You may have learned to live with having your Boston terrier jump all over you—morning, noon, and night … but I can’t guarantee your non-dog owning friends will be as understanding.
To solve this problem you first need to understand why your Boston terrier is jumping on people in the first place.
Your Boston Is The Pack Leader
Most likely your Boston terrier is jumping on you and your guests because she thinks she’s the pack leader.
What can you do to change this?
You need to portray yourself in an assertive and calm manner. You should also avoid praising your dog when you get home, this causes “big head syndrome.”
Your Boston terrier will begin to believe she is the center and leader of the home, which is a BIG problem.
The 3 Main Reasons Your Boston Terrier Jumps On People
- Gain Attention
Dogs identify people and things by smelling them; when they jump on people, this is one of things they are trying to accomplish!
- Assert Dominance
People usually react when a dog jumps on them. In your dog’s world, if she gets a reaction out of you from jumping, whether positive or negative-- she’s won.
- Receive Rewards
Either directly or non-directly your dog has been rewarded for this bad behavior (jumping). Therefore, your dog associates jumping on people, with positive things.
Always Correct Bad Behavior
Make sure you always correct bad behavior—and make sure you do it right away.
This will help your Boston terrier learn about boundaries and that she is submissive to you. Withholding attention from your Boston terrier when she jumps on you usually works the best. You should turn your back on her or leave the room when she jumps on you. This will enforce the fact that jumping is not acceptable behavior.
If you have company over, instruct your dog to sit quietly. She may not listen at first, but once you have the whole ‘pack leader’ vs. ‘pack follower’ roles down, this should be a piece of cake!
Remember, the most important thing of all is to be consistent. If you’re not consistent with your leadership role, you will cause confusion and anxiety in your Boston terrier.
How To Stop The Jumping!
Before going any further, you should make sure that your Boston Terrier knows 2 very basic commands,
SIT and OFF (follow the links for additional information).
If your dog looks like she’s about to jump on someone, command her to SIT.
You’ll begin to familiarize yourself with your dog’s body language. Dogs often send out signals that they’re about to jump. Some dogs crane their necks, others prepare their hind legs, and some wag their tails, etc.
So if you see this signs, be ready with the SIT command!
If you don’t catch your dog in the first stages of jumping to prevent it, use the OFF command.
Ultimately, prevention is the best strategy in stopping your dog from jumping on people.
The basics of this training can be summarized with this one simple sentence:
“Reward your dog for positive outcomes, and reprimand her for negative ones.”
What To Do When Other People’s Dogs Jump On You
I have a fair bit of experience in this area, as I frequent the dog park on a regular basis.
If there’s one thing I have learnt from dog parks it’s this: NEVER wear white pants to the dog park! There is bound to be some unruly renegade at the dog park that won’t be able to resist jumping on you and your white pants.
It’s somewhat futile to try to train someone else’s dog, so don’t waste your time. Teaching the “no jumping” command is a fairly long process that will need to be a part of the dog’s everyday life.
REMEMBER: You're not doing anybody a favor by letting a dog jump on you. Never encourage someone else's dog to jump on you!
What Next?
One of the training techniques mentioned above is pretty much guaranteed to work. In most cases, you should be able to see results in a matter of days.
The good thing about Boston terrier jumping problems is that they’re usually a quick fix
. If you’re determined to put an end to this annoying behavior, and you’re consistent with your training, you’re on the right track.
Tell me your story. Have you been through this before? What did you do to fix it?
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