"How to" Stop your Dog from Jumping on the COUCH without Punishment

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Positive Interrupter video:    • 'How to' Train your dog to come when ...  

My little Twix turned 1 year old on May 19th. This video was shot when he was 6 months old. I personally do not mind if he jumps on the couch. He only does it when he is super excited and he never does any damage.

However, if you do not want your dog to jump on the couch, my best advice would be to teach him how to settle next to you on the floor when you are sitting on the couch.

To learn more about the settle, I would suggest that you watch kikopup for a great video on training a settle.    • How to train a settle  

I would also suggest to capture any sort of calmness that your dog does have when in the house. Even if the reason your dog may be calm is because you just went for a long walk. The more you reinforce the behaviors that you like the more your dog will do those behaviors. Before you know it your dog will be molded into the amazing dog that you knew he could be.

A lot of training is also PREVENTION and MANAGEMENT. It is important to prevent your dog from being able to jump on the couch when you are not home. You do not want him to be able to reinforce himself at any time. Also, you could manage the behavior or prevent the behavior of jumping on the couch by having your puppy on leash when in the house, in a crate, or just in another room. However, I always want my dogs with me and that means that I need to train my dog to do the proper behavior if that is what I wish. I let Twix lay down on the couch next to me and it is not a problem, nor is it a problem that he plays and jumps on the couch. However, if it is a problem and if it bothers you that your dog does it, then reinforce your dog on the ground! Train him to go to a mat, lay on a mat at your feet, go to a dog bed or simply settle on the ground next to your feet.

If you do not train your dog to do what you like, you can't blame him or get mad at him for doing what you do not like. After all he is not a mind reader. Your dog will do what is reinforcing. Being on the couch is also comfortable.

I also DO NOT BELIEVE that if you let your dog lay down on the couch that he is trying to dominate you. That is such a myth. It is simply not true. My dogs want to be on the couch to be close to me. The couch is comfortable. If you had a choice of sitting on your couch or sitting on the HARD floor, what would you choose? Maybe you would say the floor but eventually it would get hard and be uncomfortable and you would move to the couch. So, why wouldn't our dogs want to be on the couch too. To me it is ridiculous that anyone would think that a dog is "being dominant" if he wants to be on a comfortable couch or on your bed.

Well, good luck! If you have any questions please feel free to send me a message!

Have a wonderful day!

Pam, Isabelle, Bandit & Twix