Does anyone have any advice on how to calm a jumping 8 mionth old dalamtian? His instinct seems to be to jump up and give you a hug but at 66lbs this tends to knock you over! He's not too bad with immediate family but visitors and the general public get launched at and jumped on. We get regular visitors to just turn away and ignore him but would like some help keeping his 4 feet on the ground when he says hello! He isn't at all aggressive but can do quite a lot of damage with his claws so any advice would be great.
Also, he craves a lot of attention and affection and we were wondering if another dog would help or would we just end up with 2 66lb dogs trying to sit on our knees at night?
Thanks
David

David Hi if you could see my two bouvier's jumping up when they go out would make your hair go on end but this jumping is from when the breed would drive and round up the cattle
and have been told by the breeders this will stay with them .But you can contain it to some
degree. I just say down Zac or Freddie .Good Luck Pat xx

hI David

I don't think another dog would help at this stage, imho.

Try to set up lots of situations where he is totally ignored if he jumps up. Get a good Sit, and walk around the park, and practice a Sit near to people after approaching head -on, as if you were going to say "hallo".

A good training class will do "Sit to Greet" exercises, where the dog is put in different situations and is only rewarded for acceptable behavour. One exercise which works very well is to tie the dog up and get different people to approach, only reward when dog is 4 feet on ground, or in a Sit or whatever you feel you want to aim for.

Obviously this should only be done if the dog loves people and is happy to be approached by them.

Just an idea anyway......I think the key is to involve as many different people as you can, and as many "strangers" as you can.

I tend to use "Off" if I need a word, as imho "down" can suggest to the dog you want it to lie down :) (Well, maybe that's not such a bad idea.....:D )

Lindsay

Loki is naturally outgoing. We have taught her that no-one strokes her unless she is sitting down. It means that you have to be disciplined with people who may want to pat her. Then tell her to sit. If that doesn't work, you sit her and keep her sitted and then let someone rub her chest. If she moves, they stop patting.

Chest rubs excite them less than a pat elsewhere.

It takes a while, but it is worth it in the end.

It does make you laugh though when they get so excited that their bottoms are bouncing up and down off the ground ;)

Hello,
I also have this problem with my 12 month old Akita,She too is also very friendly but it does get embarassing when im out with her.I have tried folding my arms and turning my back when I come in,but she just jumps up at my back and knocks me forwards.I did a 12 week training course with her to no avail so if anybody out there does have any tips I too would be eternally grateful.She is a big beautiful teddy bear and loves children but I have to be very careful as she could really do some damage just by trying to say hello.My breeder says she may calm down after her first season or if I get her spayed.Does anybody know if this would help.

Hiya
I own Weimaraners and they do not jump. However Weimaraners
are well known kangaroos.
We tend to cause this response in dogs because as puppies
we go to fuss pups by drawing our hands up our bodies and the
dog follows. When they are small it seems all right but at
6-8 months it is a real pain.
The only thing you can do is to ignore your dog totally when
it does this, no eye contact, nothing. Fold your arms and
turn your back on the dog. It wont work straight away, but
after a few days of not getting attention, the dog will stop.
Also when it starts to get less interested you could tell your
dog to sit and then go to its level to fuss it.
The dog also thinks it is the most important thing in the world,
and need to be taught that he is not. You need to do some
dominance work with him. I would book into a good training
centre and do a course. Dont be embarrised as lots of people
have to take their dogs to refresher courses, and quite often
another dog is worse than your own.
Also if he is a door barger you can train him out of this, but
it will be difficult. Tell anyone that comes to the door that
your dog must be ignored. Tell him to go to his basket, and
even put him in the next room. He may jump up the door,
but just ignore him. Once he has calmed down ask your
visitor to go to the dog and make a fuss of him at his level.
I had this with a Weim pup, and my best friend was brilliant
as she came and ignored him, she would sit on the sofa and
he would try and push his nose into her hands, anything he
could do to get attention he would do it, but with her help
he stopped. Now when people come he is pleasant to have
in the room.
Also when out on walks, always put him on a lead if someone
is coming, and if they want to touch the dog say 'my dog is
in training, please ignore him'. He will soon learn that he
cannot jump all over people.
Nutkin.

David,
when the dog approaches and just before he launches up give a stern ' SIT ' command , try not to give to much praise ,this will excite him and he will revert to jumping up , try not to lean over the sitting dog again he will try to jump and lick your face ( You are the pack leader , you are returning to the pack, all pack dogs,wolves communicate to returning pack members by licking lips/faces )
If he still persists in jumping up raise your knee as he jumps up( don't use a forcefull blow as you can injury the dog in the chest area) just raise it up this knocks the dog of balance.