Why Dogs Jump ?

The reasons why dogs jump are varied but one of the most obvious, is that dogs love attention and what better way to get people's attention than to jump. Another less known reason stems from the dogs natural instincts. In the wild puppies jump up and lick the muzzles of adult dogs both to get food and also as a greeting. Even into adulthood wild dogs greet each face to face and smell and lick each other's muzzles. Your pet puppy has inherited these traits. Unfortunately many dog owners make the unwitting mistake of reinforcing this behavior by lifting the puppy up and cuddling him face to face. This only serves to strengthen the puppy's desire to greet his human family by jumping.Even though this jumping behavior of our dogs is simply a desire on their part to show how happy they are to see us and how much they love us. An energetic dog jumping on family and friends can cause people to avoid him. The dog then becomes ostracized from the very people who he was trying to get closer to. A dog jumping onto children can also cause injury especially if you have a large dog breed. Since some people are frightened of dogs it can also cause very unpleasant experiences both for the human and dog.

In order to avoid these problems both for yourself and pet it is imperative that you train you dog early in the correct behavior when around people so that he is accepted by all. Make sure that all the members of your house hold understand that if your dog begins to jump that they should just simply walk away and ignore him. Responding to the jumping with a scolding will only reinforce to the dog that jumping brings about desired attention.

The welcoming committee