The method
How to stop a dog jumping on people
Jumping is not dominance and it is not disobedience. It is greeting energy that got paid, one delighted visitor at a time. Every hand that touched your dog mid-jump taught the same lesson: feet off the floor gets attention. The fix is simple to describe and hard to do consistently, so this page walks through the mechanics, the doorway, and the guests who undo your work.
The mechanics
Remove the payoff, pay the floor.
Start with the payoff. Jumping earns three things dogs love: eye contact, touch, and voice. When your dog jumps, all three stop. Turn away, fold your arms, say nothing. The instant all four paws hit the floor, mark it and pay with calm attention or a treat. You are not punishing the jump, you are making it useless while making the floor profitable.
Then give greetings a station. Teach a sit or a place command away from the door, reward it hard, and make it the only position that earns a hello. At the doorway, keep a leash by the handle and clip it on before you open. If the dog leaves the sit, the greeting pauses. Calm restarts it. Dogs learn the rule quickly when it never bends.
- Attention stops the instant paws leave
- Reward four on the floor fast
- Sit or place before every hello
- Leash on before the door opens
Guests and kids
Grandma is training your dog too.
The hardest part is not your dog, it is your visitors. The guest who says they do not mind and pets your jumping dog just paid the behaviour you spent two weeks starving. Brief people before they walk in: ignore the dog until it sits, then greet. If a guest cannot follow the rule, the leash or the place cot does the job instead.
With kids, manage first and train second. Children move fast, squeal, and reward jumping without meaning to, so keep the dog leashed or stationed until the greeting habit is solid. With a big dog, treat this as urgent rather than cute: a seventy-pound greeting can knock over a toddler or a grandparent. If home practice is not sticking, structured one-on-one training can install the habit for you.
The programs
When the problem outlasts the guide.
Some behaviours need more repetitions than evenings allow. These formats deliver them.
SW · Weekdays, drop-off 8–10 am · pick-up 5–7 pm
Day Training
Professional training all day, your couch at night.
Includes weekly one-hour go-home lesson, daily structure
NE · 2-week board & train
On-Leash Foundations
If every walk is a wrestling match, pulling, barking, zig-zagging, this two-week program rebuilds the walk from the ground up with foundational on-leash obedience..
Includes handover lesson, follow-up session, lifetime support, slip lead + collar
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
How do I stop my dog from jumping on people?
Remove the reward and replace the behaviour. Attention ends the moment paws leave the floor, and calm sitting earns everything the jump used to. Do it every single time, and get everyone in the house doing the same.
My dog jumps on guests. What should I do?
Station the greeting before guests arrive: leash on, dog in a sit or on place, door opens only when calm. Ask visitors to ignore the dog until it holds position. One well-meaning guest who pets a jumping dog can undo days of practice.
Should I knee my dog when it jumps?
No. Kneeing, pushing, and grabbing all count as attention, and many dogs read them as part of the game. Withholding the payoff and paying the floor works better and does not risk hurting your dog.
How long does it take to stop a dog from jumping?
That depends on the dog's history and how consistent every person in the house is. A behaviour that has paid off for years takes longer to fade than one caught early. Consistency, not intensity, sets the timeline.
Keep reading
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