Dogs jump up to greet people for a variety of reasons. Foremost, is that jumping, pawing and licking are all appeasement gestures; your dog is happy to see you and is saying, “Welcome home!” This is further unintentionally rewarded during puppyhood when a cute puppy would do this we find it adorable and reward them with our attention.
Bad training advice out there suggests you knee your dog in the stomach, squirt them in the face with water or stomp on their paws. Why use ineffective, inhumane and archaic methods of dog training when there is a proven better way to change behavior? That’s a surefire way to break any kind of bond with your animal companion. Imagine every time you saw your crush they punched you in the stomach? They wouldn’t seem so great after a while.
There are scientifically proven ways to humanely modify your dog’s behavior while not acting like an impulsive bully. Dr. Dunbar likes to solve common behavior problems by making the problem the solution. To do this, he teaches his dog to do exactly the behavior he doesn’t want. Teach your dog to jump on cue and call it a ‘hug.’ Your friends will be so impressed by your Shiba’s smartness and you can give your dog the pleasure of the jumping greeting!
For more information about jumping:
Dog Behavior Solutions: Jumping Up
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