Great Danes are notorious for being exuberant greeters! They love people and can’t wait to get lots of love. But if your giant Dane thinks it’s okay to run up and jump on people, they could cause serious injury. Teaching a Dane to not jump on others is the respectful thing to do and will make your dog more welcome in public. It may seem like a big task, but if you know some canine psychology, it’s actually pretty easy. The hardest part? Getting humans to follow your rules! Check out this easy way to get your your Great Dane to stop jumping on people.
Why Your Great Dane Jumps On People
Dogs are opportunistic creatures. This means if they can do something to get what they want, they will. And then that behavior will be reinforced and they will be more likely to do it again. So unless your Dane is jumping on people out of fear or aggression (in which case you should seek a professional dog trainer for help), he is doing it because it gets him what he wants – attention, a toy, food, etc. The good news is that this makes it easy to stop the behavior. All you have to do is make sure your Great Dane is not being rewarded for it. Then, give him another behavior to do instead that is rewarded. Problem solved.
3 Steps To Getting Your Great Dane To Not Jump On People
#1 – Stop Rewarding The Jumping
Every time your Dane jumps on someone, that person needs to not give him attention! The best thing to do is turn around and walk away. Even if you shout “down,” “no,” and/or push him away – negative attention is still attention. Due to their size, this can be hard. It’s best to keep a leash on your Dane, so you can gain control, or someone else can hold onto it while you remove yourself. The trick is that every single person, 100 percent of the time, needs to do this. One person saying “oh I don’t mind” will make the behavior stronger. So insist upon your rules.
#2 – Ask For A Conflicting Behavior
Most people ask for a Sit. Your Dane can’t Sit and jump up at the same time. Then reward for the Sit by giving your dog the attention he was looking for. This can be petting, a toy, a treat, even his food dish! Anything your Great Dane normally jumps up on you for, he now only gets if he is sitting. If your Dane has joint issues, opt for a calm and still “four on the floor.” You will wait until your Dane is standing quietly and then reward. This takes some training and patience, but it will work because, as mentioned above, dogs repeat behaviors that get them what they want. For some really excited young Danes, you may find a Down works better than a Sit because it’s hard for them to “spring up” from a Down.
#3 – Management
This is the last piece of the puzzle and it’s what you have to do while your Great Dane is learning to sit for things, which won’t happen overnight. As mentioned above, size can be an issue if you are working with an older Dane, so keeping a leash on them can help. It’s also a useful tool since you can’t control everyone that meets your Dane, some may pet him as he jumps up anyway. Or, your dog may end up in a situation that is just too exciting for him to remember his newly learned skills. In these cases, you need to manage the behavior. If your Dane is dragging a leash, you can walk him away, step on it to prevent him from jumping and/or put him in a different room to calm down and try again in a bit.
