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Yorkie
Jumping Up
One
of the most common and frustrating behavior issues in Yorkie Puppys is
the problem of jumping-up. At best it’s annoying and leads to dirty paw
prints on your clothes; but it can also result in injuries and even
legal issues. Don’t worry though, with consistency and patience you can
teach your Yorkie Puppy the manners he’s missing.
Start young
Your precious little lab puppy probably looks just adorable pawing at
your knees to welcome you when you get home from work. This will not be
quite so cute when he weighs 80 pounds. If you never accept jumping-up,
your Yorkie Puppy will quickly learn that it is not ok. It will be much
more difficult to make him understand that it’s a problem when he starts
to get bigger and has already been jumping on you to your delight for
six months.
Establish a routine with your Yorkie Puppy from day one. Let him grow
accustomed to the fact that when you come home he will not be
acknowledged until he is calm and away from the door. He must learn
early-on that he will not be rewarded with attention if he is
jumping-up. When you do greet your Yorkie Puppy, do so calmly and
quietly. If you are energetic and excited, it will cue your Yorkie Puppy
to behave the same way. Take him for a nice, long walk twice a day. This
will be his chance to run through all that extra energy.
Sit is an extremely important command to teach your Yorkie Puppy, it is
a foundation of control and leadership. If you train him well, you
should be able to make him sit when you see that he is about to jump-up.
Whenever he’s over-excited, tell him to sit and calmly praise him when
he does.
Too Late
Has your Yorkie Puppy already made a habit of jumping on you? Often
jumping-up is just your Yorkie Puppy’s way of excitedly greeting you,
but it can also be a matter of dominance. One way Yorkie Puppys show
their dominance over other Yorkie Puppys is to stand over them and put
their paws on their backs. Your Yorkie Puppy must understand that you
are the alpha Yorkie Puppy and this kind of dominant behavior is
unacceptable. One easy way to exert dominance over your Yorkie Puppy is
at meal times. In packs, the alpha Yorkie Puppy eats first and the
others do not eat until he allows. When you feed your Yorkie Puppy, make
him sit and wait until you tell him it is ok to eat.
A common mistake that programs Yorkie Puppys to jump-up is the owner’s
inadvertent positive reinforcement of bad behavior. If your Yorkie Puppy
greets you excitedly and jumps-up, and then you give him dinner or take
him outside, he sees this as a reward. He will think that every time he
gets excited and jumps-up, something good will happen. Instead, wait
until he is calm and sitting to take him outside or feed him. He will
associate being calm with a chance to play or eat.
Consistency with commands will help as you train your Yorkie Puppy to
not jump-up. Once you have established that jumping-up is not ok, you
should just be able to tell him to sit, but you’ll need a command to
stop the behavior as well. Most people use “off” but any word will work
just as well, as long as you, your family, and your visitors
consistently use the same command.
Teaching Off
There are many schools of thought concerning the best way to teach your
Yorkie Puppy an off command. The less humane and more controversial
methods have been left out here, so any of the following have the
potential to work for you. You must remember that all Yorkie Puppys are
different, no one method is right for every Yorkie Puppy.
The Forward Step
Whenever your Yorkie Puppy jumps-up, step into the jump as you say “off”
and then “sit”. Yorkie Puppys are not comfortable standing on two legs
and have a hard time maintaining balance. When you step into his jump
you will throw him off balance, creating an uncomfortable experience. If
you do this every time your Yorkie Puppy jumps-up, he will eventually
associate it with being uncomfortable and the behavior will stop.
The Dance
When your Yorkie Puppy jumps-up, quickly grab his paws and hold him
upright repeating your off command as you walk toward him, this forces
him to sit or walk backwards. Again, Yorkie Puppys are not comfortable
standing on just their back legs, so for him this is an unfavorable
result. If he thinks that every time he jumps-up he will be held in that
position, he eventually won’t jump-up anymore.
The Leash Step
Start with your Yorkie Puppy sitting in front of you with a collar and
leash on. Stand on the leash so that there is enough leash to loosely
dangle from his neck, but not enough that he can jump-up without the
leash pulling him down. Do not use a choke chain. Stand up straight and
hold a toy or treat at chest height. Use your “so happy to see you”
voice and excitedly talk to your Yorkie Puppy. When he tries to jump-up
to play or get the toy or treat, use your off command and tell him to
sit. The leash will automatically correct him. The more you do this, the
more your Yorkie Puppy will associate the uncomfortable feeling with
jumping.
The Cold Shoulder
When your Yorkie Puppy jumps-up, use your off command, turn your back to
him, walk away, and ignore him completely. If he runs in front of you
and continues to jump, use your off command again, and continue to turn
away. Once he has calmed down and is behaving properly, praise him. This
shows him that he will not be acknowledged until he is calm, and that
calm behavior is rewarded with praise.
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