My dog jumps and puts paws on my chest. Is it aggression or affection?

This is a very common behavior, and usually is endearing, though occasionally annoying. ;) Generally the thought is that dogs just want to confirm that they approve of your petting them or reaffirm that they don’t want you to move the hand that’s petting them. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Usually these behaviors can be corrected but this usually requires in person training by a qualified dog trainer. I recommend you consider contacting a qualified dog trainer to work with you in person. Good luck and have a good day!

I would recommend a couple of things to help break this habit. First, when you walk in the house, completely ignore Chevy, turn your back to him, don’t look at him in the eye or even correct his behavior, because although it is negative attention, he still wants any type of attention he can get from you. I would also recommend getting a harness that has pressure points over the shoulders as these help prevent jumping up. Any time he jumps up on you lift your leg in the air so that his chest hits your knee. This will be uncomfortable for him and will discourage him from jumping. You should also start working with him on basic commands such as sit/stay/come. Once he has mastered these it should be easier to use commands when he is excitable. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is a common behavior in puppies. This should subside over time but one thing that may help is having any friends or family that are over to the house completely ignore Pinky until she calms down. You can even have them offer a treat and make her sit and stay to get her to calm down. This will help with the spontaneous urination due to excitation. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

This is a very common problem with young, friendly dogs - they become overly excited when they greet people, and can't control their jumping and mouthing. This problem can be treated effectively with good training, but it will require you to be patient and consistent since it takes quite a while for most dogs to learn to control themselves in these situations. Training for this problem involves rewarding your dog for keeping all four paws on the floor as people approach, and gradually increasing the level of difficulty to include petting and actual greetings once he is doing well. Here is a link to an excellent discussion on training for this problem, including a video demonstrating this technique: https://denisefenzipetdogs.com/2015/09/14/jumping-on-people/ If you still have trouble, I would suggest getting in touch with a good reward-based trainer who can help you in person. You can search for a qualified trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Pip. From the pictures, her behavior appears playful. Puppies will commonly nip and mouth around the necks and muzzles of adult dogs. As long as her tail is wagging and she is not forcefully growly, then I suspect this is normal play behavior. You can always enroll her in puppy classes as this will help her socialization and to learn how to appropriately play with other dogs. I hope this information helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It sounds like Hobbes has a lot of boxer in him! This is a typical behavior in puppies, especially boxer puppies from what I have seen in my experience. With cases like these, I recommend keeping a collar with a leash attached to him at all times so that you can pick up the leash and correct this behavior right away. If he starts to jump up you then grab the leash and give a firm tug downward and in a stern voice say "off!". If this does not work alone, you can also incorporate a spray bottle filled with water and also lightly spritz him in the face with the water bottle while at the same time tugging on his leash in a downward direction and say "off!". You need to let him know that you are in control of him at all times and by establishing this, he should listen more. I would also reward him with treats when he listens to you so that you can reinforce the good behavior. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be happy to help you further.