May 6, 2025 • 18 mins
Tired of your dog jumping all over you and your guests? You're not alone. In this dynamic episode, dog training experts Lauren Langman and Dave tackle one of the most common yet frustrating canine behaviors - jumping up.
We explore why jumping becomes problematic and why it's worth addressing beyond just keeping your clothes clean. Lauren shares a poignant personal story about her father's battle with cancer, highlighting how jumping dogs can pose genuine safety risks for vulnerable individuals. The conversation delves into legal considerations too - most dog owners don't realize that if your dog merely scares someone by jumping, it could potentially be considered dangerous under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The magic of this episode lies in the practical solutions. You'll discover how incredibly adept dogs are at reading context and cues, allowing them to understand when jumping might be acceptable versus inappropriate. We introduce boundary games as a powerful training tool, explain the importance of household consistency, and share management strategies using crates, puppy pens, and gates to prevent jumping while training progresses.
Dave reveals his simple rule: dogs can only jump when they have a Kong in their mouth, demonstrating how clear criteria help dogs understand expectations. Lauren explains how putting jumping on cue creates clarity, while managing access to reinforcers prevents dogs from being rewarded for unwanted behavior.
Ready to transform your jumping dog? Take advantage of our special offer for listeners - our comprehensive "10 Days to Stop Jumping" course for just £27 (normally £97) with lifetime access.
Whether you have a bouncy spaniel or an enthusiastic shepherd or any other breed, you'll gain the tools to create clear boundaries while maintaining a loving relationship with your dog. Visit absolute-dogs.com to start your journey.
If you’re loving the podcast, you’ll love our NEW Sexier than a Squirrel Dog Training Challenge even more! Get transformational dog training today for only £27!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel
podcast.
I'm Lauren Langman.
I'm one of the world's leadingdog trainers and it's my mission
to help owners become theirdog's top priority.
In each episode, you'lldiscover how to gain trust and
communicate with your dog likenever before, creating
unbreakable bonds that make youthe most exciting part of their
world.
Oh, my goodness, jumping dogs.
(00:30):
Like jumping dogs.
It's one of my pet hates.
I really don't enjoy a jumpingdog.
Now, from a little dog's pointof view, I used to think it was
cute, but then I've watched myspaniels jump up and flatten
themselves on their back andrealize that that's not
something I like.
And big dogs jumping you knowwhat?
(00:50):
I quite like my clothes stayingclean and I quite like my
clothes staying like mud and dogfree, and so, the more you have
a dog that jumps up at you.
And of course, there are timesin your training that jumping up
can be appropriate on cue orwhen you get them to come back
at you with a toy, but actually,when it's inappropriate or the
timing is not now, oh, I don'tlike jumping up.
What about you, dave?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, you know my aversion to mud, dog hair and
dirt.
I saw what was coming therewith that little comment.
So, yeah, and anyone who's seenme train will know I've always
got a set of overalls orsomething on to keep me, to keep
me clean.
So, yeah, dogs, dogs, jumpingup is definitely not something I
like, albeit, again, those arepeople who have seen me train
(01:29):
with Biscuit know that she isvery good at jumping into my
arms and having a cuddle.
So it's really difficult, isn'tit?
Because it's nice and cute whenit's like on your terms, but
then when she jumps up andheadbutts you in the nose at
three o'clock in the morning,when you're working and in the
freezing cold, it's not so, notso fun.
So, yeah, definitely, if you've, if you've got one of those
(01:50):
dogs that's jumping up and youdon't like it, the uh, the stop
jumping up course is definitelythe one for you yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So 10 days to stop jumping.
I think would be a mega coursefor anybody listening today.
10 days to stop jumping.
It's reduced from from £97 to£27.
To all of our listeners todaygo and check it out.
Lifetime access.
10 days to stop jumping is aproblem Now.
I know for me, and you can getit at the Absolute Dogs store.
So it's wwwabsolute-dogscom.
So go and grab it.
10 days to stop jumping rightnow.
(02:18):
Or if you're a member of GamesClub, you've got access already,
which is really, really cool.
And if you're, not a member ofGames Club.
Go and get Games Club whereveryou've been.
Games Club, immense library oflearning.
So jumping up, Dave.
If we think about jumping up, Iwould say my number one rule
with jumping up is actuallydecide what is and what isn't
appropriate.
(02:38):
So you're clear on it.
In training, when I'm trainingmy dogs and I encourage them, I
might pat my body or might clapmy hands.
I'm instigating and I doinstigate it, and those are
people that are listening,who've got pet dogs, who are
thinking why would you instigateit?
In the working dog world?
I think jumping up can have aplace.
It can have a place forconfidence.
It can have a place forbringing a toy back.
It can have a place forcelebration.
(03:00):
It can have a place forreinforcement.
I don't mind it in a workingspace where it's queued.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
yeah, I totally agree .
So.
So for me, the the rule is ifyou've got the kong in your
mouth, you can jump up and wecan play and interact and engage
.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
If you haven't got a kong in your mouth, um, don't
jump up so for you, it's acelebration as well, now
listening and thinking thisthrough.
So how does a dog knowdifferently, or the difference?
And this is where, guys, wedon't give our dogs enough
credit.
Our dogs are genius at readingcues.
Our dogs are genius at readingbody language.
Our dogs are genius at readingother dogs, if we allow them the
(03:40):
opportunity and I'm thinkinghere, dave, that my little sheep
dog.
Now she can read which sheep ona herd needs pulling off
because it's lame or becauseit's got a lamb that's in
trouble.
And she can read thosesubtleties, alongside, of course
, some training and alongside,of course, some cues.
She knows which one Dogs canread a weak animal.
Dogs can read a human that'soff.
(04:00):
Dogs can read our body languageway better than we give them
credit for.
And so I believe that your cues,as long as they're clear and as
long as they're consistent, Ithink you can have a dog that
jumps up and doesn't jump up.
So my dogs jump up in certainplaces.
So they'll often jump up in thearena or they'll often jump up
in work, but in the house,unless I cue, I want you up on
me.
Then there is no jumping up onme.
(04:20):
Now some of my tips for keepingdogs on the floor and you feel
free to share some of yours,dave.
One of my favourite ones isactually boundary games, because
I will put my dog on a boundaryand say there's your boundary,
and this is where Skittles isreally funny, like she's
desperately trying to jump upbut there's nowhere to jump up
to because the boundary is inthe middle of the room sometimes
(04:42):
or in the corner of the roomwhere she cannot get access to
you.
So I personally think boundarygames are fantastic for helping
to solve jumping up and I knowthey're part of our 10 days to
stop course.
Like I said, if you haven'tgrabbed it, 27 pound bargain,
bargain, bargain for ourlisteners today.
If you want to go over and grabit, lifetime access.
But I love boundary games forstopping a dog jumping.
(05:03):
I think that boundary games aremassive and I think there's
also a place, dave, and I don'tknow what you think about this,
but jumping up can beproblematic because my dad, when
he was in, he was sick like hewas.
He was poorly, he was losinghis mobility, he had end stage
cancer and when he was losinghis mobility is actually
actively dangerous to have a dogthat jumps at him because if he
(05:24):
does break his leg there's nochance it's recovering.
He's he's got bone cancer,metastatic, metastatic bone
cancer.
So he's not going to walk againand I think this is really
important that we considerpeople will be fragile.
Your dog cannot jump at certainpeople and actively like I'm
thinking of Arthur I don't knowif you want to explain like the
size of Arthur, maybe Dave, andhow like Arthur's jumping would
would realistically always be.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, I think Arthur was a big police dog, but I
think you've raised a reallygood point.
And I've seen a dog in my localpark, a big Malamute that
basically runs around the parkand one morning he was jumping
up this young girl who was goingto school and the dog probably
(06:08):
weighed as much as as the girlhe was jumping up and you know
it's those sorts of things thatyou know spill over from
allowing your dog to do it kindof at home because it's funny,
or when they're a puppy becausethey're cute, but but actually
the knock-on effects to that is,yes, jumping up is is annoying,
but actually you know, spillingover to that where which is
(06:29):
kind of run after somebody inthe park and it's jumping up a
girl going to school, um iswhere it really starts to cause
you problems and I think that'sthe the effect of not having
real clear boundaries and realclear you know rules around
jumping or not jumping up peopleyeah, massive, absolutely
massive.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
And I think we raise another really good point there,
dave, that if someone doesn'tlike a dog, a dog jumping up, or
is scared of dogs, a dogjumping up is actually quite um
scary and I think, that as doglovers, both you and I it would
take a lot for you and I to bereally scared, like typically
we're not um going to be scaredof dogs, like there's not a
moment where you're really,really um likely to be to be
(07:09):
worried by a dog.
However, for someone who isscared of dogs particularly
children and particularly anyonewith any level of fragile
absolutely there becomes asafety issue with jumping up and
actually it can become quite ascary space to be, and I think
we also.
I don't want to hop on about thelaw too much here, but the law
(07:31):
does state that if a dog does asmuch as scares someone, that is
enough to be considereddangerous under the Dangerous
Dogs Act, and I think we do needto consider that dogs are not
always looked upon favourably inthe law and that we really need
to consider that if you do havea chihuahua and it jumps up at
someone, you're probably goingto get away with it not that
that's right or wrong, but youprobably are.
(07:51):
You have a malamute that startsjumping at someone, a german
shepherd dog that's jumping atsomeone, a neapolitan mastiff, a
dog de bordeaux, a staffy, abulldog, a?
Um malinois, um a belgianshepherd, the bigger dogs right,
the bigger dogs.
When they start doing it, notonly can they call cause harm by
just being goofy they're justbig maybe but they actually can
(08:14):
worry people more because of thesize of them.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
yeah, and I think that's the concern, isn't it?
And I think that's why it'sreally important when you've got
a dog, you really set thoserules and you consider the
bigger picture.
And, like I say, I think theproblem is very often in a
household is that you know thebigger people in the house will
maybe tolerate jumping, whereasthe littler people don't quite
like it as much, although in myhouse it's the other way around.
(08:41):
So I don't like jumping up, butmy nine-year-old actively
encourages the dogs to jump upand bounce around and all the
other stuff that you know theyshouldn't be doing.
But again, it goes back to yourpoint.
You know they're very clearlike when they see my son
walking that they know what theycan get away with, in the same
way that when I walk in, theyknow what they they can't get
away with.
(09:01):
And dogs are very, very good atquite quickly manipulating the
situation to to benefitthemselves.
And that's why it's importantwhen you, when you kind of go
through the, the course is thateverybody needs to be on the
same page in the household,because it's no good one person
trying to train the dogsomething and ultimately
somebody else in the houseuntraining everything you've
(09:22):
done the the day before which,which my son is really good at,
and you raise a really goodpoint because, eliza, for
example, we had a movie lastnight and we didn't have a
Saturday movie night because wewere watching a lecture.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So she was livid.
She was like you're watching alecture on a Saturday night, but
we were as a live lecture, andso instead we did a Sunday movie
night and Skittle and a coupleof the other dogs were on the
beds Brave classic and as Elizawalked past she went and I was
like, absolutely not, you go andsit on the sofa.
And they're sitting on the sofa.
We're all on boundaries tonightand I think it's important
because, as much as she washappy to have Skittle and
(09:55):
Classic in her arms, I reallywanted to have everyone settled
and the rules of the room arewe're having a calm settled,
we're watching TV, we're nothaving dogs jumping over the
sofas and all of the other funthings that the dogs do and
rolling around and whizzingaround and potentially playing
zoomies, and I think it isimportant that everyone is on
board on whatever the newhousehold sort of energy is and
if we're saying, look, no,jumping up, we're working really
(10:16):
hard on jumping up, let's makesure that jumping up really is
four on the floor.
So I like to reward four on thefloor.
So I'm like, right, wheneverthe dog's four on the floor you
can reinforce down on the floorand go down to the dog, so you
can go down to the dog ratherthan have the dog need to bounce
at you.
And I think you do see it a lotparticularly.
I mean you see it a lot withyour Spaniels and you've trained
(10:37):
hundreds and hundreds ofSpaniels, I know, in your career
, dave.
But the little dogs, you do geta lot of bounce with the energy
, don't you?
Whereas actually, if you eithergo to their level or give them
a boundary, that can certainlyhelp with minimising that
potentially dangerous bounce aswell, because I know, like you
said, they do give you a blackeye or a nosebleed at times when
they just ping up excitedly.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, I've got a scar kind of just below my nose and
above my lip, literally from adog, a German Shepherd kind of
jumping up albeit I did have hiskind of ball over my shoulder,
but it is a really good example.
You know, I ended up splittingmy lip and now I've got a scar,
um, because the dog jumped upand and it's little things like
(11:19):
that that can cause, you know,big problems.
So it's really important, whenwe're talking about jumping up,
really we, we want to set thoserules really clear so that there
is real consistency, becauseit's just problematic behaviour
that you don't necessarily need.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Absolutely, and it's problematic behavior that's
unnecessary.
You don't need to live with it.
So one of my tips would beactually do put it on cue if you
want it part time.
So some people quite like it.
I know that Tokyo.
I would allow him to jump up atme and stretch out.
He actually had a psoas injuryand so because he had the psoas
injury, one of the stretchesthat was good for him was that
(11:57):
and I ended up letting him him.
He was such a gentle dog Ididn't really mind him doing it,
so I just put it on cue.
So my cue was like a pat of thechest and if I'm patting the
chest, that's your cue, that youcan do it, and if I've got
anything that's reallyproblematic, sometimes putting
on a cue isn't a bad idea either, because you're saying this is
when you do it and this is howyou do it, and at least then I
was in appropriate clothing ordidn't mind him doing it.
(12:20):
It was invited, and so I thinkjumping up can be invited.
I also think and you'll knowthis, dave, with the Spaniels,
because they've got theunpredictable bounce and they
really do fling themselves, Ithink at least make it invited,
because, biscuit, if you ask herto jump in your arms, she will
right.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, and I think it's a really good point
goes back to that clarity cues,um.
But then also it's reallyimportant you manage and control
access to reinforcers.
So you know things like beingif you're cooking or you've got
stuff out on the work surface,you know if the dog's able to
jump up and nick something veryquickly.
(12:57):
The dogs get reinforced forthat behavior, and so it's
really important.
I'm forever telling my son tomove things and stop leaving
things out, because the dogswill get their own reinforcers
if you're not careful and all ofa sudden it becomes a problem,
especially when the thereinforcers then become like on
a variable schedule.
Sometimes they're not there,sometimes they're there and you
(13:19):
very quickly get into thisbehaviour loop where you're
trying to work on something butyou've left something on the
work surface or you've leftsomething on the table and the
dog's jumped up, got it and nowall of a sudden they've been
reinforced.
So yeah, I think controllingthe cue and then also
controlling those access toreinforcers is really, really
important.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
The access to reinforcers there is really
funny because I I remember atime when Matt was cooking steak
and he was turning around.
He had three steaks and he wasdoing this and three steaks.
And he was doing that and hewas getting the prep he's doing
sweet potatoes and he wasgetting his sort of um, herbs
and spices and everything else.
He turned back around and therewere two steaks and I remember
him looking like at I rememberhim looking around and I
(14:00):
remember this moment of boughtsome nice steaks, had three on
the side Steaks no steaks whatthe hell.
And one of the dogs had justhad it, like that it had gone
and there was not a single partof that steak left.
There was nothing, there was noevidence of it.
It was gone and all he'd beendoing is that that right, like
that, that like nothing else hadhappened.
(14:22):
And it's those moments that ifyou don't catch, those moments
like you couldn't even tellwhich dog it was, like there
were five dogs in the kitchen,he couldn't tell which dog it
was.
There was no indication, therewas nothing left, there was
nothing on a bed, there wasnothing on lips, there was
nothing like no one was lickingtheir lips, no one acted like
they were hungry or not hungry.
There was no indication.
(14:43):
And I think you're rightunderstanding reinforcement.
And if you don't understandwhat's reinforcing, well, if the
dog is continuing to dosomething and it's happening
over and over and over again,then something is driving that
behavior.
And so, for me, those littlemoments of whether it was
jumping up to steal or jumpingup at a person, or jumping up
for attention, or jumping upbecause they're maybe even
slightly nervous, some dogs jumpup in a real nervous sort of,
(15:03):
um, passive sort of way.
They don't really know how tohandle a situation, um, and so I
think understanding what'sdriving it's quite important,
and understanding thereinforcement behind it and then
stopping that reinforcement.
So I like I don't know aboutyou, but I like either stair
gates or crates or pens orsomething that doesn't even
allow the dog to have access tojump up.
So, actually, how you set upand we talk about this with with
(15:23):
a stop jumping um course, 10days, 27 pound, lifetime access,
we talk about it there whereactually stairs, gates and
crates and gardens even help.
I'm sure you do that with yourpup at times, dave, pop him
behind something so that youdon't have him getting first
greeting at a door yeah, 100,it's.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It's.
You know, like you say, it's areally key part and a really
useful part of the course is isthat management of the dog?
Um, so yeah, I'm a big advocateof crates, puppy pens, um, and
similarly, you know, if, ifsomeone comes to the door and I
know they're coming into thehouse, I'm just going to avoid
the situation and pop the, popthe dogs into the crate or pop
(16:00):
them in the puppy pen until wecan very often it's more so so
we can brief the people cominginto the house to say, please
don't stroke the dog, whateverit might be, because that's the
other thing.
Sometimes you might have to dosomething with the dog, but
ultimately it's because you needto control the people either
coming into your house or cominginto your environment.
So, yeah, the managementsometimes is more around
(16:23):
managing the whole situation asopposed to, you know, just
putting the dog in the crate toto avoid it you can say.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
You can say a million times, can't, you don't touch
the dog, or don't like grab atthe dog, or don't do this the
dog, or don't do that to the dog, but the people still want to
do that's the dog.
So sometimes just having thatfive minutes with someone,
making them a couple of tea andeven grounding, or putting your
person on a boundary and you sitthere, I'll let the dogs out.
And I think it's a reallyimportant point of um like no
jumping up and stopping jumpingup, I think that's like it's.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's a real, it's, it's impactful right yeah,
definitely, and your job, as youknow the owner of the dog and
you know your job, is to toprotect them as much as it is to
, you know, protect the peoplecoming into your house.
Because if you're workingreally hard on stopping your dog
jumping up and all of a suddenthey get access to jumping up
and they're fussed and you knowall this other stuff that goes
(17:13):
with it, then you end up undoingall your work but, more
importantly, you end upconfusing the dog because the
dog's like oh, can I jump up oram I not allowed to jump up?
And it just becomes a problemwhen you're trying to work
through a situation with yourdog.
So, yeah, you know crates,puppy pens, management of the
dog is really, really important.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
So that was this episode of the Sex and Squirrel
podcast.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
Thank you, Dave, as always, foryour enlightening responses.
I love, love, love chatting dogtraining with you.
Remember, guys, if you do havea dog that's jumping up or maybe
you've got a friend with a dogthat's jumping up please, please
, please, do go and grab thatcourse.
It's a steal at £27, 10 days.
To success with jumping dogsand we'll see you next week for
(17:57):
more dog training adventures.
Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel
podcast.
I'm Lauren Langman.
I'm one of the world's leadingdog trainers and it's my mission
to help owners become theirdog's top priority.
In each episode, you'lldiscover how to gain trust and
communicate with your dog likenever before, creating
unbreakable bonds that make youthe most exciting part of their
world.
Oh, my goodness, jumping dogs.
(00:30):
Like jumping dogs.
It's one of my pet hates.
I really don't enjoy a jumpingdog.
Now, from a little dog's pointof view, I used to think it was
cute, but then I've watched myspaniels jump up and flatten
themselves on their back andrealize that that's not
something I like.
And big dogs jumping you knowwhat?
(00:50):
I quite like my clothes stayingclean and I quite like my
clothes staying like mud and dogfree, and so, the more you have
a dog that jumps up at you.
And of course, there are timesin your training that jumping up
can be appropriate on cue orwhen you get them to come back
at you with a toy, but actually,when it's inappropriate or the
timing is not now, oh, I don'tlike jumping up.
What about you, dave?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, you know my aversion to mud, dog hair and
dirt.
I saw what was coming therewith that little comment.
So, yeah, and anyone who's seenme train will know I've always
got a set of overalls orsomething on to keep me, to keep
me clean.
So, yeah, dogs, dogs, jumpingup is definitely not something I
like, albeit, again, those arepeople who have seen me train
(01:29):
with Biscuit know that she isvery good at jumping into my
arms and having a cuddle.
So it's really difficult, isn'tit?
Because it's nice and cute whenit's like on your terms, but
then when she jumps up andheadbutts you in the nose at
three o'clock in the morning,when you're working and in the
freezing cold, it's not so, notso fun.
So, yeah, definitely, if you've, if you've got one of those
(01:50):
dogs that's jumping up and youdon't like it, the uh, the stop
jumping up course is definitelythe one for you yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So 10 days to stop jumping.
I think would be a mega coursefor anybody listening today.
10 days to stop jumping.
It's reduced from from £97 to£27.
To all of our listeners todaygo and check it out.
Lifetime access.
10 days to stop jumping is aproblem Now.
I know for me, and you can getit at the Absolute Dogs store.
So it's wwwabsolute-dogscom.
So go and grab it.
10 days to stop jumping rightnow.
(02:18):
Or if you're a member of GamesClub, you've got access already,
which is really, really cool.
And if you're, not a member ofGames Club.
Go and get Games Club whereveryou've been.
Games Club, immense library oflearning.
So jumping up, Dave.
If we think about jumping up, Iwould say my number one rule
with jumping up is actuallydecide what is and what isn't
appropriate.
(02:38):
So you're clear on it.
In training, when I'm trainingmy dogs and I encourage them, I
might pat my body or might clapmy hands.
I'm instigating and I doinstigate it, and those are
people that are listening,who've got pet dogs, who are
thinking why would you instigateit?
In the working dog world?
I think jumping up can have aplace.
It can have a place forconfidence.
It can have a place forbringing a toy back.
It can have a place forcelebration.
(03:00):
It can have a place forreinforcement.
I don't mind it in a workingspace where it's queued.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
yeah, I totally agree .
So.
So for me, the the rule is ifyou've got the kong in your
mouth, you can jump up and wecan play and interact and engage
.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
If you haven't got a kong in your mouth, um, don't
jump up so for you, it's acelebration as well, now
listening and thinking thisthrough.
So how does a dog knowdifferently, or the difference?
And this is where, guys, wedon't give our dogs enough
credit.
Our dogs are genius at readingcues.
Our dogs are genius at readingbody language.
Our dogs are genius at readingother dogs, if we allow them the
(03:40):
opportunity and I'm thinkinghere, dave, that my little sheep
dog.
Now she can read which sheep ona herd needs pulling off
because it's lame or becauseit's got a lamb that's in
trouble.
And she can read thosesubtleties, alongside, of course
, some training and alongside,of course, some cues.
She knows which one Dogs canread a weak animal.
Dogs can read a human that'soff.
(04:00):
Dogs can read our body languageway better than we give them
credit for.
And so I believe that your cues,as long as they're clear and as
long as they're consistent, Ithink you can have a dog that
jumps up and doesn't jump up.
So my dogs jump up in certainplaces.
So they'll often jump up in thearena or they'll often jump up
in work, but in the house,unless I cue, I want you up on
me.
Then there is no jumping up onme.
(04:20):
Now some of my tips for keepingdogs on the floor and you feel
free to share some of yours,dave.
One of my favourite ones isactually boundary games, because
I will put my dog on a boundaryand say there's your boundary,
and this is where Skittles isreally funny, like she's
desperately trying to jump upbut there's nowhere to jump up
to because the boundary is inthe middle of the room sometimes
(04:42):
or in the corner of the roomwhere she cannot get access to
you.
So I personally think boundarygames are fantastic for helping
to solve jumping up and I knowthey're part of our 10 days to
stop course.
Like I said, if you haven'tgrabbed it, 27 pound bargain,
bargain, bargain for ourlisteners today.
If you want to go over and grabit, lifetime access.
But I love boundary games forstopping a dog jumping.
(05:03):
I think that boundary games aremassive and I think there's
also a place, dave, and I don'tknow what you think about this,
but jumping up can beproblematic because my dad, when
he was in, he was sick like hewas.
He was poorly, he was losinghis mobility, he had end stage
cancer and when he was losinghis mobility is actually
actively dangerous to have a dogthat jumps at him because if he
(05:24):
does break his leg there's nochance it's recovering.
He's he's got bone cancer,metastatic, metastatic bone
cancer.
So he's not going to walk againand I think this is really
important that we considerpeople will be fragile.
Your dog cannot jump at certainpeople and actively like I'm
thinking of Arthur I don't knowif you want to explain like the
size of Arthur, maybe Dave, andhow like Arthur's jumping would
would realistically always be.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, I think Arthur was a big police dog, but I
think you've raised a reallygood point.
And I've seen a dog in my localpark, a big Malamute that
basically runs around the parkand one morning he was jumping
up this young girl who was goingto school and the dog probably
(06:08):
weighed as much as as the girlhe was jumping up and you know
it's those sorts of things thatyou know spill over from
allowing your dog to do it kindof at home because it's funny,
or when they're a puppy becausethey're cute, but but actually
the knock-on effects to that is,yes, jumping up is is annoying,
but actually you know, spillingover to that where which is
(06:29):
kind of run after somebody inthe park and it's jumping up a
girl going to school, um iswhere it really starts to cause
you problems and I think that'sthe the effect of not having
real clear boundaries and realclear you know rules around
jumping or not jumping up peopleyeah, massive, absolutely
massive.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
And I think we raise another really good point there,
dave, that if someone doesn'tlike a dog, a dog jumping up, or
is scared of dogs, a dogjumping up is actually quite um
scary and I think, that as doglovers, both you and I it would
take a lot for you and I to bereally scared, like typically
we're not um going to be scaredof dogs, like there's not a
moment where you're really,really um likely to be to be
(07:09):
worried by a dog.
However, for someone who isscared of dogs particularly
children and particularly anyonewith any level of fragile
absolutely there becomes asafety issue with jumping up and
actually it can become quite ascary space to be, and I think
we also.
I don't want to hop on about thelaw too much here, but the law
(07:31):
does state that if a dog does asmuch as scares someone, that is
enough to be considereddangerous under the Dangerous
Dogs Act, and I think we do needto consider that dogs are not
always looked upon favourably inthe law and that we really need
to consider that if you do havea chihuahua and it jumps up at
someone, you're probably goingto get away with it not that
that's right or wrong, but youprobably are.
(07:51):
You have a malamute that startsjumping at someone, a german
shepherd dog that's jumping atsomeone, a neapolitan mastiff, a
dog de bordeaux, a staffy, abulldog, a?
Um malinois, um a belgianshepherd, the bigger dogs right,
the bigger dogs.
When they start doing it, notonly can they call cause harm by
just being goofy they're justbig maybe but they actually can
(08:14):
worry people more because of thesize of them.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
yeah, and I think that's the concern, isn't it?
And I think that's why it'sreally important when you've got
a dog, you really set thoserules and you consider the
bigger picture.
And, like I say, I think theproblem is very often in a
household is that you know thebigger people in the house will
maybe tolerate jumping, whereasthe littler people don't quite
like it as much, although in myhouse it's the other way around.
(08:41):
So I don't like jumping up, butmy nine-year-old actively
encourages the dogs to jump upand bounce around and all the
other stuff that you know theyshouldn't be doing.
But again, it goes back to yourpoint.
You know they're very clearlike when they see my son
walking that they know what theycan get away with, in the same
way that when I walk in, theyknow what they they can't get
away with.
(09:01):
And dogs are very, very good atquite quickly manipulating the
situation to to benefitthemselves.
And that's why it's importantwhen you, when you kind of go
through the, the course is thateverybody needs to be on the
same page in the household,because it's no good one person
trying to train the dogsomething and ultimately
somebody else in the houseuntraining everything you've
(09:22):
done the the day before which,which my son is really good at,
and you raise a really goodpoint because, eliza, for
example, we had a movie lastnight and we didn't have a
Saturday movie night because wewere watching a lecture.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So she was livid.
She was like you're watching alecture on a Saturday night, but
we were as a live lecture, andso instead we did a Sunday movie
night and Skittle and a coupleof the other dogs were on the
beds Brave classic and as Elizawalked past she went and I was
like, absolutely not, you go andsit on the sofa.
And they're sitting on the sofa.
We're all on boundaries tonightand I think it's important
because, as much as she washappy to have Skittle and
(09:55):
Classic in her arms, I reallywanted to have everyone settled
and the rules of the room arewe're having a calm settled,
we're watching TV, we're nothaving dogs jumping over the
sofas and all of the other funthings that the dogs do and
rolling around and whizzingaround and potentially playing
zoomies, and I think it isimportant that everyone is on
board on whatever the newhousehold sort of energy is and
if we're saying, look, no,jumping up, we're working really
(10:16):
hard on jumping up, let's makesure that jumping up really is
four on the floor.
So I like to reward four on thefloor.
So I'm like, right, wheneverthe dog's four on the floor you
can reinforce down on the floorand go down to the dog, so you
can go down to the dog ratherthan have the dog need to bounce
at you.
And I think you do see it a lotparticularly.
I mean you see it a lot withyour Spaniels and you've trained
(10:37):
hundreds and hundreds ofSpaniels, I know, in your career
, dave.
But the little dogs, you do geta lot of bounce with the energy
, don't you?
Whereas actually, if you eithergo to their level or give them
a boundary, that can certainlyhelp with minimising that
potentially dangerous bounce aswell, because I know, like you
said, they do give you a blackeye or a nosebleed at times when
they just ping up excitedly.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, I've got a scar kind of just below my nose and
above my lip, literally from adog, a German Shepherd kind of
jumping up albeit I did have hiskind of ball over my shoulder,
but it is a really good example.
You know, I ended up splittingmy lip and now I've got a scar,
um, because the dog jumped upand and it's little things like
(11:19):
that that can cause, you know,big problems.
So it's really important, whenwe're talking about jumping up,
really we, we want to set thoserules really clear so that there
is real consistency, becauseit's just problematic behaviour
that you don't necessarily need.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Absolutely, and it's problematic behavior that's
unnecessary.
You don't need to live with it.
So one of my tips would beactually do put it on cue if you
want it part time.
So some people quite like it.
I know that Tokyo.
I would allow him to jump up atme and stretch out.
He actually had a psoas injuryand so because he had the psoas
injury, one of the stretchesthat was good for him was that
(11:57):
and I ended up letting him him.
He was such a gentle dog Ididn't really mind him doing it,
so I just put it on cue.
So my cue was like a pat of thechest and if I'm patting the
chest, that's your cue, that youcan do it, and if I've got
anything that's reallyproblematic, sometimes putting
on a cue isn't a bad idea either, because you're saying this is
when you do it and this is howyou do it, and at least then I
was in appropriate clothing ordidn't mind him doing it.
(12:20):
It was invited, and so I thinkjumping up can be invited.
I also think and you'll knowthis, dave, with the Spaniels,
because they've got theunpredictable bounce and they
really do fling themselves, Ithink at least make it invited,
because, biscuit, if you ask herto jump in your arms, she will
right.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, and I think it's a really good point
goes back to that clarity cues,um.
But then also it's reallyimportant you manage and control
access to reinforcers.
So you know things like beingif you're cooking or you've got
stuff out on the work surface,you know if the dog's able to
jump up and nick something veryquickly.
(12:57):
The dogs get reinforced forthat behavior, and so it's
really important.
I'm forever telling my son tomove things and stop leaving
things out, because the dogswill get their own reinforcers
if you're not careful and all ofa sudden it becomes a problem,
especially when the thereinforcers then become like on
a variable schedule.
Sometimes they're not there,sometimes they're there and you
(13:19):
very quickly get into thisbehaviour loop where you're
trying to work on something butyou've left something on the
work surface or you've leftsomething on the table and the
dog's jumped up, got it and nowall of a sudden they've been
reinforced.
So yeah, I think controllingthe cue and then also
controlling those access toreinforcers is really, really
important.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
The access to reinforcers there is really
funny because I I remember atime when Matt was cooking steak
and he was turning around.
He had three steaks and he wasdoing this and three steaks.
And he was doing that and hewas getting the prep he's doing
sweet potatoes and he wasgetting his sort of um, herbs
and spices and everything else.
He turned back around and therewere two steaks and I remember
him looking like at I rememberhim looking around and I
(14:00):
remember this moment of boughtsome nice steaks, had three on
the side Steaks no steaks whatthe hell.
And one of the dogs had justhad it, like that it had gone
and there was not a single partof that steak left.
There was nothing, there was noevidence of it.
It was gone and all he'd beendoing is that that right, like
that, that like nothing else hadhappened.
(14:22):
And it's those moments that ifyou don't catch, those moments
like you couldn't even tellwhich dog it was, like there
were five dogs in the kitchen,he couldn't tell which dog it
was.
There was no indication, therewas nothing left, there was
nothing on a bed, there wasnothing on lips, there was
nothing like no one was lickingtheir lips, no one acted like
they were hungry or not hungry.
There was no indication.
(14:43):
And I think you're rightunderstanding reinforcement.
And if you don't understandwhat's reinforcing, well, if the
dog is continuing to dosomething and it's happening
over and over and over again,then something is driving that
behavior.
And so, for me, those littlemoments of whether it was
jumping up to steal or jumpingup at a person, or jumping up
for attention, or jumping upbecause they're maybe even
slightly nervous, some dogs jumpup in a real nervous sort of,
(15:03):
um, passive sort of way.
They don't really know how tohandle a situation, um, and so I
think understanding what'sdriving it's quite important,
and understanding thereinforcement behind it and then
stopping that reinforcement.
So I like I don't know aboutyou, but I like either stair
gates or crates or pens orsomething that doesn't even
allow the dog to have access tojump up.
So, actually, how you set upand we talk about this with with
(15:23):
a stop jumping um course, 10days, 27 pound, lifetime access,
we talk about it there whereactually stairs, gates and
crates and gardens even help.
I'm sure you do that with yourpup at times, dave, pop him
behind something so that youdon't have him getting first
greeting at a door yeah, 100,it's.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It's.
You know, like you say, it's areally key part and a really
useful part of the course is isthat management of the dog?
Um, so yeah, I'm a big advocateof crates, puppy pens, um, and
similarly, you know, if, ifsomeone comes to the door and I
know they're coming into thehouse, I'm just going to avoid
the situation and pop the, popthe dogs into the crate or pop
(16:00):
them in the puppy pen until wecan very often it's more so so
we can brief the people cominginto the house to say, please
don't stroke the dog, whateverit might be, because that's the
other thing.
Sometimes you might have to dosomething with the dog, but
ultimately it's because you needto control the people either
coming into your house or cominginto your environment.
So, yeah, the managementsometimes is more around
(16:23):
managing the whole situation asopposed to, you know, just
putting the dog in the crate toto avoid it you can say.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
You can say a million times, can't, you don't touch
the dog, or don't like grab atthe dog, or don't do this the
dog, or don't do that to the dog, but the people still want to
do that's the dog.
So sometimes just having thatfive minutes with someone,
making them a couple of tea andeven grounding, or putting your
person on a boundary and you sitthere, I'll let the dogs out.
And I think it's a reallyimportant point of um like no
jumping up and stopping jumpingup, I think that's like it's.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's a real, it's, it's impactful right yeah,
definitely, and your job, as youknow the owner of the dog and
you know your job, is to toprotect them as much as it is to
, you know, protect the peoplecoming into your house.
Because if you're workingreally hard on stopping your dog
jumping up and all of a suddenthey get access to jumping up
and they're fussed and you knowall this other stuff that goes
(17:13):
with it, then you end up undoingall your work but, more
importantly, you end upconfusing the dog because the
dog's like oh, can I jump up oram I not allowed to jump up?
And it just becomes a problemwhen you're trying to work
through a situation with yourdog.
So, yeah, you know crates,puppy pens, management of the
dog is really, really important.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
So that was this episode of the Sex and Squirrel
podcast.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
Thank you, Dave, as always, foryour enlightening responses.
I love, love, love chatting dogtraining with you.
Remember, guys, if you do havea dog that's jumping up or maybe
you've got a friend with a dogthat's jumping up please, please
, please, do go and grab thatcourse.
It's a steal at £27, 10 days.
To success with jumping dogsand we'll see you next week for
(17:57):
more dog training adventures.
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