Serious Dog Jumping Problem

[thepetmom]

Well, this is more than serious. I have been asked as a trainer to help with a dog jumping problem. This is more than the norm: Keep in mind that this dog, yellow Lab, in tact male, 100 lb, 3 yrs old, owned by a 75 year old woman who is not very strong herself: When this dog meets someone new in the back yard or in the house he jumps to the point of knocking down. When turning your back to be "boring" he slams into you with his 100 lbs and if he cannot get you down he will then slam the back of your legs or pry your legs apart and come between your legs. He is seriously trying to get the person down. Facing him would be even more dangerous since he is right in your face. I did not feel any nipping just slamming his body. I did get a leash on him and held the leash short so he could not jump easily but he would simply back up, take a 10 second break and start again.

Any suggestions would be helpful. I know I can work with him and eventually have him okay with me but this elderly woman wants others to come in and have him automatically calm with all. Based on info I have received from others I don't see this woman stepping up to the plate and being a leader to this dog. Also, she is not interested in have her dog fixed. I've been told by others that she has always had large dogs and they have always been wild and crazy.

Shy of canceling the contract and not proceeding any suggestions. I will cancel if necessary but curious for various approaches. Sorry for the length of this post.

Laurie
Laurie's Pet Sitting
Daily Dog Walks & Training

[Sarah83]

When I was in this sort of situation with Rupert I simply left when he jumped up. Out of the room without a word said and door shut for 10-30 seconds. Easier said than done sometimes I know. I set up situations with visitors and people on the street so that they turned and walked away from him if he went to jump up at them as they approached. I also worked on having him sit whenever he wanted anything, including attention, so that it became his automatic behaviour when excited about something. How well this will work with an elderly owner and/or elderly guests I'm not sure but it worked extremely well with Rupe and people actually commented on his lovely manners in sitting to greet. It's also something that has to be done every single time until it sinks in that jumping and body slamming no longer works.

Not sure what him being intact has to do with anything, neutering isn't likely to make the blindest bit of difference to the behaviour.

[Ari_RR]

We used essentially the same approach as Sarah, and it worked well.

Any reaction other then complete disengagement (timeout), even if meant to be discouraging, will be rewarding to the dog.
Since it's not practical to put a 100 lbs dog into a timeout, the owner should put him/herself in a timeout - as Sarah says - leave the room immediately, no discussions, no talk, no explanations, no wagging finger, no angry face, no "bad boy!".. no nothing!

First couple of days were constant "get up"/"leave the room"/"wait"/"come back"... do it again.. again.. again..
Everyone in the household and guests have to be very consistent here, and this rule has to be in effect 24x7... Then results will start showing up.

Doesn't seem, unfortunately, that the lady owner is up to the task here.

[Nettle]

Is this a bored underexercised understimulated dog that is making his own fun? If so, all the training in the world won't be enough because he will simply find another undesirable behaviour to put in its place. What is his average day? How committed to change is the owner?

He's a big dog for a labrador - or is he overweight?

Neutering is irrelevant to the task.

[Sarah83]

Good point Nettle. No point trying to extinguish the problem if the dog isn't getting the exercise and attention he needs.

[Labsrule]

Absolutely agree with Nettle, sounds like yet another understimulated, bored out of his brains Lab who has learnt that his bevaviour gets a reaction which indictes he has little or no interaction/stimulation in his life. Very sad. Anyone of 75 is unlikely to be able to offer a dog this size any meaningful exercise that may help address the problems and it is tempting to suggest that the dog would be happier re-homed into a more suitable environment. As the owner is unlikely to agree to part with her dog, and in reality who wants to take on such a powerful and unruly animal, maybe she would consider employing a decent dog walker to give him some much needed exercise.

It would be more cost effective long term for her to pay a walker, paying for training, which sadly in the circumstances is unlikely to help when her money would be better spent on wearing the dog out, she may find he is less unruly then. Best of luck with her.

[thepetmom]

Thank you everyone for your input. Yes, this dog is under exercised. Mainly because the dog does this behavior with the owner even being leashed. Its and event just to leash the dog. Will have to treat the same as greeting with walking out if he doesn't sit, which he doesn't know well to begin with. I plan to get this dog leashed up and exercised. I'd really like to convenience the owner to let me walk the dog at least a couple of times a week for her instead of the weekly training. The exercise, I believe, will go further and then we can also tackle the meet and greet issues on the patio and she'd be able to walk him better if I have been exercising him and then showing her how to properly walk. She had stopped walking him because he was a bit crazy on the walks. I know its a vicious circle with his behavior and walking but the more walking he does the less the behavior will be crazy with proper positive training.

[Nettle]

Would the owner get involved with any of the exercises in our 'Exercise the Mind' pinned thread? These activities will help tire the dog out, and help him to see his owner as a source of good things rather than an inconvenience or a squeaky toy.


Food should be looked at as well, especially if she is feeding something full of additives and sugars.

[thepetmom]

The owner would like to enjoy walking the dog BUT since she is 75 years old I don't think she will be walking to really exercise the dog. I am going to have to see if she will let me train differently. She has such a set budget that she is resistant to an $10 difference. I will have to really observe and analyze the next training season which is Tuesday and see if she will switch to twice a week with me. Yes, I do need to talk to her more about the food. Somehow I feel resistance to some things but I'll have to push the issues. This dog is going to take some time and I'm pretty sure that most of the dogs problems come from her and her serious lack of leadership. Her lifestyle needs to change even at 75 years of age.

[thepetmom]

So proud of the owner. I gave her instructions to move the leash around in different locations so the dog would become less reactive to its movements. It worked and for a 75 year old woman she did incredibly well. First training season went very well and not nearly as much jumping as the initial meeting. The dog is very stubborn and needs lots of work for sitting and laying down. He doesn't seem to see a purpose and he's not that motivated by treats or toys. Judging by this week training through he'll do fine.

[Nettle]

Excellent - thank you for sharing.

Don't know how old you are but 75 doesn't have to mean both feet in the grave. Some 75 year olds have more go than some 30 year olds. I have a friend who is 86 and she is still full of vavavoom. So don't underestimate what a 75 year old can do and remember that she wasn't always 75.

[bendog]

Well said Nettle.
My Nan is 71 goes to keep fit twice a week, swimming most days and hiking at weekends. Wears me out trying to keep up with her!

That said, I can understand why a 75 year old might not want to be jumped at or pulled over by an unruly Lab!