Ohh the JUMPING!!!

We have a German Shorthaired Pointer who will be 2 next month. He is a great dog but very high strung (a characteristic of of the breed so I'm told). The only problem we have with him is that he jumps on people and goes insane running around the house like a crazy dog when people come over. He never seems to calm down and he jumps on everyone when they walk in the door. Now that we have a newborn, we have had lots of visitors and it's driving me insane! We have tried turning ourt back and it dosen't help. We have tried putting him on a training/pinch collar and that hasn't worked. Can someone suggest what we could do with him to get him to stop jumping? And, how can we get him to calm down when people come over? He gets excited and can't seem to calm down until everyone leaves.

Message edited 10/21/2008 12:01:31 AM.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

I would sudgest giving him a half of benedryl...I do this for my dog when there will be a lot of people around because she gets nervous and nippy... the vet said it was fine! HTH

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

I had 2 German Shorthaired Pointers growing up and they are very excitable dogs. With a newborn it may be very hard to give them the attention they need because they require alot of outside time to burn off their anxiety (aka walks or dog runs). WHen people come over your dog probably thinks they are there for him/her (they are a bit conceited).
Your best bet is to hire a trainer but with little time I have heard of giving them benadryl to relax.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

i agree, I'd get a trainer before drugging him. if it comes to your sanity or drugging the pooch, I would just put him in the bedroom or in his crate when visitors arrive.

it also sounds like he needs exercise.maybe take him for a jog around the block before the visitors are due to arrive to help burn some of that energy.

here's a jumping training exercise I learned: put him on a leash, have a friend come over and when he jumps, say "No!" and when he gets down, give him a treat. keep repeating until it gets to point where all four paws are on the ground and he's not attempting to jump up.

or, a variation of this - put him on the leash when your visitors arrive, step on the leash so the only room you give him is to stand. when he tries to jump he won't be able to b/c your foot is on the leash, only allowing enough length to stand. when he stops attempting to jump, give him a treat or have the friend pet him.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

we had the same exact problem with our dog... lab/pit mix...

she is so hyper and active.... and the jumping was just crazy..
so we were told by the vet and others that if you knee the dog in the chest... not hard of course.. but just enough for them to feel it.... the dog should eventually stopped..
it worked wonders for us... she will not jump on ANYONE anymore... its great!

we even told our friends and family to do it too .. just to put their knee up.. and she backed off..

so its a little trick you might want to try!

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

I think the key with unwanted behavior is not to try to force the dog to do what you want by force, choke collars or drugs, but to first consider if the dog is getting everything it needs to help it behave.

For instance, how much time do you dedicate to one-on-one exercise with your dog so it can release all it's energy? How do you learn about training methods, and how often do you use them? Not just for unwanted behaviors but to teach the dog new things and keep it's mind occupied?

Physical force and drugs are absolutely the last things I would use to teach a dog. Just as I wouldn't drug or strike a child for having energy and releasing it when they're happy, I wouldn't do that to a dog either. I'm not saying they're equals, I'm saying they're helpless to control themselves when we don't show them the way in a clear, consistent and patient manner.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

well, despite having a newborn I have found plenty of time during the day to devote to Yogi. I play ball with him (we have a huge backyard for him to run) everyday for at least 30 minutes, if not longer. Then, when DH gets home from work he plays with him for the same amount of time as well. I also take him for walks multiple times per week as well. You can ask anyone that knows us, Yogi will play and run for hours and hours and still have energy. He's like the energizer bunny!!!

I'm not 100% comfortable giving him benadryl. I think that he is jumping b/c of something that we are not teaching him. I don't think it's his fault. We are the humans and should be able to teach him properly. I've tried stepping on the leash to keep him down but we found that hard to do when we don't know if people are stopping by since we don't typcially keep a leash on him throughout the day.

We have tried the bitter apple spray which deters him from some behaviors, but not the jumping. I find it frustrating when my parents or my IL's come over and they allow him to jump like a maniac despite our requests not to give him attention. He dosen't jump on us when we walk in the door. It's only the guests.

Message edited 10/21/2008 3:13:50 PM.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

I happen to have a dog behavior book I'm reading next to me and I found the chapter on Jumping.

I hope this link works, it's part of the chapter, pages 125 to 129. We're employing this with our Lab right now (also a little ball of energy with meeting new people) and he's doing great.

Google Book Search "The Loved Dog"

Edited to add - I was posting while you were posting.

I put Brinkley in a sit and then have my husband play the "guest" and ring the doorbell. Believe it or not, even if he's only been gone five minutes, he'll still get the same happy reception as if he'd been gone for hours.

I think if you do practice with people who are willing to help, the ones who don't help won't derail him too too much.

By the way, with his age, he might start to mellow out in the next year too.

Message edited 10/21/2008 3:25:00 PM.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!

THIS was a MAJOR problem with Rudy. We still struggle sometimes but it has gotten better.

We did hire a dog trainer. We used Chris from Bark Busters. He taught us to us the right tone and words to get Rudy to stop. He no longer jumps on us when we come home.

When someone comes to the house we block him. Our door is kind of next to our steps so Rudy knows to go up on the steps we block them with the door the people come in say hello to him. We let him sit there for a few minutes until he comes down and then we let him free and he is fine. No jumping or anything. I have also found that putting him on a leash helps. You have better control.

I would suggest getting a dog trainer because you can't do these things forever lol but for now they work.

On a side note things like pennies in a can, water bottle (Rudy would drink the water) and kneeing in the chest NEVER worked for Rudy.

Re: Ohh the JUMPING!!!