping up part, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the potential problems in allowing him off the lead while he's in this unreliable stage!

HTH

I agree with you Chloe.

It is such a shame though as he is doing so well otherwise off the lead (stays close and is good with recall otherwise). I know that any dog who jumps up is a pain - I hate it - but the problem is made worse because of his size. If he were a chiwawa (don't know how to spell that!) then noone would notice him jumping up or be very suprised.

If this problem doesn't resolve then he will have to spend all his time on the lead which is a shame as he is absolutely adorable. I have had people actually stop their cars to meet him! I would hate him to have a life on the lead or for me to give him up as I am expecting a baby in November and this must get sorted out. I will try what you say - keep him on the lead and carry on introducing him to loads of people. Hopefully he will get over his overexcitement as that really is all it is.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Sarah.

Hi

Believe me, I know how you feel - I have a Great Dane who I dare not let off a lead around people! :) I walk him along the local canal and have to call him back in advance of seeing people coming incase he runs up to them and intimidates them! He is only 8 months though, so he's got a while to go before he settles.

It is a shame... its so difficult to strike a balance between over friendly and frightened of people

Chloe

I used to have a similar problem and solved it by teaching the pup to jump up on command. It takes a little time, but I've taught all my dogs since and none of them jump up now unless told. I start by patting my chest and saying "up" followed by giving the pup a good scratch, then ,as I push them down say "down". H.P.R.'s learn very quickly. Good luck!

Hi Lindylou,

Thats a great idea, hadn't thought of that one. I usually advise people to teach the dog another way to great people, like sit and give paw. This seems to work well, but takes a bit of patient training to teach. :)

manda
X

I have found turning my back immediately and ignoring the dog works well. After a time turn round and there should hopefully be a sitting down puppy ! Try this in the home and you may see an improvement. It especially works in the morning when you first go down.Initial ignoring of an excited pup has an amazing calming effect.I must admit I don't encourage any of my crew to jump up at all!

Lucy

Hi Lucy,

This is a great non-jumping up remedy and so is lifting your knee up (not to knee the poor puppy in the chest but it usually confuses them enough to stop them jumping up). This is fine but unfortunately it doesn't help where strangers are concerned. My puppy doesn't hardly ever jump up at me as he knows I do not like it. Other people out and about don't know all these tips or are being far too polite to do any of them! My puppy thinks they like him jumping up - they always make a huge fuss of him 'isn't he cute!' etc. etc. He is so well liked - he thinks he's a rock star!

Good tip though!
Sarah.

P.S. I really liked the idea of teaching your dog to say hello to people properly by sitting and giving a paw. I will try that!

Please please please DON'T use any technique that involves lift the knee - wether you intend to make contact with the dog or not - dogs have been FATALLY injured by this type of action. IT is difficult to time correctly so the dog doesn't make contact, and an active agile dog can turn it into a game where his aim is to beat you to it.

No, don't worry....I have lifted my knee when I can see he is THINKING about jumping up only not when he is in the air or anything! This is something I have literally done twice and now I just tell him off or turn round as I prefer these methods and they work best for me. I suppose not all methods that are recommended to you are good/safe then. I can see how the knee thing could rarely cause a fatality. If timed wrong it could stop the heart? My puppy is in no danger from me though, I assure you!
Fair enough comment though - but I'm no wicked puppy slayer! Thanks for your advice though.
Sarah.

We found the turning away/ignoring approach worked really well with Minx (who has a fetish for small children, having been raised to 8 weeks with four boys under ten, she thinks they are all great fun and want to race around with her!). But it was practically impossible to get 'random' people to ignore her, so we set up some 'stooges' (as many people we knew as were handy and would agree!), and practised with them turning away while we got her to sit if she was jumping, then getting them to ask her to sit. It took a good while of much practise, and we kept her away from 'random' people until she was fairly reliable when asked to sit, but now she's pretty good off the lead with 'big' folks, although we still put her back on when there are kids about to avoid potential'situations' (she's not really big, but she is fast and boisterous!). We found it was very easy to undo anything she'd learned during the early weeks when 'random' people would still let her jump, so we thought it best to avoid 'randoms' so as not to confuse her at first.

Hi Sarah

Yes, people will react when they are jumped on by a puppy - either putting down their hands and making a fuss or pulling back if they are afraid etc... either way there is a response of some sort even if it's verbal. Fortunately nobody has reacted aggressively to frighten him.
He's got a lovely temperament and loves people so take him to really crowded places where the majority of people are likely to totally ignore him. Try busy markets where people crush so close you'll have to make sure he's not trodden on. That is a wonderful people socialising experience for a nice natured dog. I'd use a halti or gentle leader so you have more control over his head. People tend to leave half eaten hotdogs on the floor and little children have ice creams at a tempting height. Check him every time he tries to jump.
Car boot sales attract another good crowd on a nice weekend. Town centres and local fetes and county shows are busy.
This should help him to realise that not everyone he meets likes dogs and will make a fuss of him and strangers should become less interesting. Lots of people WILL stop and make a fuss - puppies have that magnetism :) but you can prevent his jumping and control his manners.
Lara x

I have the same problem and my puppy trainer told us to keep her on a horse lunging rope until she behaves better when people and dogs are about.

That way they still get some freedom but you can stop them approaching people at the speed of light as Darcy is prone to do.

Hello,

I would just like to say thankyou for all the brilliant advice.

Actually, the other day I went out and bought a halti coincidentally. It certainly does help with control generally and I feel more confident when passing people in the street now. The funny thing is that he protests periodically at wearing it when we are out by lying down on any given stretch of grass and rolling over refusing point blank to go anywhere!! I have been stood there for five minutes at a time coaxing him back up on his feet with a biscuit or something. The neighbours thought I was funny before but now they think I'm hysterical! I thought that the halti might be pinching him but the vet said all was ok and just to perservere. Dogs - you gotta love 'em! ;)

I will try the crowded place idea just as soon as Barney is 'going forward' in his halti properly without having a strop! It's nice to know that I am not the only one with this problem as it can be a bit upsetting to think your dog is being a nuisance. Thanks again.

Sarah.

Sarah, I have just completed Dog training with my golden retreiver. She also would jump up on people all the time. In class we were taught that you must teach them another way to greet. To do that it was suggested that you never raise your knee as many dogs have been injured that way. It was suggested that everytime the dog jumps up, cross your arms over your chest and turn around with your back to the dog. Ignoring him or her. When she finally sits turn and say good dog. Also put them on a leash and stand next to the dog. Call them to you but when they start to jump up stand on the leash so that it tightens and they are not able to jump up. As they try say "off" holding your hand out palm toward them. Be sure to reward them with a lot of praise. As they settle back down to the ground. I was told to use off instead of down as we use down for lay down, Off has now worked so good that my dog understands that off means feet down. I was really suprised at the results. But it really did work good. Good luck to you.

Dede