How To Stop A Pug From Jumping Up On People & Furniture

We all love friendly happy dogs. Pugs are noted to be some of the most happiest and friendliest of the bunch. At times though, they can often get too excited or take a few too many liberties. This often results in jumping on people or jumping up on furniture. Due to the fact that this is not considered appropriate behavior by most pug owners, there are steps you can take to correct it. Teaching your pug not to jump on people or up on furniture, ill no way effect their sunny disposition. It will just allow him to deal with excitement and people in a more acceptable manor. It will also teach him how to respect your wishes and not believe he is the dominant one out of the both of you. It is best to practice consistency with the below suggestions, as it will make correcting the pugs behavior a whole lot easier.

As stated earlier, dogs often jump on people to say hello and to greet them. When a dog comes in contact with another dog, they often try to identify each other by sniffing faces. This is actually what your pug is attempting to do when he is jumping on people. Another reason why your pug may be jumping is to assert their dominance over you. In most cases when a dog jumps on someone, they respond immediately. This is not the best way to handle this, as it now puts your pug into control. It can also be related to the specific individual the dog is jumping on. Maybe at the last visit this person provided a treat when they were jumped on. In most cases it was done to get the dog off, but he perceives it as being rewarded. This same points apply when a pug is jumping on furniture. Maybe someone offered a treat to get him down. Maybe he is doing it out of pure excitement when seeing a favorite friend. The dog is associating these actions with positive outcomes. Now not to say you are to scold or hit the animal, but these associations can be corrected.

The best way to correct these two behaviors is to teach you pug two certain commands. Both the “sit” and “off” command will be instrumental in stopping this. These two commands are quite simple to teach. When a dog is jumping on someone or on a piece of furniture, immediately state no in a strong voice. Your next step is to snarl at the dog with your teeth apparent to him. Make no noise, as it is not needed. The dog will understand his language quite quickly. He will also realize that you are dominant over him, not vice versa. If this needs to be done again, repeat the two steps. Do this until the dog jumps off the furniture or gets off the person. Once this is accomplished, praise the pug and offer positive reinforcement.

Often you and your pug understand the sit and off commands, but others do not. Your pug must understand that not only you are dominant over him, but so are visitors and family members. If he doesn’t understand this, it is quite possible he will do these things to express his unhappiness. He is unhappy about the fact that you are dominant over him. It is very important that your dog behaves in front of all people, not only you. On occasion others will not appreciate what you are attempting to do. This honestly will make this task a lot more difficult for you and your pug. It is important to get everyone on board so you can correct the problem as soon as you can. They will definitely appreciate not being jumped on, and your furniture will appreciate not getting scratched or broken.

Another quick suggestion is if you see the dog getting ready to jump, get down on your knees and distract him. Dogs sniff faces to identify things, so he will appreciate your face being at his level. Also if he is getting ready to jump on furniture, distract him by getting on his level. He will choose you over the furniture every time. If the visitors are not familiar with the dog and he is not familiar with them, it may not be comfortable to be face to face with each other. A suggestion for these people would be to show the dogs their hands at a knee level. The dog just wants affection. If he notices your hands low, this will often change his mind about jumping. If you or your visitors are sitting on a piece of furniture, and the dog looks like he wants to jump up, the same suggestion can be used. Show your hands to the dog on a lower level, closer to the ground. This will change his mind about jumping and he will run to your hands to be petted instead.

Dogs in general want to please their owners. Pugs especially love to be praised and shown affection. If your pug is a bit too excitable, there is no need to yell or scold the dog. With a little consistency, a pug will understand how to make you happy. If making you happy means not jumping on people or furniture, he will soon realize this. This may just be a little kink in his behavior pattern. Soon he will be back to being the obedient loving animal that you are accustomed to.