Jumping on People...

I have a problem with my 4month beagle. Whenever he sees someone, it can be a total stranger, he will try to jump on them.
How can I get him to stop? I dont want to have company, and my puppy is jumping on people. I think thats rude...
Any Suggestions?

When he jumps on you or another person, push him away and command "NO!" If he persists, give him a good knee in the chest and command "NO!". Once of the knee into chest usually makes him stop at least for the day, the more often he associates jumping with something bad, the less he will do it.

-Dix

You might want to do some training with a friend that doesn't mind the dog jumping up on them.

Have your friend walk up, if your puppy jumps up, correct the behavior. Push him down and tell him to stop. Once he sits there for a few seconds, tell him good job and praise him.

Keep doing this, each time extending the time till you praise him. Soon he will associate a person walking up and not jumping on them is a good thing.

thanks guys... great advice...

Try not to physically hurt your puppy (i.e. knee in the chest, stepping on paws...etc). Pushing your dog away and shouting `No!' gives him exactly what he wants - attention. They don't differentiate between good and bad attention - it's all attention to them.

Practising with a couple of friends who don't mind jumping is an outstanding idea. If your dog jumps, he is ignored. If he doesn't jump, he is praised and rewarded. He'll soon learn.

Positive reinforcement is much, much better for a dog's psyche (and they learn faster and more thoroughly this way). Clicker-training is also great for this.

Whatever you do, the key is IGNORE. ANY kind of attention - a push, a shove, a shout, a word ANYTHING - is attention to your dog and therefore he gets what he wanted to start with.

I have seen a method which seems to work in minutes (i have never tried it though!).

As you walk down the street and your dog see someone and begins to excited, just briskly about turn and walk in the opposite direction... Be firm - just turn and walk in the opposite direction.

Continue like this as long as it takes. The dog will soon get the idea to ignore the people walking past.

I hope that is the full method! I actually pulled this idea off a TV programme in the UK (sounds dodgy, but trust me - ask anyone it was a class programme!). The dog in question went manic whenever anyone passed, and within minutes it clocked on not to do it.

Only negative is you might look like a raving looney walking back and forth along the street for awhile!!