Puppy greetings are often the brightest spot of our day! Happy faces, warm kisses, and big tail wags are sure to greet us. Puppies love to greet their humans and puppies also like to jump as close to their human’s face as possible. However, what happens when that small puppy turns into an adult dog? The greeting is just as happy, and the jumping is even bigger. If you want to address jumping with your dog, the best thing to do is start training them as soon as you bring the puppy home. In the four steps below, we’ll show you how to teach your puppy not to jump using an auto-sit.
What is an auto-sit?
When you teach your puppy to autosit, your puppy cannot jump up on you. It is an incompatible behavior. For this reason, we teach the puppy that their bottom must be on the ground when they want physical attention. This means anytime you pet your puppy, they must be in the sitting position. Now, this is an automatic sit. It means we want the puppy to offer the sit to us and guests, without needing us to ask them to do it.
Step 1:
Put a leash on your puppy to keep them close. Grab treats, preferably kibble, if your puppy readily takes it from your hand. Hold the kibble on your fingertips, with your palm facing up. Place the treat on the puppy’s nose so they smell it, and then raise your hand straight up towards the sky. It should make your puppy look up and their bottom go down. When the puppy’s bottom hits the ground, bridge “good,” and treat them. Note: We use the bridge word, “good,” to mark the exact moment their bottom hits the ground, before giving the treat.
Step 2:
Repeat the above step until your puppy reliably sits with your lure six times in a row. Once that happens, start adding the physical petting – lure your puppy with the treat. When their bottom touches the ground and you bridge “good,” give the treat with one hand and pet the puppy with the other hand simultaneously. Stop petting when the puppy stands.
Note that puppies, in particular, tend not to remember what they learned the day before (or sometimes even the hour before!). The best way to teach your puppy the auto-sit quickly, is to practice it every time you pet your puppy. For the first few days, we recommend keeping kibble or treats easily accessible in the house, so you can quickly grab them to reinforce the auto-sit.
Step 3:
Once your puppy is readily sitting, start to fade the food lure. Cover the food completely with your hand and do the same hand lure, saying “good” and petting while feeding, as soon as the puppy’s bottom touches the ground. After five repetitions, in which the puppy is sitting while the food is hidden in your hand, repeat the action without food in your hand. Pretend as if you were still holding the treat, place it on the puppy’s nose, and raise it up. Once the puppy’s bottom hits the ground, pet them immediately and do not give a treat. Begin to use the hand signal (i.e., the lure without the food) to remind your puppy to sit for pets.
Step 4:
Fade the hand signal. When your puppy approaches you, wait to see if they automatically sit. When they do, give lots of pets. If your puppy approaches you and continues to stand for 2-3 seconds, then offer them the hand signal to remind them to sit. Pet when their bottom hits the ground.
Important Tip: Your puppy will need to generalize the auto-sit to different people and places. Whether you’re at dog-friendly Owen’s Fish camp, at home or at Bayfront park, use treats and a lure to teach the auto-sit. Only fade the food and hand signal once your puppy reliably offers the sit.
FAQ’s
- Why don’t I say “sit?”
The goal is the puppy offers the behavior when greeting and does not solely sit when you ask.
- My puppy stands as soon as their bottom touches the ground.
Once your puppy’s bottom touches the ground, bridge “good” and give the treat. If they stay seated for one more second, “bridge” good and give another treat. If they stay for one more second, bridge “good” and feed once more. As you continue to run repetitions, slowly space the treats out as the puppy continues to stay seated.
- Help! My puppy still jumps on guests!
It might have been too soon to fade treats and hand signals in a situation as difficult as guests. Set your puppy up for success by having them tethered prior to the guest arriving. Explain the auto-sit to your guest and give them some kibble or treats. Then they can approach the puppy at their convenience, offering treats and pets when the puppy is sitting.
- Why can’t I just push the puppy off when he jumps instead of teaching an auto-sit?
The function of jumping is attention, so even pushing the puppy off is a form of attention. With the auto-sit, you’re teaching an alternative behavior that still addresses the function of what the puppy seeks.
We’re here to help
Do you need help teaching your puppy obedience commands and manners or treating behavioral issues? You can schedule a free consultation with our pet behavior experts. Our training sessions are conducted privately in one-on-one sessions at your home and Sarasota neighborhood.
If you live outside our service areas or prefer to connect virtually, our Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Dr. Echterling-Savage, provides virtual consultations to develop a personalized training plan to support your training goals.
