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Articles Dog Training Here's How To Successfully End Cocker Spaniels Jumping Up
Articles Dog Training Here's How To Successfully End Cocker Spaniels Jumping Up | Here's How To Successfully End Cocker Spaniels Jumping Up |
| Written by Sandi Brown | ||||||||
| Saturday, 20 August 2011 | ||||||||
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Jumping up to greet you begins as a very endearing behavior which most owners love. This behavior seems to tell us how much our Cocker Spaniels love and miss us. Many owners respond to this greeting by picking up the gorgeous wee puppy and encouraging a frenzy of licks.
Jumping up to greet you begins as a very endearing behavior which most owners love. This behavior seems to tell us how much our Cocker Spaniels love and miss us. Many owners respond to this greeting by picking up the gorgeous wee puppy and encouraging a frenzy of licks. The puppy isn't actually trying to tell you how much he loves you but is, in his language, trying to show you he wants to dominate you. Pack animals always greet each other in ways to show and reinforce who is the leader. This jumping up to greet you behavior can in fact become very hard to stop when you allow it to become a regular behavior. It may start off as cute but it can soon become very annoying and even dangerous. If you meet your dog at your gate you don't find muddy paws on your good clothes or rips and tares very cute. When a fully grown dog jumps up at you when your arms are full of shopping bags you can find all your shopping all over the fall and even more dangerously, yourself taking a tumble. Then there is the embarrassment of visitors continually being greeted in the same way. Not everyone appreciates a dog jumping at them. Certainly it can be very frightening for children who are not used to dogs. No matter how much you try and convince them your dog is just being friendly many a child has begun a lifetime fear of dogs just because a dog jumped all over them when they were little. If jumping up becomes an established behavior you will find it also happens when you are out walking. Many dogs, especially friendly, people loving Cocker Spaniels, start to jump up to greet everyone they pass on their walk. So how can you stop this behavior or better still never allow it to start in the first place? For owners who love being greeted in this way it may seem hard to try and stop using the following technique. But you want a well trained dog that won't embarrass you anymore it is well worth the effort. What you need to do is to ignore the dog when you first return from any absence. This can also include just retuning from being out of a room. The secret is to maintain a no touch, no eye contact and no verbal greeting approach. Your aim is not to reinforce this behavior in any way. Be ready to turn away when the dog rushes up to you. If he jumps let him touch your side or back. It also works quite well to extend a bent knee toward the dog and straighten it as he jumps. This will result in a failed jump if you get the timing right. This technique can be quite physically challenging especially if it involves a bigger or pretty lively dog. It's only natural and desirable for you to want to greet your dog and doing this doesn't mean you are not going to have a joyful reunion. What you are going to do is make the greeting happen on your terms. You do this by just delaying it. After ignoring this first contact go and do something like shutting the door or going into another room. Now you call your dog to you, ask him to "sit" first then start to greet him with as much fuss as you like. Lots of pats and praise. It may take some time for your dog to get the correct message from this sequence that it is not his place to be the dominant one. Everyone in your house and even visitors need to copy your greeting sequence if it is to be successful. For owners of Cocker Spaniels jumping up is only one of the undesirable behaviors you will find yourself having to deal with. Good training is what makes a huge difference to your experience as an owner. You can relax, enjoy and always trust a well trained dog. About the Author: Don't let your Cocker Spaniels behavior embarrass you and spoil the full enjoyment of owning a lovely dog. Discover how simple good training can be. Check out www.squidoo.com/caringforcockerspaniels. today. Views: 19
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