# Jumping up and over-excitement meeting people



## Mirafi (Aug 1, 2012)

Sachi is actually doing really well on NOT jumping up on me, and to a lesser extent my husband. When she tries to jump up I just put my hands on my hips and look at her until she sits. She has to sit to say please for everything so she's getting really good at it.

However, when we're out for a walk and encounter strangers who want to pet her it all flies out the window. People of course see her and immediately their voice (mostly women and kids) goes up about ten octaves, they lean down or kneel and talk to her like a baby (which I do not) and find it utterly adorable when she starts squeaking and whining and jumping in excitement. It's only cute because she's cute and small and obviously this behavior would not be so cute were she, say, a rottweiler. And really, it's not cute. I personally can't stand it when a dog is jumping all over me, and I want Sachi to be welcome around people who also don't like dogs jumping on them, otherwise our ability to go places will be limited.

The issue here is obviously not the dog as she is learning non-jumping manners with me just fine. The issue is how do I control other people's response to her? They usually ask me if they can pet her and I say yes, but please don't let her jump on you, ask her to sit...etc. But they either don't hear me or they say something like "D'awwww she's so cute it's alright I don't mind!" And even if they do comply and ask her to sit, it's done in that high-pitched baby voice which just sends the poor dog into a frenzy of whining, licking and mouthing, and if it's a kid who wants to pet her, forget it, i'm not even sure they hear me once they're focused on the wiggling ball of fluff.

So every day when I go on a walk I'm faced with one or two encounters where I find myself thinking "should I just tell them no they can't pet her?". It's a dilemma because she's not going to learn greeting manners if she never is allowed to greet anyone, but then again if every time she greets someone her spastic behavior is rewarded then she's learning that spastic behavior is OK with strangers. The issue is further complicated because encounters on the sidewalk are very brief- people want to stop long enough to say hi but not long enough to get a lesson on how to greet my dog.

This is yet another way raising a tiny fluffy dog is vastly different from raising a big intimidating dog. No stranger ever squealed with delight and was happy to be jumped on by my rottie, at least not right away.

Now, if I knew anyone in this city I could probably set up encounters with them on the sidewalk and such, but we're new here and know no one. Being married to the military this is an ongoing challenge.

We're starting puppy classes on Tuesday so hopefully that will help a bit...should I just decline when people ask to pet her and rely on puppy classes for socialization and learning greeting manners?


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

just keep getting her out and keep working on it!!
My Tillie is 2 and although she KNOWS she isn't suppose to jump on people and she does initially sit (albeight wiggly) before they pet her, once they start petting her 90% of the time she will 'climb' up them to a standing position, where I have to tell her 'off' and ask them not to pet her if she is ON them in any way. AND YES 99% of the people we meet say the same thing, "It's okay, she's so little and cute..." I respond with, "It isn't okay with me, she should NOT be jumping on ANYONE. at anytime." she is still learning and I am not TOO hard on her as her LOVE/complete ADORATION of people is one of her sweetest charms... she just LOVES people (esp. kids) TOO much and just can't control herself sometimes!! 
Just keep working with your pup ...


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

good stuff Tammy. The ignoring part is fine, but it falls apart when others break the routine. Teaching an alternate greeting eg. sit has to be entertained as well. You can't count on strangers to make it easy. Here is a great video.


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

It took a while but my pup has gotten good at reading people. For those not so dog enthusiastic he will now just walk by and ignore. For the person that shows interest he'll stop and be petted. To jump up now it takes a legitimate invite on the person's part (lots of high pitched talking; "come here"s and patting thighs). I'm perfectly happy with this. When he was little, I just worked at making him sit initially and considered that a win --especially when folks were asking for him to jump up. As a puppy, he would jump on everyone!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

marlowe'sgirl said:


> It took a while but my pup has gotten good at reading people. For those not so dog enthusiastic he will now just walk by and ignore. For the person that shows interest he'll stop and be petted. To jump up now it takes a legitimate invite on the person's part (lots of high pitched talking; "come here"s and patting thighs). I'm perfectly happy with this. When he was little, I just worked at making him sit initially and considered that a win --especially when folks were asking for him to jump up. As a puppy, he would jump on everyone!


That's what it's all about. Thanks.


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## Gabs (Apr 15, 2012)

omg, it drives me crazy when ppl just start patting her, or talk baby talk to her without asking me 1st, because it gets her super excited and it then becomes very hard to calm down afterwards. She has begun to think that everyone walking by should do the same (lol she thinks it's all about her)

I am happy she loves people, dont get me wrong, but I just find people's reaction and behaviours can be inappropriate and it makes training her so much harder - she's gone into the excited state before I can do anything about it. People do have good intentions (and they are the cutest dogs in the world, so i get why they cant resist them  ) but they really need to learn how to greet a dog. I have started saying "sorry we are in training" because training needs to be consistent 100% of the time for it to work. I actually find kids to be the best, they follow instructions so much better than the adults, lol (i.e., dont pat her if she jumps, she needs to sit 1st etc) Adults just wind her up and then walk away  no wonder she looks for the next person to "play" with her.

Around here they started a "yellow ribbon" campaign of sorts which is suppose to tell people that your dog needs more space (for a variety of reasons) http://www.gulahund.se/default_en.asp -- I hope it catches on, because I think it could be a very valuable tool


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## Gabs (Apr 15, 2012)

davetgabby said:


> good stuff Tammy. The ignoring part is fine, but it falls apart when others break the routine. Teaching an alternate greeting eg. sit has to be entertained as well. You can't count on strangers to make it easy. Here is a great video. Dog Training: How to stop Jumping up!- clicker dog training - YouTube


Good video! My gabby has been a big jumper, it's gotten better, but useful tips here to apply


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

you need to make pre-arrangements with someone to run into you and do the exact routine with the pup, maybe several different people several different times, then pup will learn to calm down with others


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## rokipiki (Oct 15, 2010)

Roki usually climbs up someones legs if person wants to pet him. He is not jumping all the time and he is not aggresive. Most people like that and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. He attracts older people on the street and the y ask him to come up so that they can pet him. We regulraly meet a group of children in wheelchairs (celebral palsy sufferers) and they are so happy when Roki puts his front paws and head in their lap. He also likes to greet kids in strollers and most parents like that. Roki likes to interact with people. He is not allowed to jump like mad on someone, but he never does that anyway.


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