A dog that jumps on an owner to greet him/her, or to demand attention, is a very common problem.
Not only does it hurt - especially older people and children - it is also a form of showing dominance. Dogs jump on each other from an early age on, in order to find out who will back down or who will be a push over. This prepares young dogs to fit into the pack, as they get older.
If you do not train your dog from day one, he will gladly jump on you as much as he can. It is not cute to have your dog greet you in this way and this behavior should be re-directed.
There are different ways to handle this problem. You can ignore it if you have the patience. It takes time for the dog to understand that you ignore him each time he jumps on you.
Depending on the size of your dog, you might try raising your leg to block your dog as he jumps. In this action, timing is everything, and it has to be done all the time.
Then we have "no jump" harnesses. Some of them work great on big dogs.
These are a few things you can try but, of course, it has a lot to do with the individual dog and the way the owner reacts to it.
If in doubt that you are doing it right, please come out for a complementary group class. We will work with you and your dog to see where things might be going wrong.
Birgit Edler is the owner of Canine College in Juno Beach, which offers grooming, training and day care services for dogs and cats. Call (561) 626-0552 or e-mail Caninecollegefl@yahoo.com.