6 Effective Ways To Teach A Dog NOT To Jump On People

I have written a big guide to training a dog not to jump up. It has plenty of detailed explanation, some videos and step by step instructions for my preferred method. You can check it out when you have twenty minutes to spare. This page is a bit different.

What we are going to do today, is take a quick look at a wider range of methods to stop your dog from jumping on people. Let’s see if there’s one that really appeals to you. You can try all of these, and even combine them.

These methods all have something in common. See if you can figure out what it is!

#1 Power Sit

Most dogs will sit when asked, if there’s nothing better to do. But add a few interesting visitors into the equation and that longed-for sit, flies swiftly out the window.

photo of yellow labrador sitting politely with text overlay that reads: Power Sit plus 5 more ways to teach your dog NOT to jump on people

Fortunately a dog can quite easily be taught to sit and stay, in the presence of distractions, it just requires a structured plan, and a small investment of time, usually a few minutes each day. And of course, a power sit is a great basis for all kinds of useful behavior even if your dog doesn’t jump on visitors

You’ll need a checklist of distractions, and some simple games that get your dog used to staying in one place while those distractions are happening. There’s an example of a checklist below. You need to teach your dog each step in Column A), then each step in Column B), then get a friend to help you teach each step in Column C)

a table with a dog training checklist on it

You can teach each of these steps in a few days, using simple training games. Provided you don’t move on to the next step until your dog can easily manage the step before, you should be able to reach your goal and see permanent, long lasting change, within a month or so.

In the meantime, there are several other tricks hiding up your sleeve. And these are also great for managing the jumping up, until your training is complete

#2 Treat Hunt – Scatter Feeding

This is a great method to use with a young dog when small children or elderly folk come to visit. It works for nervous dogs as well as dogs that jump all over your guests.

For nervous dogs it simply sweetens the worry of having strangers in the house, and with over friendly dogs that jump up a lot, it helps shift their focus away from the visitors and onto the floor.

photos of lab eating treats off a tiled floor and a photo of a lab jumping in the air

I use this with my shy terrier if we have visitors that she doesn’t know well. Have a small pot of treats that you can easily grab when visitors arrive and simply scatter them across the floor as the visitors enter the room.

You could argue that this is not training, but actually it is. It isn’t asking the dog to respond to a command or cue.

But the dog is learning that when visitors arrive, the fun happens on the floor while all four feet are rooted to the ground.

If your dog is not easily distracted by food the next method may appeal to you.

#3 Chase The Ball

This is a useful method for dogs that love to chase and pick up a ball or toy.

photo of a labrador dog with a ball in their mouth

Have a tennis ball or something similar that your dog likes to run after, on a high shelf near the door that visitors walk through.

Each time visitors arrive, grab the ball, and roll the ball away from the visitors.

Depending on your guests, you can involve them in the game too.

Teaching people to roll a ball for the dog as they walk in the door is a great way to break that jumping up habit provided that the ball is only rolled when the dog’s paws are firmly on the ground. Don’t wait until the dog already has their paws on Grandma’s shoulders

#4 Houseline Heaven

A house line is a short trailing leash that is attached to your dog’s collar or harness. They wear it at all times indoors and you can grab the trailing end when visitors arrive.

This enables you to reward the dog for sitting or simply standing with all four paws on the floor, and prevent them from reaching visitors without giving commands which you know they are not going to obey.

The houseline is great with puppies and rescue dogs that still have a lot to learn because it gives you a means to break habits without trying to use verbal commands that the dog doesn’t yet understand.

#5 Tug It Out

This one is very popular with border collies, terriers, and other dogs that love to play tug. If you use a long rope type tug toy, you can attach it around your waist, or like the ball trick, keep it hanging on a hook near the front door.

And like the ball that you throw for the dog when visitors arrive, it’s important that you keep this toy special. Only give the dog access to it when visitors come to call. That way, it functions as a powerful reward and treat and will be fresh and interesting to the dog.

#6 Four On The Floor

With this final method we use a clicker to teach the dog that four paws on the floor is the most rewarding way to greet a visitor.

This is my favorite method in the long run, and ultimately what you are aiming for.

You don’t want to be forever thinking of ways to distract or divert your dog when visitors come, or even worry about giving them instructions. You just want them to choose to keep their feet on the floor and be polite when visitors come in.

This is the principle described in that big guide I mentioned at the top of this page and you can read more about it there.

What do these methods have in common?

You’ve probably figured out that all these methods focus on teaching an alternative behavior to the one we want to stop. Rather than punishing or trying to ‘correct’ the dog, for the unwanted behavior.

Training is about breaking bad habits as much as it is about forming good habits. The two go hand in hand.

Why not correct the dog for jumping up?

There are a lot of good reasons not to use punishment in dog training but perhaps the most important is this: There are so many ways to be naughty when visitors arrive. You can punish a dog out of jumping up. But that will quite likely be replaced by another unwanted behavior. Possibly even barking or aggressions.

And let’s face it, you want your dog to associate visitors with pleasure, not pain.

For this reason alone, it is so much simpler to show the dog one or two ways to be good when visitors arrive, than it is to be forever trying to play catch up with their latest naughty behavior.

In short. It’s always better to teach the behavior you want from your dog than try to extinguish every other possible naughty behavior instead. And if you keep that in mind when you teach your dog anything. You won’t go far wrong