This is a handout I wrote for my classes after coming back from the Clicker Expo in Berkeley.

You have worked on your dog responding to cues. Many are in place and yet sometimes those annoying behaviors like jumping up or mouthing keep popping up. Those behavior can become habits very quickly and can be tricky to get rid of. If you have a persistant jumper then you have to look at what part of that behavior is reinforcing to the dog. We often use the cue “sit” to preempt jumping-up. Boy, if you can get that sit in there before the jumping occurs you can often replace jumping with a good sit in a matter of days. What I see happening sometimes is that a dog jumps up initially when a new person comes over or in a new situation and then is given the cue to sit. Let’s look at this from the dog’s perspective. If jumping continues to occur- you have a really good jumper regardless of what you are doing it is possible that the “cue” or word “sit” given after the jumping up is reinforcing the behavior. Cue’s that have a history of reinforcment are reinforcing- what you tell the dog right after the behavior of jumping can increase the liklihood of the jumping occuring in the future. This is the Premack principle! The opportunity to sit (and earn reinforcment) reinforces the behavior required to earn that opportunity! The jumping! So if the cue “sit” results in a treat or has in the past then it is very likely part of the jumping up. So what to do? How about asking for a down- a less desired cue to the dog and one that is in effect negative punishment to many dogs. If the dog has already jumped up then choose a consequence that is not reinforcing for the dog. Sheep herders do this with herding dogs- if the dog chooses to go the wrong way they are often stopped with a down and brought back. They don’t get to continue if they have missed a cue or made a wrong choice. They are stopped and brought back. Retriever folks do the same thing- the dog is given a line- if it goes the wrong way of gets distracted they are stopped with the whistle- a blast of the “sit” whistle is not as much fun as continuing and reduces the likelihood of the dog ignoring the next cue. It is better to cue sit before the jumping up ever happens- that is good timing but if you have a dog that is very quick don’t cue after the jumping up or that can become a pattern of reinforcement to the dog. If you get a chance watch the Video “The How of Bow Wow” there is a great discussion of this in the video. Be aware of patterns that your dog has trained you to do! “Jump-Sit-Good dog” is one such pattern. Get rid of the pattern and you will quickly reduce the jumping up.