Does your dog have a habit of jumping on people when he sees them? If so, you know how embarrassing it can be. But imagine how annoying – or frightening even – it is to your guests.

Teaching your dog to not jump on people is really important, and it’s really not hard to do. That’s good – because no one likes being assaulted by your dog, not matter how cute he is! Those sharp nails hurt, not to mention the muddy paw prints on their clothes. And though most dogs are just jumping because they’re excited, others are actually doing it to show you who’s in charge. Here’s what I mean…

Most dogs jump because they are excited. They’s just plain happy to see you – or you’ve gotten them worked up about something so their adrenaline is pumping. Maybe you just got home from a day at work – or someone has come over to visit.

There is also a less common, but more serious reason dogs will jump on you.

As you know, dogs are pack animals. They live in groups, or packs, and each dog has a ranking. The highest ranked dog is the leader, or the alpha dog. You will know who this is because he will always eat first – go through doors first – and he will also put on or both of his paws over the shoulders of the other dogs… just to remind them that he’s the boss. Some dogs think they are ranked higher than their owners. If your dog think’s he’s the alpha dog over you, he will often demonstrate this by jumping up on you.

You see, your dog sees you as part of his pack too. So if you notice he’s not just jumping up on you in excitement, but at other times too, it’s more likely he’s expressing dominance over you.

If this is the case, you are dealing with more than a jumping issue. Your dog sees himself as the alpha dog in your relationship. This is a more complex issue – and you’ll need to make some serious adjustments in your overall relationship with your dog. You’re going to have to brush up on your alpha-dog techniques to solve this problem.

That said, most jumping problems are simply a case of excitement. Solving this type of jumping is relatively easy. The key is consistency. You can’t expect your dog to understand that it’s okay to jump up on you when you’re in your grubby weekend clothes – but not when you’re dressed up to go to work. If you want this habit to stop, he needs to be taught that it is never acceptable to jump up on you.

This simple two-step technique is one that many trainers use to stop dogs from jumping.

The first step is very simple. You just ignore him whenever he jumps up on you. This means you withdraw all attention – even negative attention – so no yelling, shoving, or corrections whatsoever. The idea is to give him the cold shoulder.

To be effective, you just immediately turn away from him whenever he jumps up. Just fold your arms, turn your back to him and look away. Dogs are keen on understanding body language, so he will know exactly what you’re saying.

You just need to be sure you are ignoring your dog – not just ignoring the behavior. You can’t look at him or talk to him. You shouldn’t acknowledge him in any way at all. Trust me, when you aren’t giving him any attention, he’ll calm down quickly.

The next step is very important. Even though you are “ignoring” your dog, you will need to pay close attention to what he is doing. This step is a matter of timing.

As soon as your dog stops jumping and has all four paws on the floor, you are going to praise him… a lot. Be wildly enthusiastic. He will see that by staying on the ground, he will get your attention. Don’t worry that he was jumping just a few seconds ago. He will associate your praise with NOT jumping.

As simple as this is, this technique works. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your dog learns. By making sure he doesn’t get any attention when he’s jumping, he’ll soon be the well-behaved pooch you always wanted.