One of the biggest complaints I hear as a dog trainer is, “my dog jumps on me and other people constantly!” Jumping up is a learned behavior that dogs do because in the past it has gotten them something they want – attention, treat, a toy, etc. Your Schnauzer is smart enough to know what works and if you’ve inadvertently reinforced this behavior, it can become a hard habit to break. If you have a Giant Schnauzer, it’s even worse as they can cause injury due to their size. Luckily, it is possible to reverse the habit. The following is how to teach your Schnauzer to stop jumping on people.
Why Your Schnauzer Jumps On People
Dogs are opportunistic creatures. This means if they can do something to get what they want, they will. Jumping up probably started when your Schnauzer was a puppy and he put his cute little paws on you to get your attention. Understandably, you couldn’t resist. But, your puppy just learned that putting his two front paws on you gets him what he wants and he will do it more in the future. So unless your Schnauzer 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 Schnauzer is not being rewarded for it. Then, give him another behavior to do instead that is rewarded. Problem solved.
3 Steps To Getting Your Schnauzer To Not Jump On People
#1 – Stop Rewarding The Jumping
Every time your Schnauzer jumps on someone that person needs to ignore her completely. The best thing to do is turn around and walk away. Even if they shout “down,” “no,” and/or push her away – negative attention is still attention. The trick is that every single person, 100 percent of the time, needs to do this. One person saying “oh I don’t mind” and then giving your Schnauzer what she wants will make the behavior stronger. So insist upon your rules.
#2 – Ask For A Conflicting Behavior
Most people ask for a sit. Your Schnauzer can’t sit and jump up at the same time. There are two ways to do this: wait for your dog to offer a sit, or give the cue Sit and then reward her when she responds. The reward should be whatever your Schnauzer was jumping on you for in the first place – petting, a toy, a treat, even his food dish! Anything your Schnauzer normally jumps up on you for, she now only gets if she is sitting. If your Schnauzer is very young or really overzealous, you may need to start by rewarding a calm “four on the floor” first, then work towards a sit as your Schnauzer learns self-control. You will wait until she 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.
#3 – Management
This is the last piece of the puzzle and it’s what you have to do while your Schnauzer is learning to sit for things, which won’t happen overnight. You can help your Schnauzer by holding them lightly when greeting new people, as long as they are comfortable with that and the attention they are receiving. Having your Schnauzer drag a leash off his harness can also help with jumping for a couple of reasons. It’s useful when you meet that pesky person that lets (or worse encourages!) your Schnauzer to jump on them – you can just step on the leash so he can’t physically practice the behavior. Or maybe you are in a situation that is just too exciting for him at this point in his training to remember his manners. Again, stepping on the leash can help. You can lead him away from the person altogether, let him calm down, and then bring him back to try the greeting when he is more settled.
