With eyes mischief-bright and tail wagging itself into a frenzy, it doesn t matter whether you ve been gone 5 minutes or 5 hours, a dog s greeting will still be the same. With gale-force enthusiasm, he or she will jubilantly pounce off the ground and straight at you with the complete expectation of being picked up, cuddled, kissed on the snout, and rewarded with a cookie for being so cute.
Dogs learn their behavior patterns through the repetition of reward and punishment.
While the following tips are most effective when your baby is still well, a baby, it s not too late to start a re-training program for your dog and for yourself. WHAT NOT TO DO Many people make the mistake of thinking that a quick knee to the chest, a sharp whack on the nose, or stepping on the animal s hind feet will curb the tendency to jump. Not only is there a high potential of causing physical injury with these methods, but aggressive behavior on your part is going to reinforce aggressive behavior on the part of your pet. The only thing that matters to the dog is that he's getting attention from the person he has missed all day. In either instance, what the dog is learning is that jumping up will in due time get him what he wants.