My 15 month old mini schnauzer is coming on great with her training except for one thing - whenever people come to the house she barks at them and jumps up, plus jumps up at us all the time in the house.  She seems to be crossed with a kangaroo!  I've tried putting my hand out and saying no jump, telling her down etc but cant seem to gt her to respond.  She can jump as high as your face from a standing start so is far too over-sociable - I have to put her out when anybody comes especially children. Please can someone give me some suggestions because she's lovely when she's calmed down

Jumping up is very normal for pups as it is instinctive for them to want to get near our faces.

In the first place I'd really work on a sit or down stay until you can get her to do a solid 30 secs without budging. Once this is in place you can then introduce the sit or down stay into areas that you recognise as triggers for the jumping ( any greetings after your return in whichever room or at front door, ditto new people/friends who come into the house). Some people like to keep a special toy or reward near the door that she knows she will get only if she stays still while people come in. Jumping up also occurs in the street or park where the dog wants to greet/engage with the other person, or when she gets bored. Pups also jump up at other dogs and should be taught not to do this also, as it can get them into problems with other dogs later on.

The thinking behind the above is to ask the dog to do something that is incompatible with jumping, so she cannot sit or down as well as jump. Obviously neither is easy to teach the dog so good and timely use of reinforcement is key.

Not jumping up exercises/impulse control should be a part of your basic puppy training so I'd ask you trainer for help in getting the techniques right and then breaking up the training phases.

In the meantime I'd be inclined to control her behaviour by pointed ignoring/blanking her if she jumps up with ready praise and reward when all four paws are on the ground. It needs to be a house rule that when puppy jumps up the game/interaction stops until she settles, at which point she is rewarded. I'd ensure she doesn't do front door duty for now and baby gates, puppy pens etc.. are a way of maintaining this.

The more chance a pup gets to carry out unwanted behaviours the longer it will take to train them out, so get your puppy trainer on board now.

I have just given you the outline above, to do it properly you do need the input of a good trainer. Jumping up is a very common problem and can become very unpleasant if combined with mouthing and playbiting so it's great that you have decided to sort it sooner rather than later.

Goodluck!

I feel your pain, I have the same problem with my 12 month Cavalier. She never ever gets rewarded for it, but every time I go to get a biscuit for the dogs out of the box, she springs wildly up and down several times, and it doesn't matter whether I tell her to sit or just stand there waiting for her to stop and sit before giving the biscuit, she refuses to learn! She throws herself up at the work surfaces whenever I walk near them in case I might be going to get a biscuit, and considering how small she is, I can hold the biscuit at chest height and she will still reach it (I have my hand closed so she doesn't get it!).

Lucy,

I suspect she has learned. Do you actually give her the biscuit? If you do, then what she has probably learned is that although it takes a while Mum will eventually give me that biscuit. She has now practised lots of leaping and jumping and being asked to sit and not doing so, as a prelude to finally getting a biscuit. So to her it could be that she thinks all of those behaviours somehow go with getting a biscuit.

Perhaps you don't give the biscuit ever, or perhaps you do every now and then. Either way, I still think she has made an association that eventually she will get a biscuit, or she got a biscuit once so she'll try harder and harder, or she sees other dogs get biscuits, so why not her.

I'd stop keeping biscuits there and change the location and container for the biscuit stash. You might then consider a clicker training regime where seconds of a polite sit by the stimulus (biscuit container) earns a reward and then build up to opening the tin and finally presentation of biscuit. Don't get biscuits for other dogs where she can see, hear or smell for now.

It's likely that she has such a strong association with that cupboard that she'll continue jumping etc.. when you go near it for a while. You can try completely ignoring her and see if that works (turn your back, no eye contact, no voice- total cold shoulder). If not you may have to temporarily use a house line and any jumping behavior means she is instantly tethered somewhere for a timeout. Once calm you repeat and if she jumps again she's tethered again and so on. Again all this is done in a totally calm matter of fact way. You want her to learn that jumping behavior is not to her advantage.

All of this is merely meant to outline ideas and cannot be followed on its own- not enough information. As ever, if something is a problem with you I'd advise a good trainer/behaviorist to guide you through.

Actually I have seen you say that she never ever gets rewarded. I suspect you holding the biscuits up high is producing this behavior. I assume you do treat her by hand on other occasions? I would still follow the advice above, I would also teach her a leave command too, if you have not already done this.

Yes, I treat by hand, but only after she has sat nicely. My other dogs eventually learned that jumping up got them nothing and gave it up, but this one's terribly stubborn! She is the most difficult puppy I've had yet! :-)

She'll probably turn out to be one of your most rewarding dogs ever too. Since you treat her by hand in other contexts you can see why she might be holding out in this one. Sounds like she is a bright pup. I think you've got to break the association with that cupboard/area and reinforce good behavior everywhere else. You've said she'll sit nicely in other situations so that is your starting point.