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FLASHSALE
Why Puppies Jump Up and How to Stop It for Good
Your puppy jumps up and you tell it off. Then it jumps on a guest and the guest says "oh it's fine, I don't mind" and bends down to pet it. The problem isn't your puppy. It's the inconsistency. Every single time jumping up produces attention, physical contact, or a response, the behaviour gets stronger. Jumping is not rudeness. It is a puppy running a strategy that keeps working.
Luke Buchanan, Owner of The Toe Beans Co and Sydney's Puppy Trainer, covers the full protocol below. The fix is simpler than most owners expect, but it requires complete consistency across everyone who interacts with the puppy.
Why puppies jump in the first place
Puppies jump to reach the face. In their litter, they licked the muzzle of adult dogs to trigger regurgitation as a feeding behaviour. When a puppy jumps on you, it is using the same instinct: get to the face. The behaviour is natural. It does not stay natural. It becomes a nuisance when the puppy grows to 35 kilograms and is still doing it.
The behaviour persists for one reason: it works. Jumping produces a response, and any response, positive or negative, is rewarding. The owner pushes the puppy down: physical contact. The owner says "no" or "off": attention and eye contact. The owner turns away: the game shifts but there is still engagement. Most owners think they are correcting the jumping. They are feeding it.
The rule: zero response to jumping, every time, from everyone
There is no shortcut here. The behaviour fades when it produces nothing. The protocol is:
- Cross your arms. Turn your body away. Look at the ceiling or the wall. No eye contact, no voice, no physical contact of any kind, including the push-down. The push-down is the single most reinforcing thing you can do for a jumping puppy.
- Hold position until the puppy has four paws on the floor and there is a genuine, settled pause. Not just a pause to take breath before the next attempt. A real, disengaged settle.
- Turn back calmly and give your attention. This is the reward for the floor behaviour, not the jumping.
If the puppy jumps again the moment you turn back, repeat. Turn away. Hold position. Wait. Return when four paws are on the floor.
The problem with "off" as a command
"Off" teaches the puppy that jumping is the default, and "off" is the instruction to stop. But jumping should not be a default. The foundation of the Relational Leadership approach is that the puppy never gets anything, including attention, without operating from a calm settled state. Teaching "off" treats jumping as a starting point and works backward. Ignoring the jump and rewarding the floor position goes forward.
Commands have a place in training. This isn't one of them for a puppy under sixteen weeks. Build the pattern first.
What to do when guests arrive
Guests are almost always the weak link. They find it cute, they bend down to the puppy's level, they make high-pitched noises, and they make weeks of your work irrelevant in thirty seconds. Before guests arrive:
- Brief them. "Please completely ignore the puppy if it jumps. No eye contact, no touch, no talking. Turn away. When it has four paws on the floor, you can say hello." Most people will try to follow this if it is explained in advance.
- Have the puppy on a lead if you are not confident. You can control what the puppy can access.
- Manage the threshold moment. The front door is the highest-arousal point of the puppy's day. Consider putting the puppy in a calm room before guests arrive, bringing them in once the arousal has settled, rather than greeting at the door.
How long it takes
With complete consistency from everyone in the household and all visitors, most puppies show significant reduction within one to two weeks. Jumping that has been intermittently reinforced for two to three months takes longer, three to four weeks of rigorous protocol. The variable is how consistently the rule is applied.
The pattern that stalls progress every single time: the household is consistent, a visitor caves once, the puppy gets reinforced, and the cycle resets. One exception undoes a lot of work. That is the nature of intermittent reinforcement.
When it is more than jumping
Jumping that is accompanied by growling, snapping, mouthing that breaks skin, or that escalates despite the protocol being applied correctly, needs a professional assessment. The behaviour is then outside the range of normal attention-seeking and needs a different approach. Contact Luke at The Toe Beans Co for a one-to-one assessment, or join the free SKOOL community for support between sessions.
Puppy school runs across Bondi, Paddington, and Surry Hills. Jumping and door manners are covered in the first session.
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