It’s no wonder Dachshunds like to jump up and put their paws on us – they are so close to the ground. Most Doxies jump up when they want something – attention, the food or toy in your hand, or to be picked up. But not everyone appreciates this form of request. If you have little kids or dress nicely for work, you may find yourself trying desperately to stop your Doxie from jumping up. Luckily, once you understand why your Doxie is doing it, it’s easy to get your Dachshund to stop jumping on people.
Why Your Dachshund Jumps On People
Dogs are opportunistic creatures. This means if they can do something to get what they want, they will. And then that behavior will be reinforced and they will be more likely to do it again. So unless your Dachshund is jumping on people out of fear or aggression (in which case you should seek a professional dog trainer for help), he is doing it because it gets him what he wants – attention, a toy, food, etc. The good news is that this makes it easy to stop the behavior. All you have to do is make sure your Doxie is not being rewarded for it. Then, give him another behavior to do instead that is rewarded. Problem solved.
3 Steps To Getting Your Dachshund To Stop Jumping On People
#1 – Stop Rewarding The Jumping
Every time your Dachshund jumps on someone, that person needs to not give him attention! The best thing to do is turn around and walk away. Even if you shout “down,” “no,” and/or push him away – negative attention is still attention to your dog. This is hard because a lot of people automatically pick up a small dog when they feel those front legs on their pants, without even thinking. But the trick is that every single person, 100 percent of the time, needs to do this. One person saying “Oh, I don’t mind!” will make the behavior stronger. So insist upon your rules.
#2 – Ask For A Conflicting Behavior
Most people ask for a “sit.” Your Dachshund can’t sit and jump up at the same time. Then reward him for sitting by giving your dog the attention he was looking for. This can be petting, a toy, a treat, even his food dish! Anything your Doxie normally jumps up on you for, he now only gets if he is sitting. This takes some training and patience, but it will work because, as mentioned above, dogs repeat behaviors that get them what they want. Since Doxies are small, you may have trouble getting a “sit” or a “down” from them. If that’s the case, you can make it easier on yourself by just rewarding “four on the floor.” Then you can work on “sit” or “down” separately.
#3 – Management
This is the last piece of the puzzle and it’s what you have to do while your Dachshund is learning to sit for things, which won’t happen overnight. Since you can’t control everyone that meets your dog, some may pet him as he jumps up anyway. Or, your dog may end up in a situation that is just too exciting for him to remember his newly learned skills. In these cases, you need to manage the behavior. Keep your Doxie on leash so you can walk him away, step the leash to prevent him from jumping, or put him in a different room so he can calm down. Once he does, you can bring him back out to see if he offers the desired behavior.
