Jumping up and Mouthing

[Emma&Tess]

Hi all

My 9mth old GS puppy still jumps up and mouths. We have had her for 6 months and have been consistant in turning our backs when she jumps. A few months ago we started to go inside if she jumped on us. (we go inside as much as we can however it is often very unpractical, sometimes immpossible). She now doesn;t care at all if you growl at her or turn your back. In fact most of the time she doesnt care if you go inside.

Lately I have been giving her a smack if she jumps or mouths. She immediatly stops, but shys away from me. Smacking seems to be the only way to stop her. But I want a happy confident dog like positive training promises not a fearful submissive dog.

Our main problem is her jumping on visitors and young children. Even if you tell a visitor to turn their back they usually do not do it properly and little children don't have a chance.

When we are out at the park She also jumps on and mouths children or people crouching or lying down. Despite my cheerful calling and flavoursome treats she ignores me,runs up to them and bounds on them and nips them and she is so big.

I have always strongly agreed with postive training but it doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment.

please help

[maxwell'smum]

Hi, I would love to know what to do about this as well, we have a lovely 8 or 9 month old german shepherd husky cross who is a happy friendly boy that unfortunately does the same. His special favourites for jumping up to is anyone that is visiting the house and joggers when he is having his walk off his lead. Maybe I should keep him on his lead but when we are on the common he loves to investigate all the good smells and I don't think he would get anywhere near the amount of exercise he needs staying on his lead. I have been trying to get the kids to turn their backs but they are not always quick enough. My boy has taken to pushing him away but that just gets Max more excited as he seems to think its a game then. Any ideas would be great,

Sally

[emmabeth]

What else do you do with her?

You can eliminate unwanted behaviour like this by providing an unrewarding 'non reaction' to it.....

BUT - great big but - it will only work in conjunction with:

1/ making sure her physical and mental needs are met in more appropriate ways.

2/ Giving her an alternative that DOES result in a rewarding reaction from you.

Simply ignoring the bouncing and mouthing, which is a fun thing for her to do ... and not replacing that with something appropriate . means she will continue.

Definately, stop smacking her. It may work now - it wont always work. It will result in her learning to get more physical, or her not trusting your hands and becoming wary of you (Already happening).



Look at the sticky thread on clicker training - this method makes it crystal clear what you like and thus will reward. You can do 'serious' stuff like sits/downs/recalls etc with it and fun stuff too... like 'shut the door' or 'put your toys away' or 'look left' or 'wipe your face'.... It doesnt really matter which you do with it the process of learning this way really helps to create a healthy bond between you and improves her confidence in herself and in you.

That will take care of some of her mental exercise needs.

Then you have to meet the physical needs and free for all play off the lead is NOT it.... she needs guidance in how to play appropriately.

For now, prevention is going to be one of your key tools in teaching her houw to behave. If she cant leap on people and bite them.... she wont. If you have guests who dont follow instructions, dont let them meet her. If you have no where safe to shut her, dont have those guests over for a while.

So dont let her off the lead somewhere there are people about. Dont be outside with her if you cannot walk away and go inside if she tries it, etc etc. You may well have to readjust a lot of the things you do... for now.

Use a long (30ft) line to give her some free running, so you DO sitll have control and can prevent her from approaching people. But I would give this a miss for a short while until shes got the idea that there are more fun and appropriate things to do than leap up and mouth people.

Once she has... then its just you she can 'get' and you can use the excellent 'parking up' method.. with the long line you simply loop it around something and hook her up to some handy object until she calms down, or you stand on the lead so its too short for her to leap up and get you, and again.... completely ignore her until she calms down.

As well as this you need to find some appropriate physical stuff for her to do. Tracking might suit her, retreiving might be fun.... have a look around the internet and see what might suit her... and your home/lifestyle/where you live.

Bear in mind shes still young and so strenuous and repetitive stuff can be damaging to her joints.

Another thing to keep her amused and give her more to do than bounce on peoples heads is chewing.... dogs NEED to chew and especially young dogs.

Get her things she can chew up, BIG raw meaty bones, antlers, whole large veg like cabbages, Kong toys, cardboard boxes filled with stuff wrapped in newspaper (like biscuits and treats, pass the parcel for doggies) - I do mean all these things, not just one or two. Something different every day so she doesnt get the same thing more than twice a week.

On walks, its not just you and her going from A to B and back again (or a circular loop, whatever), its another opportunity for her to work WITH you and earn treats and fuss, get her really addicted to paying attention to you, ready for the next command (and thus the next click and treat!)... matching your pace, watching for changes of direction, waiting for sits and downs (use a long leash and you can do recalls too).


Hope that gives you some food for thought - apologise if you are doing some of this stuff already but without clarification of her routine and the amount of training/exercise she gets I have to assume 'the worst' so to speak.

[maxwell'smum]

Thanks for the advice Emmabeth, I try and do about half and half walks on and off the lead. When Max is off we do recall work and play with his ball chucker, I also give him time to play with other dogs and paddle or swim. I give him a hide chew every day and he has a number of toys including a kong that I put cream cheese and houmous in to entertain him. I will give the box idea and the cabbage idea a go as I hadn't heard of those. His jumping is not too bad in the house, it is more people that come to the house that let him up and he likes it so he stays up. I do keep hold of him when I open the door because the husky in him likes to run and he has climbed out of the windows in the past to do it He gets about 2 hours out a day plus training and play at home. I think it is that he is easily distracted by runners, He is ok if I spot them before him though. Max is a rescue dog that we have no history on so I don't know what he had happen in the past. We got him in August he started off with no toilet training, mouthing constantly and eating all the furniture including the sofas, he would also panic on the lead next to the road jumping and biting at your hands to get the lead. He is vastly improved though, have been using treats and distraction for most things to resolve his naughties which he responds too xx

[Emma&Tess]

Thanks Emmabeth. After reading your post I have decided not to smack her anymore as I think it is making me get angry at her.

It is a good idea to give her cabbages. If we wrap treats in news paper is it ok if she eats the newspaper. I think she has enough stimulation. She gets a walk once a day unless her doggie friends come to play. I train her quite a lot. She knows sit, leave it, wait, shake, distance sit and down and touch. I also taught her to jump through my arrms but recently she has just stopped doing it instead she puts her paw out to shake . Maybe I did it to much.

she also gets a 10 to 30 minute play in the morning sometimes walk and train. In the middle of the day she is sometimes aloud inside a while for attention and pats. (I am homescholed)

Once a week she has her two doggie friends over and sometimes she has Cooper a Labrador from over the road over if I have no time to walk her, or sometimes as well as a walk.

Thanks again I feel more of a positive trainer now.

To maxwell's mum: Nice to hear some one else is having the same problems we are. Hope things get better

[emmabeth]

Check out the clicker training thread - that will help make your training more clear to her, and this is a great way of exercising her mind.

The other awesome thing about clicker training is - you just need to find say two five minute slots a day to do it. that will be enough, more than enough even, to teach her a whole range of tricks if you do it every day (obviously... stick to one trick at a time!).

If you dont see an improvement in her behaviour, then its likely the exercise/mental exercise shes getting ISNT enough.... its really not something where we can say 'ive done enough for you today'.... it is the dogs breed type and natural needs that determine what is or isnt sufficient.

It is also difficult when a dog lives outside because they dont spend much time around people... but not actually getting one to one attention as indoor dogs do. This means when they DO see you.... they can go giddy, its exciting after all.. and getting giddy means its much harder for the dog to remember to behave in the way you want.

I appreciate that as a kid in your parents house you have little say in what goes on - im nearly 30 and in my Dads house.... i still have no say whatsoever about what happens! So I can understand if your dog cant come in,if that is their choice.

However, wangle more dog time if you can - one thing your parents might well like.. is if you research clicker training and keep a 'training diary'.

This is useful to do even ifyou arent trying to impress parents and show how dog training is educational. It helps you track what you are doing, making written plans for what you are going to train (especially complex back-chained tricks or routines) helps you stick to the individual steps and not get sidetracked into something else... keeping a journal of your aims and goals, and progress, and reflections on training sessions (where you think you went wrong, why... what will you doto stop that next time for example) can help you highlight any problem areas.

One of my problem areas is getting sidetracked so keeping a writtenplan of what I intend to do really helps.

You can make this a project and show how you understand learning theory (operant conditioning, positive reward... google these terms, wikipedia is very helpful!) and the science behind how animals (including us!) think!

Also... dogs who do neat tricks and follow commands spend more time in the house.

[Noobs]

I also taught her to jump through my arrms but recently she has just stopped doing it instead she puts her paw out to shake . Maybe I did it to much.

Oh hey, this isn't about your problem but I just taught my dog this as well. He also stopped doing it temporarily and put his paw out to shake. So yes, I think you either did it too much - spent too much time on it - or you progressed too far. I started out with the "hoop" (my arms) on the floor with my hands touching a wall so that he had nowhere to go but through my arms. I slowly increased the height by a few inches at a time. When he was reliable at 5 inches with the hoop against the wall, I moved a few inches away from the wall but put the "hoop" back down on the floor. The first time I tried to "shake" instead, I knew I had moved the hoop too far off the floor and too far away from the wall. This is a really cool trick so I suggest you try again, but progress more slowly this time.

After a month I was able to walk around the house with him trailing me and doing the hoop trick anywhere in the house. This morning he did it for me outside for the first time, so I think it's pretty well proofed now!

[Emma&Tess]

Yes I think I will clicker train her and try to spend more time with her have her in the house more and I might make her a sand pit.

Unfortunatly this morning she jumped on dad and he was in his clean, good work clothes! He said he went outside and she strarted barking ant him then she went crazy jumping and nipping him! So he had to kick her and she yelped! But I can't blame him because he has never kicked her before and had to protect his work clothes. I will try to make a difference to this behaviour by doing the things you said. But if it happens again is there anything else you can do to other than turning your back?

Thanks for your time Emmabeth. You don't have to post back to me if you can't you have already given me heaps of advice.

To Noobs: Yes I think I will start again with training he to jump through my arms and this time make it easier Thanks!

[Leigha]

He kicked her to PROTECT his work clothes? I can't tell you how many times I've had to go back upstairs to change my clothes because my dogs have jumped up with wet or muddy paws. Or how many pairs of pants or shirts I lost when Bruiser was chewing and biting everything because he'd ripped holes in them. But I NEVER kicked my dog because of it.

Can he get to his car without having to go into the part of the yard she's in? Can you crate her for the 10 minutes he needs to get out of the house? Bruiser still jumps up on me, or tries to, but I've gotten kind of good at anticipating it, so I just side step it or back up so he doesn't actually land it. If I don't happen to gauge it just right I'll stick my hand out, and he'll rest his paws on my arm (my hand is on his chest rubbing, his paws are on my arm). Usually he's jumping up on me because he wants my attention, so I also crouch down to his level and hold onto his collar and give him a good rub and he'll most of the time leave me alone after that.

[Emma&Tess]

He was in a real rush and would not of had time to change also Tess is my dog so really I should be stopping he from jumping all over Dad. But yes I will put her in her crate if someone had to go outside. Thanks

[maxwell'smum]

Hi Emma, I think the thing with having a dog in a family is that everyone is responsible for the dogs training, exercise and care. I know it is hard but you need to talk to you Dad and try and get him to understand that he would get on better with the dog if he pitched in a bit more, Maybe ask him to come dogwalking with you xx