How to stop my big, hyper dog from jumping on visitors and hurting them?

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to here that Loki is doing this. He is young and probably very active so addressing this is important. For one, never encourage him to jump up on you or family. Some people do this thinking it's cute but bigger dogs can hurt kids and elderly people. One thing that worked for me in the past for a variety of problems is an aluminum can filled with some coins and taped shut so the coins can't fly out. Keep the can handy and shake the can or throw it near the dog when an unwanted behavior occurs such as jumping up. The sound alone is enough for some dogs and it gets their attention. Lots of dogs are afraid of the sound and they immediately stop what they are doing. The trouble with it is having the can handy in your hand when you suspect bad behavior that you want to stop. I used to keep them near the front door to prevent the unwanted jumping up behavior. Worked great for me and you can verbally reward and use food rewards when they obey that intervention with the can. It's worth trying. Good luck with Loki.

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! You should start with one on one training and NO walks until he is trained. Hire a trainer. Use positive reinforcement and train him to "sit, "heal" on a leash, "look," and "leave it." Also get him used to the gentle leader harness that goes on the muzzle, this allows for amazing head control. Once he is used to the harness and is able to listen to you at home, practice outside on a leash. When people approach ask him to "look" at you and sit. When he does this and ignores the person passing by he gets a treat and verbal praise. You can do this with people you know first. This will take A LOT of time and effort on your part but it should help. https://www.petco.com/shop/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=24&fromPageValue=search&searchTerm=gentle+leader&omnitureEnabled=false&cm_sp=SearchSuggest-_-gentle+leader-_-Location&searchsuggestion_keyword=gentle+leader I wish you and Bruno the best!

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.

Jumping on people to greet them is a very common and normal dog behavior - but since most humans don't appreciate it, it's definitely a good idea to teach him not to do this :) I would recommend keeping Scooby on-leash when he meets people, so that you can prevent him from continuing to practice this behavior. Stand at a distance from the person, and ask him to sit - reward with a treat when he does. Then move a bit closer, and ask him to sit again. If he gets too excited, just back up to where he can be calm again and focus, then try again. Eventually, with practice, you should be able to walk him right up to a person and ask him to sit before they pet him. If you have trouble doing this, you may want to find a good reward-based trainer in your area who can work with you in person. You can search for a qualified trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org

I agree that curbing this behavior is a good idea. The best thing to do would be to train Rey to go to a specific location when someone enters the house. She should be trained to sit and wait until you call her. Begin training with just her. Then introduce the other dog on a leash with a helper. This will take some time and the guidance of a professional trainer may facilitate and speed things up. There is a trainer named Victoria Stillwell who has written several books which may be helpful as well. Best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Marley. Congratulations on her adoption! You can try a couple of things to improve her behavior. A simple solution is to crate her or to keep her in a separate area of the house when company arrives. Then let her out after everyone is settled and keep her on a leash to control any jumping. I have found it more successful though to work on obedience training. Ensure that she knows how to sit. When company walks in, ask her to sit. Again, keep her on a leash while she is learning to control the jumping. Once she sits, provide her with a very high value treat that she only gets when someone comes over. You can use a food puzzle toy, rawhide or anything that will be time consuming for her to consume. The goal is for her to anticipate the treat, sit when someone comes in and then take the treat to go enjoy by herself. Good luck!

This is very normal behavior for a puppy this age - jumping up is a natural greeting behavior for dogs, and biting and mouthing are how puppies explore the world. You will need to be patient and consistent to teach him what you want him to do. When people come to the house, he needs to be on a leash or in another room behind a baby gate until he calms down. Praise and reward with treats when he keeps all four feet on the floor, or teach him to sit for greetings. Make sure that he has a variety of different toys to provide an appropriate outlet for this behavior - long floppy rope or fleece toys for tugging, plush toys for biting and carrying, and smaller toys or balls for chasing and fetching. Providing lots of things to chew on can also help, especially when you are busy or have company over - try things like bully sticks, cow or pig ears, rawhide chews, and puzzle toys like a Kong stuffed with peanut butter. If these things don't help, I would recommend getting in touch with a good reward-based trainer who can work with you in person to teach more appropriate greeting behavior. You can search for a qualified trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org