Hi Guys :)

We are having real problem with our Newfie pup jumping up on people. The thing is, she only jumps up at people we meet whilst out on walks or visitors to the house (which we don't have very often), practically never on the OH and I.

I have asked people to ignore her but they very rarely do as nearly everyone says 'I don't mind, she's only being friendly...' I do try to explain that they will mind if she keeps doing it as she's only going to get bigger and heavier and I don't want someone to get hurt but only one or two people are actually complying which isn't enough to break the behaviour as I don't meet these people every day.

At present, I have to keep her on the lead if I see anyone as she will dash off and go deaf to recall (she is very good otherwise and will return immediately from any other distraction, just not people). Given the chance, she'll run up, sit at their feet, roll on her back and then she'll get up and jump up on them unless I can intercept her. All of this takes less than 10 seconds. Even if she is on lead, she will still try to jump up if we pass by close enough to someone.

I have tried to teach her 'off' which she will obey but she is in such an excitable state when we meet people that she will jump again a few seconds later. I am now putting her in a sit and telling her to wait while people walk past, then give her a treat and praise but this only works if the people walk by with no interaction...if they stop to chat then off she goes, bouncing about like a kangaroo and trying to give their face a good wash :rolleyes: She is not anywhere nearly as excitable around other dogs and is actually very well mannered with them. When there is no-one else about she trots happily to heel, off lead.

I realise that at six months old she is still just a baby but she's a flippin' big one and I really want to get on top of this behaviour as soon as possible. Unfortunatley, I have had to stop taking her to the training class that we were attending for the stupidest of reasons...they have the heating on in the hall and my little girl was suffering so badly in the heat that I thought she was going to collapse. She couldn't concentrate on the activities because she kept trying to find a cooler spot in the hall. I had a word to the organisers but, understandibly, they have to cater for the majority of members and as the only dog there with a really heavy coat, none of the others were suffering like she was :( I am looking for a suitable alternative class (I am going to check one out this Friday) but there are not many to choose from in my area.

Please help...I really need to sort this out. Walks are becoming very stressful because I am constantly in fear of her spotting people before I do.

Thanks

The first thing you need to address is the recall issue.  If you had a recall she could not get to people and jump up on them could she?

The other issue is the jumping up, they need to be addressed separately.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/recall.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002b/recall.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002b/magicrecall.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/jumping.htm

I have the same problem with my 6 month old Beardie X, and friends of mine who have two of his sisters say the same with them.  It really is a problem, because, as you say, not everyone complies with ignoring them. I've noticed I get his attention best if I say 'listen' before the command 'down', on 'listen' he always looks at me which distracts his attention from the other person. I'm just being patient and treating him everytime he obeys 'down'.  I think it's his hormones raging as well, so I'm considering castration.

Thank you for the links, Tohme. I've just scanned them quickly and I have spotted a few tips that I will put into practice immediatley (have just left some liver out of the freezer which I will dry as an extra special treat as she is VERY food motivated). I'll give them a good read later (trying to cook dinner at the minute too...talk about multi-tasking! :) ) and try to digest all the info. My other dog is not at all people orientated (and people find him scary looking so don't tend to want to fuss him) so this situation is new to me.

I am also going to get the OH to walk our other dog separately for a time so that I can concentrate on her. I think part of the problem is that I always have one eye on both dogs when really she should be getting more individual attention on walks until I can crack this problem.