Why German Shepherds Might Jump On You & Other People
Would you believe that German Shepherds jumping on their owners and other people is an extremely common problem, and one that is corrected very easily!
Before we explain to you how to stop your German Shepherd jumping, you must first understand the two main reasons/motivators a German Shepherd puppy or dog will jump on someone:
It wants attention
It wants food, or can smell or sense something else on the person
Why Does My German Shepherd Puppy Bite Me
All puppies, regardless of their breed, are curious in nature and like to explore the world around them. The difference is, instead of using hands like a small child would, they use their mouth to do many things, including tasting new objects, grabbing things, and playing with their mother and littermates. So, biting is actually a natural behavior in the canine world.
When your German shepherd puppy with his mother and littermates, if he bit his littermate too hard, the other puppy would yelp and then stop playing or return the bite. If your puppy nipped his mom too hard, his mother would correct him with a growl and snarl, and even a flurry of harsh barks.
Now your puppy has moved into your house, a new environment that he is not familiar with, far away from his mother and littermates. Because he doesnt know anything about you at all, he needs to re-learn how much bite is enough and how much bite is too much for you.
And as you may notice right now, our bite inhibition technique mimics the pups natural way of learning bite inhibition from his mother and littermates.
That being said, some German shepherds do appear more aggressive and have more tendency to bite than others. Here are a few reasons that explain the reason behind this behavior.
Theres simply too much power and prey drive in them, particularly if you have never handled this type of dog before.
Do Puppies Grow Out Of Jumping Up
Your puppy wont learn theyre not supposed to jump up unless you teach them that its undesirable behaviour. As mentioned earlier, jumping up for attention is natural, so your dog will continue to jump up without training. Depending on their breed and size, they could unintentionally harm someone as they grow into an adult dog, so its important to teach your puppy when theyre young.
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Dont Involve Your Dog When Playing Rough Games
Some people may find it fun to play vigorous games with their dogs, such as wrestling, but this can impact the canines behavior.
Thats because your dog will learn its appropriate to play and jump up on people. It can also lead to unpleasant behaviors with your pet, like attacking and biting people. Roughhousing isnt something you would want to engage your dog.
Place Coyote Roller On Top Of The Fence
Coyote roller is useful if your shepherd still needs to pull himself over the fence. When he tries to jump over the fence and grab hold of the roller, the coyote roller will begin to roll and cause your dog to slip. Another solution is to place a chicken wire on top of the fence that is slanted inward or places a long piece of wood.
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How To Train A German Shepherd To Not Jump Over The Fences
Training your German shepherd Dog to not Jump Over the fences is not Difficult.
You can ask a trainer to help you if you think you cant do it on your own.
But in my Opinion everyone can use this simple method:
Is Your Gsd Protecting You
Another reason that GSDs jump on people is when they see others as a threat to its owner or family. GSDs are loyal dogs that go to any extent to protect their owners. This is a personality trait that they are born with.
However, this trait can become a problem when it starts to scare people by jumping on them. The key is to train your GSD to behave and let it socialize with other people starting at a very young age or else people will be frightened to visit your home with a full-grown muscular dog jumping on them.
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Is It Our Fault
Unfortunately, in most instances, jumping is a behavior that we have encouraged, sometimes without realizing it. German Shepherds, like most dogs, are opportunistic. If something gets them what theyre angling for, theyll do it repeatedly. So, if you have been giving your pup attention or food or other positive reinforcement when they jump on you, youll need to course-correct. Luckily, you can do this with a bit of training and management. Use one of these step-by-step methods to teach your German Shepherd to stop jumping on you and others.
Offer Them The Right Mental Stimulation
Your dog may jump your fence because theyre bored and under-stimulated.
A well-behaved German Shepherd gets ample and mental stimulation.
They rarely have a reason or inclination to jump fences.
Dogs who lack stimulation mentally search for new experiences outside their fence, such as interesting people, animals, or places to explore.
Letting your dog in the backyard isnt a form of mental stimulation when this is their daily routine. Your active GSD still needs plenty of mental exercises to keep their highly intelligent minds satisfied.
Ask yourself:
- Are you meeting your dogs physical needs?
- Do you know what activities GSDs like?
- Is there enough variety of mental stimulation to keep your dogs mind happy?
- What ways do you meet their physical and mental demands that you can improve?
Its easier than you think to make the most of your GSDs intelligent brain using the right information.
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Factors To Keep In Mind While Training Your Dog
Teaching a dog takes patience, practice and consistency. Make sure you stick to the routine. It may take time, but you will eventually see the difference and the hard work will pay off.
There are basically two major aspects you need to remember while teaching your dog to not jump. The first one is training and the second one is management. These two factors go hand in hand
Management: This is what will prevent your German Shepherd from jumping on you or any other person. This is a self-rewarding behavior.
Training: Refers to the act when you present your German Shepherd with a certain reward. When your GSD refrains from jumping on anyone whereas, withdrawing the reward when they jump on anyone. So in a way of training is built on management. Remember that for training, behavior and its consequence is the core belief.
A brief explanation:
You might have wondered why German Shepherd gets aggressive when they encounter an unfamiliar person or other dogs.
You bring home a new friend and your canine growls at them.
The simple explanation for this behavior is their territorial nature, or sometimes even protective instincts.
The reason your German Shepherd might jump on your new friend because he thinks of this new person as a danger to his territory, which can include your home and even you.
Aggression in types of dogs:
There are many ways for you to figure out the stance your dog adopts when it gets aggressive. Their body language says a lot.
Proven Ways To Stop A German Shepherd Jumping
Dealing with a German Shepherd jumping all over you, your furniture, and your guests is embarrassing, frustrating, all too common, and fortunately, easy enough to resolve.
It might not seem that way now, but this isnt a problem you just have to learn to live with. Neither is it a problem youre alone in dealing with.
You know the story
A visitor pops by your house. Your pup gets excited, loses all control, and starts jumping all over the place in a bid to get as much attention and as close to the action as possible.
Everyone tells you how adorable they are. And then your pup loses their baby teeth, gains 50 lb of muscle, and suddenly adorable turns into scary.
Sound familiar?
It should do. German Shepherds are known for their jumping prowess. As adults, theyre capable of jumping between 4 and 6 feet high. Theyve got power in their legs, determination in their heads, and the combination of the two rarely spells good things for your neighbors, your friends, and anyone else who has the misfortune to stop by your home.
Its rare that they mean any harm with their antics. But that doesnt mean Mrs. Jones from next door will be any more amenable to being knocked to the floor than if they did.
And if you want to turn your dog from a menace into a model citizen, its time to get on top of their behavior once and for all.
The good news?
The first step?
Heres the link to take a look:
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Why Should You Stop Your German Shepherd Dog From Jumping Up
Puppies jumping up may seem cute, but 6 months on you have an out of control 50-pound dog throwing himself at people and putting people at risk. As a puppy, jumping up should be stopped to prevent serious issues in later life.
German Shepherds are large dogs and the last thing you want is your adult dog knocking over poor Mrs. Jones from next door. He wont understand that it is wrong because he was allowed to do it as a puppy. An adult German Shepherd is capable of jumping between 4 and 6 feet high. They are a working breed and have a lot of power in the legs. For more information on how high a German Shepherd can jump please see this article.
It is also necessary to prevent jumping as German Shepherds are prone to joint problems like hip dysplasia. Jumping can make this worse and puts a lot of pressure on the joints.
Dont Reward Your Dog For The Jumping Behavior
Since dogs jump on you for your attention, when they do so, ignore them completely.
You need to avoid eye contact and remain silent. Ensure you wait until it stops jumping and offer immediate positive attention. If this gets your dog more excited, you may want to try a different reward, such as giving it food.
If you think food can work best for your dog, provide it with a few treats as soon as the jumping behavior stops.
Ensure you turn away the moment your dog jumps on you and be patient, even if this feels repetitive. The more you focus on doing this, the quicker your pet learns its jumping behavior may not be appropriate.
This can help your dog understand they get attention when they remain calm and dont jump on anyone.
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Top Best Answers To The Question How To Stop German Shepherd From Jumping On You
Quick Steps: How to Stop a German Shepherd from Jumping on You
Those who are looking for an answer to the question «How to stop german shepherd from jumping on you?» often ask the followingquestions:
Whats The Best Way To Get Your Dog To Stop Jumping And Biting
If you havent trained your german shepherd properly, then this is the perfect time to start. Whatever bad behavior your shepherd has, whether its jumping up and biting or anything else, using the right training program is the key to having an obedient and happy pup.
The training program I love and highly recommend is Brain Training For Dogs.
With Brain Training For Dogs, youll save yourself a ton of time and effort. Instead of banging your head against the wall trying to figure out why your dog wont listen, youll follow a path that has been tried, tested, and most importantly, thats given proven results. Not to mention the fact, youll be able to fit the course around your schedule, not fit your schedule around a trainer or obedience class.
So instead of worrying about whether theyre going to be well-behaved or not, youll only have to worry about how much fun youll have with them!
And in most cases its still going to be:
- Cheaper than hiring a professional.
- Cheaper than replacing everything they might break.
- And definitely cheaper than a lawsuit against you, if they decide to bite someone.
Just imagine how great it will feel to finally be able to introduce your pup to people without them jumping up and biting! Instead, youll have the peace of mind that you have a well-behaved pup, and the boundaries you set for them, will always be there, EVEN IF YOURE NOT.
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Pretend Youre In Pain
If your german shepherd is biting a lot when theyre jumping up then this is definitely the method youre going to want to use. In fact, this is a great method to use any time your german shepherd is biting in a playful way.
- The first thing youre going to need to do is to get your dog to jump up at you again. If they do this on their own great, if not use the same method as before.
- However, this time when your german shepherd jumps up and bites you, let out a yelp or cry of pain before turning away and not facing them.
- Its important that you dont give them any attention until theyve calmed down completely.
- If your german shepherd tries to follow you, keep turning until theyve stopped and calmed down completely.
- Once theyve calmed down completely, you can then reward them with your attention and treats.
This method works so well as its similar to what their litter would do if they were bitten too hard and they dont want to play anymore. Its a great way for teaching your german shepherd bite inhibition as well.
Remember, to do this every time your german shepherd jumps up and bites to show them that the game will stop being played any time they do that.
So How Should You React
So we know what Sally did was incorrect, and we know what reactions may be interpreted as attention so what do we do instead? The first and foremost goal should be ensuring you are not reinforcing the behavior that you dislike. If looking at him, talking to him, pushing him, and smacking him are all reinforcing him, we want to choose the Least Reinforcing Scenario or LRS.
In this case the LRS is absolute disregard of the dog. We do not look at the dog, talk to the dog, or touch the dog. You can twist or turn to knock him off of you while he is jumping, but we want to avoid any reaction he may interpret as you showing interest in him. Treat the dog as if he were a ghost, you cant see him, hear him, or feel him. By doing this, and teaching your guests to do this, we avoid accidentally telling him that jumping gets him what he wants.
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Putting A Stop To Jumping
GSD pups use their sense of smell to get to know their environment and the people around them. So, the smells that they recognize are the people that are close to it or live with it. Apart from that, other people are just strangers to it, and it sees them as enemies or threats. Jumping is not a behavior that is liked by many, especially when it comes to strangers. So, to make this behavior stop, you will need to adopt some effective strategies given below.
Why Do German Shepherd Puppies Bite
Its important to understand that your fuzzy little friend isnt being aggressive this is just how your puppy plays. Up until this time, your puppy was with its littermates, and playtime meant lots of mouthy, nipping fun.
Accordingly, this is the only way your GSD knows how to play! As a new puppy parent, youll need to teach your dog other gentler ways to play.
A German Shepherd puppy also uses their mouths to explore different things like toys or hands, ankles, furniture pretty much anything they can get their mouth around.
Because dogs cant pick things up and examine them, they resort to using their mouths. While being mouthy isnt inherently a bad thing, youre in trouble when teeth start getting involved.
Your puppy could also be teething, which can increase their mouthy behavior.
Now that you understand a little more about why your pup is biting, you shouldnt be alarmed. Just be patient as you work through the German Shepherd puppy biting phase give your pup time to learn to be gentle when playing or seeking your attention.
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Corrections To Use To Stop Your Dog From Jumping
If your German Shepherd is jumping over fences, they need to be corrected. They probably think theyre having fun, and dont see a problem. They need to be taught that the behavior is wrong.
Practice correcting them, to teach them its better to avoid the fence.
Its important to be firm with these corrections, but avoid being harsh. Shouting at your dog when it jumps only gives them attention. When they feel restless, theyll crave attention, good or bad, and start jumping. You also shouldnt hit your dog as punishment. This only teaches them to fear you, when we want to foster trust.