Dear Miss Behavin’: We just adopted a dog from the shelter who is perfect in most ways… but she goes crazy when we have visitors! We love that Nala is so friendly, but how do we teach her not to jump up on everybody who walks in the door?
Dogs usually jump up on people for a very simple reason: they want attention! A simple way to teach Nala not to jump up is to teach her that doing so will not grant her more attention. Each time she jumps up on someone, have them quietly turn their back to her and wait for all four paws to land back on the floor. Once she is back on the ground, she can get all love and affection she desires. After some repetitions of this exercise, Nala will start to realize that jumping up is actually very boring, and all the fun happens when she has four on the floor.
Another option is to teach her a “go to place” command, so that when guests come over you can send her to a specific spot (like a bed, crate, or mat on the floor), where she will wait until you give her the okay. Once the initial excitement of people coming through the door has dissipated (and you’ve filled your guests in on the rules), you can give Nala a release cue to leave her spot and come say hi.
Though this is a straightforward fix, consistency is key. Inform friends and family that Nala is in training ahead of time, and ask them to participate in the “four on the floor” game too by ignoring her when she jumps, and only petting her when she is standing politely. If some friends are consistent and some are not, Nala will quickly learn who she can get away with jumping on and who she needs to approach politely. Not only are you training Nala, you’re training your friends!