I'm looking for some tips on helping an older lady train a 7-8 month old
blue heeler puppy not to jump on her. I found this little dog abandoned.
I searched for its owner with no results at all. No one is looking for
this little girl. I don't think she'd ever been inside a house before
because everything scares her. If the furnace comes on, she freaks out.
She has taken to housebreaking fairly fast. I think she gets it now. But
there's one problem -- she jumps a lot on this older woman who uses a
walker to get around the house. There are certain areas that are too
small for the walker, so she uses a cane.

Daisy, the puppy, just can't get it in her head to stop jumping. She has
scratched the woman twice on her arm, and the woman is taking blood
thinners. I've tried the knee thing -- it only gets her excited. I tried
using a choke chain to correct her, and she responds to that fairly well.
This woman isn't strong enough to correct the pup like I can, so I gave
her a squirt bottle. She gives the dog a squirt in the face to discourage
the jumping. I wonder if this will work. They are already very attached
to each other, and I want this to work. That little dog doesn't want to
let the woman out of her sight. She loves her already, and she knows
she's been saved. Anybody have any tips on how an older person can deal
with this crazy jumping? That little dog is so excited and happy to be
inside the house that she just goes nuts. This woman will put up with
almost anything to have this lovely dog's company. Daisy is a good little
watchdog, too, and I know she's really smart. I'd like some
opinions/advice. Thanks in advance.

Eva

Daisy, the puppy, just can't get it in her head to stop jumping.

Keep a short, light leash attached to her collar. When she jumps, the lady
can step on the leash to keep her down with the command "down!". Then give a
quick treat and a verbal praise, "good down".

In article ,
Sharon Too wrote:
Keep a short, light leash attached to her collar. When she jumps, the lady
can step on the leash to keep her down with the command "down!". Then give a
quick treat and a verbal praise, "good down".

I've found that simply ignoring the dog until he's got four
on the floor works more quickly than you'd expect. Don't
push the dog away or touch it - just turn away. Don't walk
away, because that can turn into a game ("let's play
tag!"). Tell the dog to sit if you'd like to be a bit more
proactive. No contact or other reward until the dog sits.

BTW, I wouldn't use the word "down" here. "Down" means "lie
down." "Off is the more commonly used command.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006, Melinda Shore wrote:

In article ,
Sharon Too wrote:
Keep a short, light leash attached to her collar. When she jumps, the lady
can step on the leash to keep her down with the command "down!". Then give a
quick treat and a verbal praise, "good down".

I wonder why I can't see your first post except when quoted here. Weird.
The problem involves the elderly lady being able to move fast enough to do
this kind of thing with her. I am telling her "good sit."

I've found that simply ignoring the dog until he's got four
on the floor works more quickly than you'd expect. Don't
push the dog away or touch it - just turn away. Don't walk
away, because that can turn into a game ("let's play
tag!"). Tell the dog to sit if you'd like to be a bit more
proactive. No contact or other reward until the dog sits.

BTW, I wouldn't use the word "down" here. "Down" means "lie
down." "Off is the more commonly used command.

I'm not trying to be ornery, but this would work all right for me. It's
just that Daisy is so insistent that she is hurting this elderly woman in
the process of jumping. I realized I was making a mistake by pushing her
away because it's a reward to make physical contact, even if it is a
shove. So I was using the collar. This woman is set in her ways and does
use the word "down." I keep telling her off because *I'm* a little hard
to train. I'm used to using the word down for "lay down" also. But I'm
trying to use the same word this woman is used to using with her dogs. I
tell Daisy she's good as soon as her feet hit the floor. I just need a
way for a woman with severe arthritis to correct the dog and not get hurt.
The dog only wants to be near her. When the lady sits in a chair, the dog
is fine. She sits nicely when told and just wants to get close and be
petted. It's when the lady's trying to walk around that the dog will jump
and scratch. Do you think the squirt bottle will work? This woman can
handle that. Daisy is so smart that she won't jump if she sees me holding
the bottle after only two or three sprays. Yikes!

Eva

Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

I wonder why I can't see your first post except when quoted here. Weird.

Sometimes usenet hiccups. Wait a couple days and my original reply may pop
up!

The problem involves the elderly lady being able to move fast enough to do
this kind of thing with her. I am telling her "good sit."

Ah. That's a problem. As long as your praise uses the same word as your
command. Down... good down. Sit... good sit, etc...

The reason I say to use the word "down" is that this sounds like a situation
where the dog won't be going through rigorous training. The word most people
use as a reflex when a dog jumps on them is "down", whether it's the owner
or a visitor. It's crucial that the dog be trained to get down by more than
just the owner. So unless the dog has a litany of behavior commands, "down"
would be the best one. In any event, use the same language as the lady.

Squirt bottle works well for cats. With dogs it typically becomes a learned
game and not too long the dog *will* jump just to play the squirt bottle
game.

I'm looking forward to reading some other creative suggestions here.

-Sharon

"Eva Quesnell" wrote in message
du...
Do you think the squirt bottle will work? This woman can
handle that. Daisy is so smart that she won't jump if she sees me holding
the bottle after only two or three sprays. Yikes!

Are you praising after she backs off? Aversion is only half the equation.
The most important part is the praise and even a treat if you want. Then
put the dog into a sit....praise and treat again.....I think that first, the
dog needs to be taught to have a reliable sit/stay. You can do that for
her. 10 minutes twice a day with you doing it, then have the owner do it.
If this dog is as smart as you say, she'll catch on fast. With 2 weeks of
work for you, this dog will have learned the rules pretty well. The
sit/stay should be worked on until the dog will drop any time, no matter
what she's doing. No pets at all for this dog unless she's sitting. With
an elderly owner, this dog needs to become reliable and obedient fast.

Exercise is also good to take the edge off all that energy of a young dog
before doing some training. I hope this woman has a fenced, secure
backyard. Is she able to throw a ball? This dog MUST have some kind of
exercise as I'm sure she won't want a dog this size doing zoomies in the
house!

I personally don't care what words are used for various positions. The most
important thing is to use the SAME words consistently. Unless you're taking
this dog for a CD, who cares! You could use turnip for a down. It's really
not important. Ask the lady what she prefers to use, but warn her that the
word down (getting off her) shouldn't be used also for lay down. If she
can't get over saying *down* for getting off her, have her pick a very
different word for lay down - like *settle* perhaps. I had dogs once that
knew *park it* was sit.

........I hope this works out for everyone. If you're willing to put in a
bit of time for a few weeks, then help with tuneups along the way, it should
be OK.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

Huh . . . and here I thought it was only my dog that did that. :-)

Our son found out that the dog loved the hose game more than the squirt gun
game. Unfortunately he learned his lesson that with the hose game also came
a dog with a very full bladder!

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:22:20 -0600, Eva Quesnell
wrote:

I'm looking for some tips on helping an older lady train a 7-8 month old
blue heeler puppy not to jump on her.

I have dogs of all sizes and exuberance levels and kids. The most
important thing that new dogs to my household have had to learn is not
to jump up on people (and not to nip, if they do that). This is how I
do it, and it takes no physical strength at all. If the woman is
having trouble even working with the dog because of the jumping, you
start the training and have her reinforce it. I don't let my kids do
the initial training of large athletic and exuberant dogs. I start
and once they are getting the hang of it with me, I have the kids come
in and work on it so they know it isn't just my rule. In the
meantime, though, every one in the household, including the kids, is
instructed never to pet a dog that is not sitting even if I have to
get the dog to sit for them to pet it.

Teach the dog to sit. It sounds like you have already done this, so
that's great. Then make it a hard and fast rule that the dog never
ever gets any petting unless it is sitting. While you are training it
not to jump, when it sits, it gets petted and loved on every time.
When the dog jumps up, do not touch it with your hands. Tell it to
sit. If it does, pet it and praise it. If it doesn't, stand there
like a statue with hands to sides or folded in front of you, turn your
back on the dog, just don't give it attention or petting or anything
it can interpret as play. Try again to have it sit and when it does,
immediately give it the attention it wants. The dog is jumping to
greet you and to get attention. If you just try to tell it not to,
that's only half the equation. If you don't let that work but also
give it a foolproof way to get the attention it is after and to greet
you in a way that will get praise and enthusiasm, it will learn to do
that behavior, the sitting, to say hello, to say come play with me,
etc. We had a lab mix that would bound across the yard when it was
playing and loved everybody. One day a sprinkler guy came to do an
estimate. He was very impressed that the big black goofy dog who had
come bounding out to greet him, did a dead stop on a dime in front of
him and sat there looking at him beseechingly instead of running into
or over him or bugging him in any way. It was obvious that she wanted
in the worst way to interact with this new person, but she did not
touch him. When she got frustrated that he continued to ignore her,
she would run off and run back again to try it again, and once again
come to a full stop right in front of him and look at him as if to
ask, "Now am I sitting prettily enough that you will pet me?" She now
lives with rambunctious boys whose mother was not convinced they could
have a big dog to wrestle with until she met Punk.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay

On Sat, 23 Sep 2006, Paula wrote:

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:22:20 -0600, Eva Quesnell
wrote:

I'm looking for some tips on helping an older lady train a 7-8 month old
blue heeler puppy not to jump on her.

I have dogs of all sizes and exuberance levels and kids. The most
important thing that new dogs to my household have had to learn is not
to jump up on people (and not to nip, if they do that). This is how I
do it, and it takes no physical strength at all. If the woman is
having trouble even working with the dog because of the jumping, you
start the training and have her reinforce it. I don't let my kids do
the initial training of large athletic and exuberant dogs. I start
and once they are getting the hang of it with me, I have the kids come
in and work on it so they know it isn't just my rule. In the
meantime, though, every one in the household, including the kids, is
instructed never to pet a dog that is not sitting even if I have to
get the dog to sit for them to pet it.

Teach the dog to sit. It sounds like you have already done this, so
that's great. Then make it a hard and fast rule that the dog never
ever gets any petting unless it is sitting. While you are training it
not to jump, when it sits, it gets petted and loved on every time.
When the dog jumps up, do not touch it with your hands. Tell it to
sit. If it does, pet it and praise it. If it doesn't, stand there
like a statue with hands to sides or folded in front of you, turn your
back on the dog, just don't give it attention or petting or anything
it can interpret as play. Try again to have it sit and when it does,
immediately give it the attention it wants. The dog is jumping to
greet you and to get attention. If you just try to tell it not to,
that's only half the equation. If you don't let that work but also
give it a foolproof way to get the attention it is after and to greet
you in a way that will get praise and enthusiasm, it will learn to do
that behavior, the sitting, to say hello, to say come play with me,
etc. We had a lab mix that would bound across the yard when it was
playing and loved everybody. One day a sprinkler guy came to do an
estimate. He was very impressed that the big black goofy dog who had
come bounding out to greet him, did a dead stop on a dime in front of
him and sat there looking at him beseechingly instead of running into
or over him or bugging him in any way. It was obvious that she wanted
in the worst way to interact with this new person, but she did not
touch him. When she got frustrated that he continued to ignore her,
she would run off and run back again to try it again, and once again
come to a full stop right in front of him and look at him as if to
ask, "Now am I sitting prettily enough that you will pet me?" She now
lives with rambunctious boys whose mother was not convinced they could
have a big dog to wrestle with until she met Punk.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay

Thanks, Paula. I guess my idea of the squirt bottle wasn't a very good
one. I'm also a cat lady, so it's a tool I've used on them in the past.
I will talk to her and tell her to give the command "sit." Daisy knows
what sit means already. That's a cute story about your lab.

My biggest problem with Daisy is that this woman lives all alone and has
nobody to help her. She lives kinda too far for me to go over every day.
Plus she has a worthless son who lives next door and always says he's "too
busy" to help her. So I do what I can for her. This is a little rescue
dog, and they are always devoted and so grateful for being rescued that
they make great pets. I dunno -- I hope it works. I imagine somebody
dumped her because she wasn't housebroken, but we fixed that problem
really fast. I just can't let her hurt this older woman in her
enthusiastic response. Daisy is extremely intense about wanting
attention. I think she'll do just about anything to get petted. She also
eats like each meal might be her last -- a sign of abuse, I think. She's
very sensitive if you touch her rear end. She'll start chewing gently on
your fingers and seems really worried. Poor girl!

Eva

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006, Sharon Too wrote:

Daisy, the puppy, just can't get it in her head to stop jumping.

Keep a short, light leash attached to her collar. When she jumps, the lady
can step on the leash to keep her down with the command "down!". Then give a
quick treat and a verbal praise, "good down".

Sharon, you were right -- your first post showed up today. A hiccup for
sure.