Why Is My Dog Jumping on Me

Is your dog jumping and have you tried putting your knee into his chest or have you pushed on the dog or possibly even yelled because of the frustration you are feeling.

First, you must understand why your dog jumps. Your dog is not a bad dog in fact he is a dog and this behavior is normal. You may put your knee into your dog, yell, use a spray bottle or use your hands or body to stop him. What may appear to be punishment by you is attention and your dog may very well enjoy the attention and reinforce the jumping from your response.

A dog jumps on people for a specific reason and often it is to greet a person. Dogs just don’t automatically know not to jump on people.  

Reinforce or Redirect to Desired Behavior

Now let’s talk about the next step in helping your dog. If you have a new young puppy now is the time early in your dog’s life to reinforce a “sit”.  Training an incompatible behavior the dog cannot jump and sit at the same time.  When training always be consistent and anyone in the home should also do the same. As you are working with your dog, slowly add in more exciting stimuli. A visitor comes in calmy and ignores your dog. When your dog offers a “sit” then the visitor can deliver a treat to your dog.

Plan when a visitor is coming. Let the person know your dog is in training to help stop the jumping behavior. Ask the person to remain calm and ignore your dog when they enter. Remaining calm is important. Then slowly add more stimuli.

Now let’s talk about “find it” this is a game I teach to my clients and dogs.  I often talk about ‘find it” because it is useful in many ways.  To train your dog “find it” I like to begin with getting their attention by looking at me. Then I will toss the treat to the ground just a short distance from me and say, “find it” When your dog does go pick up the treat, then repeat.  Set up training sessions with your dog for about 5-minutes at different times of the day. Then once your dog has learned this then you can use this.

Have yummy treats in containers in different areas of your home. When you come into the home, then you can toss a treat away from you and have your dog go “find it”.

Use management if you need to. If your home is going to be busy with several people that is not normal traffic, then take time to put your dog in a quiet room with a chew, then go answer the door. Setting a dog up for success is important.

© 2026 Mecca Curtice, Mecca’s All Breed Dog Training LLC.