Yesterday a friend I hadn’t seen for a while met my new puppy, Dash. Dash is pretty exuberant when meeting anyone, human or canine, and he will jump up on you and try to kiss you. My friend wasn’t at all thrilled, pushed him off, and said “OFF” in a stern voice. Now some of you may think, wow, lady, you need to train that dog to stay off people! But I have a different take on this. For one thing, most of my dog friends encourage dogs to jump up on them, including me. If a dog is just too big, I get down so the dog can get closer and make contact with the parts of humans that are actually interesting- the face and hands (of course, only if the dog is giving soft body, squishy signals that it is friendly).
So most dogs in my circle of dog people don’t get any consistent message about not jumping, and in fact often get rewarded for doing it. I don’t train it out of my dogs anymore. If I meet someone I know isn’t into being jumped on or could be harmed, I manage the situation and step on the leash and say “off” (the saying “off” will train the dog that when I step on the leash they shouldn’t try to jump up). When my friend made it clear that she wasn’t happy about it, I did my leash thing and she was happier (though Dash was not).
A few years ago I was working with a dog trainer nearby that has some deep and unusual theories about dogs. One of these was that jumping up on you was actually a good thing, and you could use it to your advantage to help heal issues that a dog had. It was so out-of-the-box that I couldn’t help but be intrigued. As you may have discovered if you follow this blog, I’m not one that “sticks with the program”, but rather I like exploring and inquiring about the beliefs we hold, especially about our dogs.
So I began working with this idea. And I found it actually worked to deepen the relationship I had with both of the dogs I was doing it with. When you scrape away all the interpretations about why dogs jump up on you (they are trying to dominate, they are being rude, etc) you have an animal that is making a physical connection, period. They are putting their paws on you, exposing their belly, and usually reaching towards your face. And when you think about that, wow. How amazing and wonderful is that??! How many animals in this world are wanting to make physical contact with you (well, besides mosquitoes and ticks and things that want to hurt you)? Seen this way, you can understand how it can be healing for dogs to get to where they will jump up on you. They want to connect.
Pilgrim, my Aussie, has never liked being touched, especially around his head. He is shy of strangers, and tentative about many things. When I began working with him, getting him to jump up on me, I was amazed at how afraid he was about it. Over time he got better, to where I could ask him to jump up on me, and stay with his paws on me for a while. Treats were employed in the process of course. And in time he got more confident about jumping up. Occasionally he will do a bit of a jump on someone else, and really this is a wonderful thing! When he does this it shows he has grown to feel that some people, at least, can be trusted. Skye, my border collie, was also tentative at first about jumping up on me, but also came to be more confident about it. As that happened, he also became more confident around other people. Skye was never a terribly shy dog around people, but he could be fearful in certain situations with them. He has overcome that and now will jump up on nearly anyone (though not everyone).
You may say, well, yes, you should teach them to do this but only on command, I would say, to do it on command means that the dog isn’t responding to its own sense of comfort or discomfort, but is just doing what you have taught. If this is really about trust, and confidence, and allowing the dog to express itself, then it should be free to do that without you controlling the process (of course, unless someone is endangered by it, or is really uncomfortable about it).
So mostly, my dogs jump up on people. The three younger dogs were never taught not to, and interestingly they are all extremely friendly. They love contact, touch, kisses. They are better balanced in that way than my older dogs that I had to work to get to jump up on me. Up, and on. Contact! It’s a beautiful, and even a healing thing.
Copyright © 2011 Diane Gibbons. All Rights Reserved
deepdowndog 
Love this…I love your way of stepping outside the box. Great article!
Another great thought provoking post. I think the key bit of information you gave was that the jumping up should be friendly and soft and the humans need to be the right humans.
My jumper, or as i like to refer to her ‘the information seeker’, is all business – not unfriendly – not friendly – simply seeking information. I’ve trained alternative behaviors to jumping with her because she is the type of dog I can’t risk having someone give her a harsh ‘No!’ or push off.
It is also a fortunate thing that your dogs meet up with mostly other ‘dog people’. That is not the case for me.
My jumper has been learning all about the pleasurable, healing aspects of touch using TACT – Touch Associated Clicker Training. It is interesting to note the further we go with this training the less she initiates a jumping behavior. Interesting to wonder the ins and outs of the connection of touch training, massage and jumping. It is very clear that the TACT work has indeed made her a more confident dog!
Keep these post coming….write write write!
I loved this post and I’ve loved a post on another blog about NOT allowing your dog to jump on others – what i really like is both are about building a relationship with your dog.
Thank you Sue. It is all about reflecting on our beliefs about these things. Part of what I was trying to get across was that my dog friends give my dogs mixed messages, and I finally got tired of trying to tell everyone not to let them jump on them. I DO manage my dogs around people that are not dog people and around the elderly, kids, etc. Dogs that have some people pushing them off and saying no, and other people loving them up for jumping up on them get confused. It makes greetings fraught with ambiguity, which leads to more stress. So I’m not saying just let your dogs jump all over people. I made a misjudgement with the friend at the beginning of the article. But that was my fault for assuming. When people come towards my dogs normally I tell them “he is a jumper” and so they know it. Then they can choose to greet my dog or not, or give me feedback in order to manage them. But I feel that jumping up is not a bad thing overall, and has a healing and good function. THAT is something I think few dog trainers have reflected on.
Well, when I first started reading this, I was ready to go to the MAT with you regarding this issue. Jumping up is one of the Main Reasons that folks do not Like dogs. Really. Just ask around of your “non-dog” friends/acquaintences….And, truth be told, having a 70 pound piece of shag carpet bounce up on your chest is not most folks idea of a good time…..HOWever, your post makes a Lot of sense to me! Our Prosper neeeeeeeeds to be at face level with anyone new that he meets. Lately, he’s taken to jumping up on the recliner which is situated beside the front door, STANDing up on it, and getting right at Face Level. When we dance, and the ending pose is a “paws up,” we don’t even have to rehearse that—-Paws UP! is a Wonderful reward for my boyz.
I have been Continually embarrassed at the “bad behavior” of my younger Collie, Prosper, apologizing for his inyerface actions……THIS post gives me “permission” to quit apologizing….and celebrate the fact that Prop has Never EVER met a stranger and is SO Glad to BE Here!
Yeh, I will still correct when the Collies jump up on an unsuspecting victim (after all….70 pounds, remember), but I will also remind the victim that they have just received a Huge Compliment—-.”……….They are putting their paws on you, exposing their belly, and usually reaching towards your face. And when you think about that, wow. How amazing and wonderful is that??! How many animals in this world are wanting to make physical contact with you (well, besides mosquitoes and ticks and things that want to hurt you)? “………
Thanks, Diane….Once again, you have opened up my world a little wider….Thanks.
xoxoxo Toni Bailey, Tahlequah OK
HA! Would feel honored to go to the mat with you, Toni! 🙂
You made me think about an aspect of this that I hadn’t put together. Another trainer who read this blog said to me yesterday that big dogs generally don’t jump up on people. I think that is true, but obviously some of them do, and I’ve met a lot of adolescent big dogs that jump up. That said, my younger dogs are all under 25 pounds, and much closer to the ground than to people’s faces and hands. Certainly their jumping up poses less of a problem than a robust 70 pound Labrador throwing its weight at you. The point I was trying to make was that jumping up shouldn’t be taken as a “BAD” thing in general, and you can see it as a possible route to connection, communication and sociability. But context is everything, size matters, and between an owner and their dog, it can be such a beautiful thing. Like with Prosper, he is offering a gift to you when he jumps up on you, and while you may want to manage that, or even train it, for his being around others, it can be seen still as something of a heart offering from that beautiful being….
I love this way of thinking about greeting behaviors. Since in therapy work, we place much emphasis both on the dog being a willing participant and in “polite greetings,” I often ask people to hold a picture of what a polite greeting looks like before we begin thinking about training that behavior. Sit-stay is only one of a plethora of possible polite greetings.
To me, a polite greeting behavior is a balance between self-control and stepping forward to welcome and/or encourage human contact. When I tell my working therapy dog “you can say hi,” I am not looking for a sit-stay–I’m trusting that dog to make himself available to be touched by our client. When clients are a long way away from the dog–for instance, a client with limited mobility strapped into a wheelchair, or someone in bed–jumping up to greet the person is essential. hus, it is not the act of jumping up that is “wrong,”
Sadly, so many dogs have been the recipients of abuse from humans for this simple act of trying to make contact. While there are certainly many situations where our dogs leaping up is unwanted (or potentially dangerous,) how damaging to the human/animal bond are so many of the ways commonly used to “teach” dogs not to jump up!
When not at work, my dogs are generally a little aloof when meeting new folks, but will jump up on me as part of their delight in rejoining me after I’ve been away–a behavior I see as an indication of their level of comfort with me. Thanks, Diane, for articulating this idea so clearly! 🙂
–Amee A.
Thank you, Amee. I love your comment about reflecting and holding an image of what a polite greeting looks like. I would even say that holding an image for the dog in your mind about the ENERGY behind a greeting would be a wonderful thing to do. If you dog is balanced and has some self-control, they can choose what that means. Part of what I’m learning as a trainer and communicator is that dogs get so rarely to use their own power of choice. We hardly ever let them do that, and rarely trust them to use their own sensitivity. I love it that you do!!!!
And your comment about how we respond to this very vulnerable and open attempt to connect when dogs jump up by yelling at them, pushing them off, kneeing them, stepping on their back feet, turning away, etc is right on. I’ve done it in the past, because for years that is what we were “told” to do. And I wonder how much I may have hurt the bond between me and my own dogs because of it. I think that, if a dog (not mine) jumps up on me, the best thing to do if it is too much, is to gently take the dogs front feet, and while using a kind voice, bring the feet down to the ground, while I get down there, too, and then let the dog connect (of course, only if the dog gives soft signals and not fearful or aggressive ones).
Interesting subject that I’ll really need to digest more … my personality is one that is very selective about situational touches, hugs, kisses etc from humans I know and don’t yet know … having lived in the dog generation of “no jumping up on people”, this is an interesting topic and is psycologically deeper than I’m sure I/we realize, both from the individual dog and human perspective … my 60+ pound Goldens just outwardly and excitedly love their “peeps” and their “jump-greeting” has been a constant concern for me over the years and as a result they are confined (house/crate/car) till the excitement period is over or they are individually introduced on leash till they can be their calmest selves … thru their upbringing and conditioning from puphood, my girls learn to “sit” in greeting me or stand between my legs for a “family hug” … but that’s where it ends … ? introvert/extrovert personality issue between both dogs and humans ;o)
Years ago, I heard a police dog trainer speak about a dog’s “desire” to do something, being squelched and how that rejection goes into a “deep black” frustration hole down inside the dog’s core … is that what we’re discussiong here?
Personally, I dislike entering a home of multiple dogs who greet by jumping up on me and don’t allow me to bend over to greet/pat them in a soft manner … claws and power HURT and mud or torn clean clothes isn’t appreciated either … for that reason, I try to have a pocket of treats for a “sit” greeting … so the discussion on “rules/control” or “natural expression” goes on ;o)
Good POINT, Pfoot, that there is a lot more going on here psychologically for both humans and dogs than we realize. And part of that picture is that we often don’t go to the place of asking what the dog needs here, but only what we as humans need and want. I too was a “dogs shouldn’t jump up on people” person until recently, because that is what I thought “should” happen. Once I opened my mind about jumping up, and figured out how I wanted to engage with dogs that did it, then it became a good thing in my mind. I understood it for what it was- Dog Wants to Make Contact. Cool! I don’t necessarily want a huge dog all over me, though, so I can take that desire, and move with it to getting down closer, treating (like you do) etc. Small dogs -I just go with it. IN MY CIRCLE OF FRIENDS (and this isn’t the case with others) many people love my smaller dogs jumping on them- my dogs are gentle about it, and it makes reaching the dog easier then bending way down. When I encounter those that don’t, in order to avoid creating conflict in my dogs, I manage them so that they can be close to the person on leash with me stepping on it. While stepping on the leash does create some frustration, I feel that as a management tool it creates less than if I’m trying to force self-control in this situation.
Part of understanding what is going on is that the dog is full of energy to connect, bursting with it, in fact. And if we make them sit, stay still, all that does is stuff the energy, and usually not very well. Greetings become full of conflict and frustration- Dog thinks “I want to jump up, and I’m being made to sit, or yanked on my leash, or yelled at, etc.” Usually dogs I see that have this energy are not dealing well with greetings at all, and often are even more charged up because now greeting mean all this suppression/expression/pain/stress. So there are options – obviously if you have a calm, aloof dog you don’t need to worry about it at all as they will greet the way “we” want them too. Their greeting style is aligned with what we most often want as humans. If you have small to medium dogs you can choose to let them jump up WITH a warning to people who are asking to greet them, or manage them when they are around people that don’t like being jumped on. For larger dogs you can choose to train a behavior that allows contact without jumping, and that lets the dog express the energy- like teaching a dog to tug with someone as a greeting, or toss a ball, which for some dog is better than contact! I’m sure there are many ways to work with it.
But most important in what I wrote is the experience of owner/dog contact this way. If, as I found, jumping up on ME creates a deeper connection, and can heal some of the problems our dogs have, why not foster it? I would be interested to know if other readers have tried this, and what they think about it.
Diane: I found this to be a very thought-provoking post. It reminds me of a cartoon I cut out of the newspaper some time ago. It showed a man coming home from work and greeting his dog with a pat on the head as he came in the door. Above each of them was cloud with their thoughts, with both lamenting how much they enjoyed their “old” greeting where the dog would jump on the man. Lost it or I would send it to you. At the same time, as you know, one of my pups was returned to me for jumping on children running in the back yard, and the family we spent Thanksgiving with told me they re-homed a GSD they had for exactly the same reason. Clearly jumping is disliked by many, but I am wondering if it is those who are not truly open to more than a superficial relationship with a dog in the first place. I know that one of my dogs, who is soft in temperament and lacks confidence, loves it when I tell him he can put his paws on my chest. Someone suggested this as a way to bring him out of himself more and get him to loosen up. I have not worried about my little dogs jumping on people, though frowned upon by some other trainers. I will keep mulling your ideas over this week as I spend time with my dogs and my students and their dogs. Thanks for putting jumping in a new light:)