The Hachi Way

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How to stop a dog jumping up on people

Jumping is an over-aroused greeting, validated every time it gets a reaction.

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An excited dog leaping up toward its owner

You stop a dog jumping up by lowering the arousal around arrivals and making four paws on the floor the only thing that earns the greeting. A dog who jumps on guests is over the line at exactly the moment the house gets exciting. Pushing them off, kneeing them, shouting, all of it is attention, and attention is what the jump is asking for.

The work is two-sided. Lower the arousal around arrivals so the dog has the capacity to choose well, and make four paws on the floor the thing that gets the greeting. A dog who can settle when the door goes is a dog who is not flooded the second it opens.

Try this week. Next time someone arrives, put your dog on a light indoor lead first. Nobody greets the dog until it is genuinely settled, not just when four feet are on the ground or it offers a sit, but when it has truly got bored of trying to greet. The greeting is the reward, so it only comes once the excitement has actually drained away.

Part of the full guide: How to get a calm, well-mannered dog

New puppy? The Good Puppy Blueprint is the online program for puppies under twelve weeks. For a dog over twelve weeks, private training works it through one-on-one.

Questions

Frequently asked

My dog only jumps when excited, not aggressively. Is that a problem?

It is the same arousal that drives a lot of other behaviours. Teaching the dog to keep four feet down in an exciting moment builds the regulation that helps everywhere else.

In their words

Owners who came in with the same problem

Real reviews of Diona's work. Not the nice-trainer ones, the ones that describe the shift: owners who learned to read their dog, and dogs who got calmer once their needs were met.

  • Reading the dog

    Diona helped us train our two reactive dachshunds. She has a wealth of knowledge regarding dog body language and how to implement training methods correctly to help your dog learn new behaviour. No one has been able to effectively explain dog body language and what it meant to us better than Diona. She has been life changing for us after our struggle with training our dogs for over a year using other trainers and methods.

    ai w. · 2022

  • Understanding over commands

    Working with Diona has been a game changer. She's helped us truly understand our reactive German Shepherd, her triggers, body language, and what she needs to feel safe and succeed. This deeper understanding has made walks so much smoother and has improved our overall relationship with our GSD.

    Tim D. · 2025

  • Behaviour without commands

    My 22 month old stubborn Samoyed is now a dream to deal with. No longer reactive to other dogs and people, no longer pulls on the lead, no more incessant barking, no more pacing. I now have a settled, calm and non reactive Samoyed who responds to my body language before a command is uttered.

    Foodie G. · 2023

235+ five-star reviews of Diona's practice as Diona The Trainer. Read more reviews

Work it through

This is fixable, with the right read.

The free assessment names where to begin. A Hachi Way trainer works it through with you, in your home where the behaviour happens, or online anywhere in the world.

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