One of the biggest problems people have is dogs that jump up. Sometimes they have no problem with it – but their visitors certainly do!

It is so endearing when we get home after a long day at work to have such an enthusiastic greeting from someone who is SO pleased to see us, however late and grumpy we are. It is often difficult to then get tough and insist on four paws on the floor. Luckily using TTOUCH© philosophy and techniques – we don’t have to get “tough”.

Many people advise that you must ignore your dog when he jumps up and then only pay attention when he finally settles. For me that is impossible. If I have someone who is so pleased to see me - I feel it extremely rude to ignore them. This is where TTOUCH© can really help.

Try this:
For a few weeks make an effort to make sure that when you get home you are able to greet your dog properly. So as you get out of the car/open the gate … be prepared to drop everything and have your hands free when your dog comes bounding up to greet you. Have a very clear vision of him keeping all four feet on the floor – and you can verbalise that too. “No” or “no jumping” are really not effective. Dogs do not understand the negative – so when you say “no jumping” all they see is the image you have in your mind – which is the dog jumping!

As soon as your dog gets to you – with your very clear vision of “4 on the floor” start to do some TTOUCH© on your dog. Maybe start with a bit of zig-zag and then a few clouded leopard touches down his body. You will know which touches he likes best and adjust accordingly. Really make sure that you focus on the touches as you do them and remember to pause at the end of each circle. If the dog is really wriggly you can start off fairly fast and then slow down – particularly with the pause.

Keep calm

You may be amazed at how quickly your dog will settle. This technique needs to be accompanied by calm speech. Enthusiastically shrilling at your dog about how pleased you are to see them is counter productive, speaking in a calm and loving tone – expressing your joy in a quiet voice can be just as pleasing for your dog – and helps reduce the high arousal levels.

After a few weeks your dog will realise that he’s not going to be ignored and that he doesn’t have to go completely wild when you come home to show you how happy he is – you can greet each other with enthusiasm without needing to go ‘over the top’.

This has worked well for many dogs and owners – making for happy and clean homecomings.

You might like to add a bit of clicker to train “4 on the floor”. This can be very useful – and then when visitors arrive Fido can show off his new “4” trick – and at the same time keep them clean and happy.

Personally I have found this technique to work for me – as at least I can acknowledge my dog’s enthusiasm and thank him for it – while maintaining mutual respect.