Help with my bouncing tigger (SBT)

Hi Guys

Otis has recently turned two (i promise i will post pictures soon). He is really good now (mostly) and i love him to bits. But we still have a problem that i am finding hard to resolve.

How do i stop him jumping like a tigger when people come into my house??
I try so hard but whatever i try, he doesn't seem to get. All his other training he has taken to, but this is getting silly now!

He is so exciteable, so when someone comes over to our house i usually put him in the kitchen. I get the guest to go and see otis and only touch him when all four paws are on the ground. Then he gets rewarded.

But he is literally like a bouncing tigger (and mailnly when men come to the house). He jumps as high as the persons face trying to lick them. I know he is not trying to hurt them, but its not nice when 3 stones of staffy comes jumping to your face!

I have tried him on a long line in the house aswell. But as soon as i think he has calmed down he will start again until i have to shut him in the kitchen.

I dont want to have to shut him in the kitchen as i want to solve this problem but i havent found anyone brave enough to train this with me. He is completely calm with myself and my husband - just nutty with everyone else.

Hi Otis I would not remove Otis from the room or he will never have the chance to learn the corrrect way to behave around visitors.

I would start by putting Otis on a short lead when the visitors arrive so he can't jump up, then ask the visitors to ignore him, no word no eye contact until he has got used to their presence.

When Otis is calm ask you visitors to crouch down to speak to him so that he can't jump and to speak to him in a calm quiet voice.

It is best not to let Otis jump up at any time, if you allow it sometimes you can't expect him to understand why he can't do it all the time.

If once calm he starts the jumping again have your visitors signal their displeasure and calm him down by standing up and turning their backs on him , fold their arms and ignore him no word no eye contact until he is calm.

Don't expect instant success, now Otis is older the behaviour has been learnt and will take some time to correct. If you ignore him he may try harder (like when someone ignores you so you speak louder to get their attention) so you have to stand firm, stick to this method an use it every tme you get the opportunity

I could have written this myself!!! I also have a SBT and have the same probelm and find this very embarassin when she is off the lead in the woods and covered in mud and she sees people and jumps up at them covering them in mud! Also my first baby is due in March and dont want her knocking little one flying either

Glad i'm not the only one!!!

I want to start a family soon and this is why im worrying about it!

How old is your staff?

jx

Coming up for four months old now. But I think what I am going to do I have got a lounge and dinning room attached with french doors so when the babys born i am geting a stair gate for the french doors so that my dog cannot come in the lounge but she is not locked away.

But the jumping up is a big problem i say down to her and this can work but its always too late as she has jumped up by then.

Can I also ask did you have problems with nipping with your staff when he was pup and how old was he when he stopped this mines is loads better now but still does when excited

I shall be following this thread with interest as my SBT cross does this too.
He's so excited that someone has come round that he wants to kiss them (must be a staffie thing ).

We are working on the suggestions made previously & I think as long as we're consistent it will help. Next bit will be to stop him when he's out and about with his rather large muddy paws .

I don't know if you found that people find it ok when they are cute little puppies but once they grow up it's suddenly not ok!! My parents were fine with it but now he's 6 months old & about 4 stone their not so impressed - but wouldn't listen at the time when we told them not to let him jump!!!

Rant over!!

Hi Otis , It's a Staffie thing ! Shutting him in another room could just make him more determined to say hello. He'll get frustrated coz Staffs just love meeting people. Go with what Minihaha says , put him on a short lead when people come to visit. It could take a while though. Missy used to be really bad for jumping up. I got her at 18 months and she had been allowed to jump all over people. I used to put her on a short lead and ask visitors to completely ignore her until she settled. She still does it sometimes but she is much better than she was. I also use treats to distract her . I ask visitors to ask Missy to sit , down , stay etc in return for a treat , (bits of her dry food). Once the initial greeting is over and she's "worked " for a couple of treats , she tends to settle down. Maybe this is worth trying with Otis ?

Minihaha gave me some excellent advice which i am working on. I think our problem had been that we shut otis in the kitchen too much so he didnt jump, this obviously doesnt teach him not to do it, so we are now using his lead. Think its going to take a while but we are determined to stop it.

Lucy - yeah otis used to always nip, i remember practically crying on here in case i had a dangerous dog. You see, otis is our first ever dog, and quite a stubborn one at that! Now he is two, he has calmed down a lot, but he does still try his luck with me if i tell him off. Sometimes he puts his front paws on the floor with his bum raised almost like he is ready to attack - however, he now knows i am the boss and when i raise my voice he grumpily goes to his bed instead of jumping up to bite me!

When i say bite, i dont really mean it in terms of really hurting, he used to do it as his way of saying no, but it is still not exceptable.

Otis was two last week and hand on heart i can say he has really changed from a naughty puppy to a calmer dog!

However, he still is a staff and therefore i'm sure will always have some myschevious streal in him!

jx

Just another idea , do you have a baby gate ( or dog gate ) you could put across the kitchen doorway ? Then if you need to put him in the kitchen , he can still see what's going on but won't be able to jump up when your visitors come in . When he settles , maybe put his lead on and bring him closer. I'm sure he will soon learn that making a fuss won't get the attention he wants.

Thanks missysmum - yeah i have a gate so he can see whats going on. AS soon as i think he wll be ok, i let him out (not on lead, but will be putting him on one in the future) and he jumps again. When i say jump, i literally mean he jumps to the persons face, not to there knees!!

He seems to do it more to men as awell