Creating a Sitting Maniac
It isn't hard to get a dog hooked on a behavior that works, but it does take time and thought along the way. Jumping is a natural behavior gone astray through inappropriate reinforcement of the wrong behavior. There is nothing difficult about teaching your dog to Sit instead of jump; it just needs to be practiced in increasingly distracting environments until your dog adopts it as second nature.
Remember, as with any bad habit, it takes time and patience to change unwanted behavior. Through lots of repetitions and opportunities to practice the right behavior, you will find that your dog will be sitting for attention instead of mugging people. Owning a dog that knows how to greet guests politely makes it easier to take your dog anywhere and have her actively involved in your life.
The absence of reinforcement for undesirable behavior can be a powerful message. Dogs expect the people they jump on to acknowledge them in some way. Train the people in your family to turn and walk away from your jumping dog without any contact.
Sit for a Treat
One great activity to keep things interesting for puppies is the Sit for a Treat game. To play this game in a group-dog setting, take your dog off her leash and wander around the room greeting other puppies. Approach one of the other puppies with your dog and have the owner of that puppy ask her dog to Sit, asking only once. If the pup sits on the first try, click and treat and move on to the next dog.
If the puppy doesn't sit on the first try, simply walk away and ignore the pup, moving on to the next one. Sometimes if the puppies are very high energy it takes awhile for them to catch on, but pretty soon several pups will be sitting perfectly in the middle of the room while the rest are running all willy-nilly around them. One or two lone pups may be sitting stoically, refusing to move for anything. They know exactly what they need to do to get people to pay attention to them.
Play this game at home by inviting a bunch of family or friends over and doing the same exercise. Have everyone wander around, armed with clickers and treats, and take turns giving only one command to Sit and clicking and treating your dog for responding on the first try. Pretty soon, you will see your dog going from person to person, sitting as fast as her rear end will let her to earn her goody.
Changing the Variables
When teaching dogs to sit instead of jump on people in greeting, remember that each variable must be considered and trained for the dog to be reliable. A variable is a circumstance under which we expect the dog to perform the behavior. Some examples of variables for sitting instead of jumping are:
People are standing in front of the dog indoors.
People are standing in front of the dog outdoors.
People are sitting indoors.
People are sitting outdoors.
The person being greeted has a dog with them.
The person being greeted is carrying a box or other item.
The person being greeted is carrying a child or infant.
The person being greeted is holding a plate of food.
The person is walking by the dog and stops to greet her.
The person is greeting the dog in a very stimulating environment.
The circumstance surrounding each situation must be addressed so that the dog can learn to be successful in all of the different circumstances. Reliability is achieved when the dog understands that no matter what the circumstances — where she is and whom she is greeting — the only behavior that pays off is the sit behavior. Remember that consequences drive behavior. If sitting is the rewardable event, sitting will become a habit around all the people the dog meets.
