Cocker Spaniel Jumping

Cocker Spaniel jumping typically is a learned behavior that the humans have rewarded the dog for in the past. All Cocker Spaniels love attention, so once they find a behavior that gets them what they want they will continue to use it over and over again. Puppies jumping up to get attention are often rewarded by petting, praise and attention, simply reinforcing what is soon going to become a very problematic behavior.

Cocker Spaniel jumping can be prevented by teaching the puppy or dog to immediately sit when they come to you. By using this training technique when the puppy first learns the come and sit command the problem never develops. Once the puppy has been rewarded for jumping by being petted or played with, it becomes more difficult to teach an alternative behavior.

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If the Cocker Spaniel jumping has become a habit, it is essential to avoid any type of continued reward for the behavior. Never pet or pay attention to the dog when he or she jumps on you, step away and ignore the dog, then give the “sit” command. As soon as the dog is sitting give praise and attention. By stepping away and ignoring the dog is not getting what they want and only gets human interaction when using an acceptable behavior, in this case by sitting. In extreme cases a squirt bottle of clear water can be used to distract the dog from jumping, followed by the sit command and positive praise for doing the right thing. Never use anything in the water and only use the squirt bottle if the stepping away technique doesn’t seem to work or isn’t feasible for some reason.

Some Cocker Spaniel jumping occurs when the dog is overly excited to see the family back home again. Avoid making a big fuss over the dog immediately when you return, try giving them a favorite toy, ball or a bone to allow them to calm down before you spend time with the dog. This allows the dog to be controlled in their actions and not responding out of anxiety or overstimulation. Immediately walking around the yard also prevents the dog from jumping up if they are outdoors, or walking immediately to the door if the dog is crated will also keep both you and the dog in motion, minimizing the chance for jumping behaviors to occur.

It is essential that if Cocker Spaniel jumping is an issue that no one in the family tolerates or encourages the jumping behavior. Everyone must be using the same way to interact with the dog, including children in the family. Often the reason that jumping is difficult to correct is people in the family respond differently to the jumping and some may even continue to reward the behavior. During the retraining you must be consistent for the dog to understand what you want.

In retraining for Cocker Spaniel jumping behavior make sure you provide lots of praise and attention when the dog uses behaviors that don’t include jumping. Avoid yelling at or slapping the dog and never use cruel techniques such as squeezing the paws as this will only cause the dog to distrust you.