{"id":23118,"date":"2026-03-18T16:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T22:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=23118"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:31:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:31:36","slug":"jumping-on-people-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/jumping-on-people-3\/","title":{"rendered":"JUMPING ON PEOPLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Fran Jewell<\/em>
\nThis is probably one of the biggest problems people come to me with. I think of jumping as an invasion of my personal space and lack of respect from the dog, at ANY age; it is not \u201cattention seeking\u201d or \u201cjust being friendly.\u201d
\nThe bottom line is that the dog has not learned some basic respect and that the people are the leaders. I also see jumping up as the dog\u2019s attempt to get \u201chigher.\u201d Dogs are literalists. In their world, the \u201chigher you are [physically], the higher you are in social status.\u201d This is why so many times, when dogs greet each other, one dog will try to stand on the other\u2019s shoulders or back. Do you have any friends with little dogs (especially terriers) that run to the back of the sofa when you come in the door, then they start to bark at you? This pup may be really friendly, but friendly doesn\u2019t mean he respects people. The same can be true for other dogs, too!
\nIt is critical to realize that larger-breed dogs that do not learn to respect you both physically and emotionally as a young puppy will almost always learn to use their bodies as adults to push you around and get what they want. THIS has incredibly dangerous consequences for people!
\nMany people have hidden disabilities that can cause them balance problems. When you take your dog into public or invite people into your home, you also take the risk that you will come into contact with someone with a disability. A dog jumping (even small dogs) on someone who has a balance issue can cause them to fall and severely injure themselves, which becomes your liability. When you take your dog in public, or even on walks in the woods, you don\u2019t have choices about who your dog is going to meet and potentially jump on. This behavior is not just an annoyance, it literally could be a life-and-death situation for someone that the dog jumps on. It is NOT CUTE or AFFECTIONATE or being FRIENDLY. Calling it \u201cattention seeking\u201d minimizes the seriousness of it and reduces our personal responsibility to train our dogs. I see jumping as a mortal sin, almost as serious as biting because it can be so dangerous.
\nI know this is not a popular way to view jumping, but I have a special view into this behavior since I train service dogs for the disabled and I myself have been disabled. I see day after day the danger it poses.
\nJumping on people is not only dangerous, but as I see it, is a lack of leadership in the household. A good instructor will help you recognize if your dog is lacking respect, in general, but also how to go about gaining that respect in a way that the dog understands. Beating a dog up is not how to gain respect. It is about requiring manners on a daily basis. How you go about that may be different for each dog, depending on what is meaningful to the dog.
\nThere are exercises that you can learn that encourage respect from the dog on many levels, and will help the dog naturally have respect, not just the moment of jumping.
\nThe longer you wait to teach your dog NOT TO JUMP, the harder it is to stop this very dangerous behavior. Puppies should be learning this respect for you and others the moment they come home. Explain to your friends and visitors that petting a jumping dog is simply not allowed in your household.
\nFirst, always reward sitting with LOADS OF AFFECTION! Teach sitting nicely for petting. Then, NEVER PET a jumping dog or puppy, especially one that belongs to someone else that is trying to train them. One pet for jumping signals to the dog that this is a good behavior and to do it again. Never encourage jumping for anything.
\nDo not turn your back on a dog as many videos may suggest. When you turn your back to a dog you are literally submitting to the dog. Since this behavior is an attempt by the dog to see who the leader is, you only confuse the dog about who you are. Many times a dog will then jump on your back and begin humping you. Now, that makes it pretty clear about what that means to the dog.
\nI encourage people (both on someone standing and on someone who is sitting) to \u201creclaim\u201d their personal space from the dog by stepping into the dog. Most people are capable of doing this. It doesn\u2019t require a lot of timing, but does require that the person have some confidence to just keep walking into the dog when it jumps. This is not a knee in the chest. It is reclaiming your personal space. Even after the dog gets off, walk a few steps right into him until he moves away willingly. That movement of the dog away from the person tells the person that the dog has finally respected the human\u2019s space. If you are in a sitting position and the dog puts its feet on you, you can simply stand up and walk into the dog. Again, this says to the dog that he has invaded your space and he must yield to you. I also use the word \u201cGET OFF\u201d or just \u201cOFF,\u201d not \u201cDOWN.\u201d If you use \u201cDOWN,\u201d then try to teach the dog \u201cDOWN,\u201d your dog will be very confused.
\nIn short, jumping is NOT a behavior to encourage for anything. It is simply dangerous and does not teach a dog to be respectful. To motivate yourself, think about how lovely it is to have clean clothes, and no scratches on your arms or legs! Starting the second you bring your dog home, puppy or older, is imperative to make the training much easier. It will help an older dog or rescue make the transition to your home easier, too, because they will learn what is acceptable and what is not.<\/p>\n

Fran Jewell is a dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor and vice president.\u00a0She owns Positive Puppy Dog Training\u00a0LLC and can be reached at (208) 721-7221.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fran Jewell This is probably one of the biggest problems people come to me with. I think of jumping as an invasion of my personal space and lack of respect from the dog, at ANY age; it is not \u201cattention seeking\u201d or \u201cjust being friendly.\u201d The bottom line is that the dog has not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":23119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23118","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-no-bones-about-it"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/479"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23120,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23118\/revisions\/23120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}