Puppies getting up on their people is pretty much par for the course when they’re little, it’s the easiest way to catch your attention and in the wild, they do something similar to their mothers in order to get some sweet, sweet, second-hand nutrients by licking their mom’s face. One of the first things to do is make sure you don’t give them attention for it, it might be funny when your dog is small but if your dog eventually becomes a lumbering ursine beast that weighs more than you do and can jump high enough to stand on your shoulders it’s not going to be a good time for you.
If you don’t rectify this behavior when they’re little, the behavior will only get worse and can turn into pseudo-dominant behavior when they really want to catch your attention as they age.
Your best bet: just walk away. Don’t acknowledge it, don’t make eye contact, don’t speak to them or push them back. Keep ignoring the behavior until they’ve calmed down, then call them to you.
If this doesn’t fix the behavior, put your puppy in another room for a time-out when they do it and you’ll find that pretty quickly they’ll cut it out.
If they jump up while you get them prepared for a walk, set the leash down until your dog is calm and try again. Repeat this process until they remain calm, you might want to hurry up and get out there but your dog can miss a little bit of exercise to make sure he knows his manners.
The important things to take away from this are as follows:
- Don’t Engage- Engaging your dog, positively or negatively, is giving in to its
- Don’t Let them Invade- Dogs require other animals, including people, to maintain a respectful distance unless invited. Make sure your dog respects you, otherwise you’re not really in control.
- Reward Them- But only when they stop. Don’t reinforce the behavior, let them calm all the way down and give them a little bit of attention. Don’t overdo it, though, or they might get the wrong idea.
- Mean it- Let your dog know by your body language that you’re not going to put up with them doing that. Walk confidently and cross your arms while you ignore them.
- Making Eye Contact- Do not make eye contact with them during the ignoring stage. It might seem small, but it will make a huge difference in how long it takes to rid your puppy of this obnoxious behavior.
- Inconsistency- Be consistent about it. Don’t give in, even if you really want to pick the little ball of fur up and cuddle it half to death. Inconsistency will completely defeat your training.
Something else that might help is having your dog sit down before you do anything. Before the leash, before feeding, before petting. It’s a great way to teach your dog an “attention” type of posture which won’t result in muddy paw prints all over your pants. Keep all of this in mind, and you’re sure to experience smooth sailing.