Training Tips: Visitors For The Holiday

This time of year is busy, fun, and full of family and friends. If you have a canine at home who likes to jump, the stress of having company come over can ruin the fun. Here are several tips to help you make the holidays a little less stressful for you and your guests.

Never push your pet off of you after they have jumped on you. Your dog jumps because they want affection from the fun, new people who came to visit them! So pushing, pulling with your hands, or any kind of physical touching will actually encourage the behavior, after all they are getting what they want...petting! Simply turn your back to your dog. By turning your body quickly to the side your dog’s paws will slide off of you and your guests. This may not stop your dog from jumping but it does get them down without sending mixed signals.

Often time owners will also use the word down. However we also use the command down to tell our dogs to “lie down.” Dogs have a good vocabulary but using the same word for two different actions can confuse even the smartest of breeds. We like to use the word off. Re-training ourselves is the hardest thing to remember. Think of the off command as meaning “get your paws off” and down as meaning “lie down.”

Once clear communication between you and your dog is established you can move on to the next phase of training. When you know you have guests coming over (you can also have practice guests come over before hand) put your dog on their leash. This allows you to control behavior before it gets out of control. Have a bag of treats outside the door for your guests to give your dog. The rule is the dog can only get the treat if they are sitting calmly. You will be amazed how fast dogs pick up on the rules! If you do use the leash to get paws off a guest, pull downward towards their tail to prevent the dog from falling on their sides.

These are just a few tips to get you started in the right direction. If you and your dog need some extra help come in for a Basic Obedience class with our trainers. Obedience gives your dog something physically and mentally engaging to do when they encounter new or exciting situations.