How To Train Your Excitable Dog To Not Jump On Guests
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With the holidays coming up, Carol Erickson of the Pennsylvania SPCA has advice on how to get your dog to stop jumping on guests in this week's CBS3 Pet Project.
Erickson states that it may take some time to reverse the habit, but consistency is the most important thing.
"If a dog is allowed to jump sometimes and not others, it's an intermittent reinforcement and that's a very hard reward to break," Erickson says. "Because that feel-good brain chemical dopamine, is doubled when the reward is sometimes offered."
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Erickson offers the following tips to train your dog:
- Say "off" one time only
- Turn into a statue -- freeze, avert your eyes, no shouting, no pushing
- Remain still until the dog stops jumping
- Then immediately praise the dog and give it a treat
- Be consistent -- it could take a month to break the habit
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