Disobeying and Nipping

    • Gold Top Dog

    Disobeying and Nipping

    Hi.  Just looking for some ideas.  My dog is 8 months old.   Lately she has starting jumping up on me whenever I sit down.  She knows the off command and listens but it doesn't stop the initial jumping.  Also, if I tell her "No" she gets frustrated and tries to nip at me.  She shows her teeth and bites at my clothes.  I tell her no and it starts all over again!  I usually resort to walking away, going upstairs, etc but then I feel like I'm letting her take advantage of me!  She only does this with me, not my husband.  I do try to do NILIF with her she sits for food, any treats, etc.   I also limit her freedom with her leash when she acts up as our trainer suggested.  Does anyone else have any ideas that I am missing?   I do think she needs a bit more exercise and we are working on that.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Another great idea would be for you to take her for a refresher class, so that she develops similar respect for you as for your DH.  I suspect that no one taught you or him how to properly discourage jumping when she was little.  It also sounds like she is getting to be a bit "pushy", typical of some adolescent dogs, which is why they usually end up at class again at that age:-))
    Ways to discourage jumping:
    Ignore it, make no eye contact and turn your back or disappear into the bathroom.  That way, you aren't "rewarding" it, even inadvertantly.
    Get her to do something else.  "No" means nothing, but you could try to ask her to "sit" instead.  "Sit" earns a reward.  Jumping earns nada.
    Catch her being good!!!! We often want to punish the jumping up (ineffective anyway - they jump on people they don't respect or fear, and they don't learn a good alternate behavior), but we seldom reward good behavior.  If you catch her with all four paws on the floor, reward it.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks for the advice.  I have been the one taking her to training so I guess I just need to brush up.   I have been doing all that you have suggested and I will continue to do so...   It is hard to ignore a wet nose against my glasses but I try!  I am also going to try to practice her obedience with her each night to try to reinforce that respect.   She did finally calm down last night and I did praise her for being a good girl, I hate always having to yell at her!  
     
    Thanks again! 
    Ryan
    • Gold Top Dog
    Oh, I also wanted to add that she doesn't really jump up as we are standing.  She has shown great progress with knowing to sit when I come in the door, etc in order to be petted.  She jumps when we are sitting on the couch and I guess that means play time!    I do find myself patting her as she is laying across me with just her back feet on the floor, which I know is praising her for being all over me!   Ahhh  I know better! 
    • Gold Top Dog
    My mum's boxer/kelpie cross jumps up quite a lot. She's a wriggly youngster and can't seem to control herself when someone says her name or puts their face near hers. The problem wasn't addressed properly when she was a pup because my little brother was supposed to be training her and he wasn't, but no one else had much interest in taking her aside and teaching her. But it got pretty annoying pretty fast and the whole family started to insist that she sit if she wanted cuddles. She learnt that if she jumped up, people ignored her, walked away or pushed her away, but if she sat, she got cuddles. She's still young and wriggly, and still jumps up, but she usually remembers straight away that she's supposed to sit and she sits a few paces back from you and waits for her reward. She's getting very good and now she'll even sit the moment she sees you come into the room, waiting for her cuddles.