Dog Community

Nipping and jumping - ugh

Posted : 11/3/2007 9:58:47 PM

Some background info: Buddy is 18mo., 16lbs. boston/corgi mix. I've had him since he was 9wks and we have been through three different obedience classes. He has a few commands and tricks that he obeys immediately - sit, down, off, leave it, paw, roll over. On to the problems:

Buddy is leash reactive. He is not aggressive on the leash, but he does get very, very excited with dogs and humans. Off leash, at a dog park, he is the best with other dogs. He reads their body language so well. I'm so proud of him. With humans at the dog park, he sometimes ignores them, sometimes approaches to be petted, rarely jumps on them. I have not done a great deal of training with him on the reactiveness. I do use a gentle leader on long walks and am using distance as a temp. solution. If we are walking on the sidewalk and someone is approaching us with or without a dog, I will step off the sidewalk and either continue walking in the street or put Buddy into a sit and give him the leave it command. If it is someone that he doesn't know, he will just sit and watch the person (great!), but if he does know them, he jumps against the leash, whines, barks, or cries at that person. People have stopped approaching him, which I am thankful for because he is not being rewarded for his crazy behavior. BUT, this isn't the problem that I want help with.

Buddy hardly ever jumps on me and he is a jumper. From a stand still he can probably jump 3 to 4 feet straight up in the air. You know how kids always want to walk on concrete walls, like those for a street planter. That is what I do with Buddy. He likes to jump up onto those walls and walk along. :) When I come home at night, no jumping on me. I worked with him early on so that he is calm when I come home. BUT, when anyone comes into my home or we go to another home, he jumps like CRAZY. I was at my parents and my dad came home and he was jumping up (clearing his waistband) and sometimes he was nipping at his clothes! Not cool. My parents are very good with him and reprimand him, but it doesn't deter him.

Also, Buddy has never been happy with anyone physically postitioning him or handling him. As a pup, I handled his paws, ears, opened his mouth, but he never really accepted this. He tolerates me handling his paws (I do cut his nails), looking in his ears, etc. He likes to be on my lap for a neck, back, chest scratch, but if I try to end it or position him differently, he will frequently put his mouth on my hand, wrist, arm. Never bites down, but he is certainly communicating something to me.

Am I dealing with adolescence here? Has he hit that age where he starts to not listen to me? Is there a quick, easy behavior we can exhibit to deter the jumping? Something I can easily explain to visitors? What about the nipping (me and clothes)? Should I go back to saying "ow" and then ignoring him? That is how I dealt with puppy mouthing. Do I not allow him on my lap for awhile?

If you read this far, thank you!

Sue

Truley

Posted : 11/3/2007 10:13:47 PM

I read it all!

Kord just hit 15months and has also gone back to nipping and jumping. The nipping is a herding trait and I believe instinctive for them. You could go back to the "ow" but a sharp no could also work. Some of it I am sure is adolescence.

As for the jumping on strangers, you can do a few things, first, don't let him greet until he has calmed down, or if that is not possible, as soon as he jumps, step towards him and turn away at the same time, this puts him off balance.

Good luck!

firedogk9

Posted : 11/5/2007 9:10:51 AM

This is a wonderful situation to utilize a squirt bottle. You can buy them at Walmart for $1, in the travel size section. Fill it with water, put it on straight stream. Have your bottle ready either when someone comes over or you go somewhere else. When he jumps, squirt him right in the face with the water and tell him "off" in a firm voice. Give him a "sit" command, and if he does then quietly praise him. If he gets excited and jumps as you go to praise, then repeat the procedure. This usually works very quickly to stop a jumper without any leash correction. Best of luck to you.

Dawn

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/5/2007 9:30:56 AM

Why don't you try clicker training? It's possible to get your dog to keep his "four on the floor" without punishing him. Dogs jump to get attention or greet, so somehow he has been reinforced for this in the past or he would not keep doing it! Have you pushed him off, said "off", or yelled at him? Has anyone else? Or, did you absentmindedly reach to pat him when he was a pup while his front paws were up on you? All these things confirm to the dog that jumping up works. Oops. So, this is really not his fault - just normal canine behavior that we would like him to reserve for other dogs, and not for us. Here's a quick lesson for free, but if you can't manage it, contact a clicker trainer in your area for help.

http://www.clickerlessons.com/jumpingup.htm

prolibertate

Posted : 11/5/2007 2:02:03 PM

Buddy will continue to jump even if he's being reprimanded because he's still getting attention. He'll likely still do it even if he gets squirted in the face - I know dogs who actually enjoy that (though most don't). Though I can't imagine we'd like it if it were done to us...just imagine if we were reprimanded by getting squirted in our face...I doubt there's one person who'd like it or who would want to do what was being asked of them after getting it in the face...and we sure wouldn't do it to get our kids to listen to us.

Try this (you'll need a person who Buddy jumps on to do this) - While he's on his leash, walk into the room where the person he'll jump on is. As soon as he jumps up, take him out of the room - without looking at him or saying one word. After 20-30 seconds bring him in again...every time he jumps up, take him back out of the room for 20-30 seconds, again without looking at him or saying one word. Eventually he's going to come into the room and *not* jump; when he does this have the other person ask him to sit, and when he does, praise him and give him a treat. And yes, it may take quite a number of repetitions; you'll notice that each time you bring him in he's less exuberant about jumping - that's because he's learning he gets no attention and gets taken away from people when he does jump. Dogs aren't stupid; we simply have to learn to communicate in *their* language.

When people come into the house, if he jumps they need to fold their arms and turn away, without looking at him or saying one word. They mustn't pay any attention to him and not pet him while he's jumping. Leave some treats close by the door to give your guests when they come over; each time he sits they'll praise him and give him a treat. Eventually he'll learn that sitting means he gets attention and praise - and maybe a treat.

winingteam

Posted : 11/6/2007 1:15:36 AM

Dogs are pack animals and need to recognise you as the leader of their pack, and have respect for you. You must be 100% consistent in managing this problem. Every time he jumps up and/or nips, lightly but firmly pinch him on the side of the neck while pushing him down and firmly say the word "no". This is how his pack leader would discipline him, and he will soon get the message.

Never pay a lot of attention to his bad behaviour, and try not to make eye-contact with him while you are doing the disciplining. This applies to all problems you might encounter. If you make a huge song and dance over him doing something wrong he'll soon learn that this is a great way to get even more attention from you. What I mean by this is don't chase him all round the house if he runs off with a shoe or something. Good luck.

prolibertate

Posted : 11/6/2007 2:04:24 PM

Never pinch your dog! IMO that's abuse and only teaches the dog to fear their human companion. The other methods mentioned earlier in this thread work and are positive methods that will help your dog to want to do what you're asking him to do. Relate it to our going to work - if our boss always tells us what we do wrong, always 'punishes' us for doing wrong, then what's our impression of the boss? That he's not so nice to work for and we don't really feel like doing our best for him. Now, if you're lucky enough to have a boss who tells you in a positive manner when you've screwed up and who *also** tells you when you've done well, you're more apt to try to do even better.

Also, the dog descended from wolf mentality has invaded some trainers and popular belief, and this has hurt people in learning how to relate to their animals and have a wonderful bond with them, IMO. Dogs and wolves are most likely descended from a common ancestor, but they are *not* descended from wolves, and anyone who's read or studied wolf behavior knows that dogs don't act like wolves. As an analogy, we weren't descended from apes, though apes and humans may have descended from a common ancestor...but we humans don't raise our young like the apes do, nor do many of our other actions mimic what apes do. So why would we expect dogs to mimic wolves and train them as if they did? Besides the fact that wolves can't be trained to be tame - ever, there are many differences in dogs and wolves that people need to be aware of.

An excellent book that sheds more light on this is Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution by Raymond Coppinger and Lorna Coppinger.

espencer

Posted : 11/6/2007 8:13:34 PM

I have a video of a professional teaching a client to teach her dog not to jump

Video

glenmar

Posted : 11/6/2007 10:29:04 PM

espencer, why don't you share YOUR experience and what you have done to resolve this sort of problem rather than just post a link to CM? I think personal experience would be a great deal more helpful.

Xerxes

Posted : 11/6/2007 11:10:58 PM

winingteam
Dogs are pack animals and need to recognise you as the leader of their pack, and have respect for you. You must be 100% consistent in managing this problem. Every time he jumps up and/or nips, lightly but firmly pinch him on the side of the neck while pushing him down and firmly say the word "no". This is how his pack leader would discipline him, and he will soon get the message.

Never pay a lot of attention to his bad behaviour, and try not to make eye-contact with him while you are doing the disciplining. This applies to all problems you might encounter. If you make a huge song and dance over him doing something wrong he'll soon learn that this is a great way to get even more attention from you. What I mean by this is don't chase him all round the house if he runs off with a shoe or something. Good luck.

While I understand why you might think this would work, this method can cause escalation of the nipping behaviors. Pack leaders, at least the canine ones, more often will ignore the offending animal and walk away.

In general I find it useful to stop the behavior chain before it starts. Most dogs will show signs that they are getting ready to jump. This is when you should redirect, not when the behavior is occurring. As soon as the dog gathers or tenses the rear, offer the command "sit." If the dog complies, reward. If the dog doesn't comply, walk out of the room. Return in a few moments and give the opportunity again.

My approach is to reward the good behavior and manage the situation so that good behavior equals good rewards. Give the dog every opportunity to succeed rather than fail. You'll be surprised how quickly dogs can learn.

espencer

Posted : 11/7/2007 12:13:09 AM

glenmar
espencer, why don't you share YOUR experience and what you have done to resolve this sort of problem rather than just post a link to CM? I think personal experience would be a great deal more helpful.

Sure, i actually did the same and it worked, thanks to my marketing education i learned that people find easier to remember what to do by seeing it than by reading it, visualization is the key to remember

glenmar

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:40:25 AM

Gosh, after spending 30 years in marketing and advertising, I'm not sure I agree with that, but......

You can do a number of things but the most effective is actually to ignore behaviors that you don't like. It's hard to get absolutely EVERYONE to ignore an undesired behavior, but if you can get everyone on the same page, this should extinguish rahter quickly. Good luck!

corgipower

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:54:08 AM

prolibertate

Try this (you'll need a person who Buddy jumps on to do this) - While he's on his leash, walk into the room where the person he'll jump on is. As soon as he jumps up, take him out of the room - without looking at him or saying one word. After 20-30 seconds bring him in again...every time he jumps up, take him back out of the room for 20-30 seconds, again without looking at him or saying one word. Eventually he's going to come into the room and *not* jump; when he does this have the other person ask him to sit, and when he does, praise him and give him a treat. And yes, it may take quite a number of repetitions; you'll notice that each time you bring him in he's less exuberant about jumping - that's because he's learning he gets no attention and gets taken away from people when he does jump. Dogs aren't stupid; we simply have to learn to communicate in *their* language.

i like this idea...also, do not allow anyone to interact with him until he is calm. he can do it, you taught him to be calm when you come in. to some extent it involves "training" the house guests. which can be a lot more difficult. as for the biting, my corgi sometimes takes my arm in his mouth when i'm petting him, and he does it in a way that strikes me as more of a mutual grooming behavior...thanks for petting me...hard to explain, but nothing i worry about unless it begins to escalate.

corgipower

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:59:10 AM

for the leash issues, you might want to switch him to a harness that allows you to clip the leash to the front. this will turn his shoulders towards you. i'm not a big fan of haltis, especially on a dog that is jumping around like that, and even less so for a corgi or corgi mix, as corgis are very prone to back and neck problems. you might want to keep things a little low key with him, walk him in quiet places, and work on getting him to focus on you. and then slowly add controlled distractions.

prolibertate

Posted : 11/7/2007 12:53:57 PM

Corgipower, you are so right that it's harder to train the guests! They all want to pet the dog and fuss over him as they come in the door, and when trying to train him to not jump, what they're doing is making him jump even more. They all hate it when I ask them to stop it and to ignore him, or ask him to sit before they pay attention to him. I'm wondering if I can use clicker training on the people (as long as I have some really good treats for them! ;)

One thing I have learned is to use a human and do shaping behavior with them...besides being funny, it shows them just how it works for a dog, and then it makes it easier for them to understand what I'm trying to do when I ask them to ignore the dog when he jumps to greet them. While I currently only have a small dog, it's still annoying to have him jump on people, not to mention dangerous for him if they're moving at the time. But others don't realize that if a large breed doesn't learn to not jump when they're small, it's going to be much worse when they're large and still jumping.