One of the most common training issues that dog owners have is with their dog jumping up on guests.

Allowing your dog to jump up on visitors may seem harmless, but it is an impolite way for dogs to greet people who come to your home. Some people may find it intimidating, and if you have a larger dog it could even be painful.

Stopping your dog from jumping on your house guests can take a lot of work, but it needn’t be difficult. You will just need to be consistent with training and patient with your dog, particularly if he or she is used to jumping up on everyone who steps into your house.

Dogs like to jump on people because they enjoy greeting them at the face. It’s a natural, instinctive dog behavior but unfortunately it’s one that doesn’t translate well into human society. Dogs also tend to jump up from the sheer excitement of having someone new in the home, and it is a way to burn off that extra pent up energy. Some dogs may even jump on people as a coping mechanism, in order to assert themselves over people they don’t want in their home.

The first step in training your dog to stop jumping on people is consistency. You might think it’s OK for your dog to jump on you, but not on your friends and family. This just sends mixed messages to your dog and will confuse him. So, lay down the law. No jumping on anyone, not even you.

The second step is to make sure that your dog isn’t there when guests walk through the door. Consider installing a baby gate in a room where your dog can see people coming in, but can’t reach them and jump up. Once they have calmed down, they can then be allowed out to say hello. If they start jumping up they then have to be calmly and quietly put back behind the gate. Repeat this process until your dog understands that only calm behaviors let them meet your house guest.

Practice this as often as possible by inviting lots of people round over the course of a weekend. This way they will learn sooner.

Finally, once your dog has mastered being calmer around visitors, you can teach him to sit or lie down in the same room as your house guest. That way, they don’t have to miss out on the fun.