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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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Ink and wash illustration of a young dog jumping up at a person in a front garden

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.

Case notes

From a real session: five years of managing the front door

A five year old, stocky, ball-loving little dog was fine with other dogs and hopeless with people. Anyone who engaged with him got mobbed, visitors got jumped on, and for four years the family had simply managed it by putting him away when the door went. We met at a busy park on a cold morning, and he was panting before we had started.

The read was not complicated. He was demanding and over-aroused, and his value system pointed at everyone except his own pack. He brushed up to strangers because he rated strangers higher than his family. And when his arousal was up he could not listen, not would not. He did not have the capacity. Two walks a day with a ball thrown at the end of each was not play. Anyone can throw a ball, and nobody is sweating.

So we played. Properly, a leather tug moved like something trying to escape, and he went at it like a dog who had not had a real game in five years, because he had not. Then the possums came up. He barked at them from a low window every night. That is drive with nowhere to go, and I cannot correct a dog for drive until he has an outlet. Now the game is the outlet, and the possum energy has somewhere to land.

The jumping fix runs through the same door. When people arrive, nobody greets him until he has settled, and settled means the feeling has gone, not that four feet happen to be on the floor for a second. Then, once he is calm, a quick game to release the energy he was going to put on the guest. Passers-by got a script: please do not pat him, we are teaching him not to jump on you. Give people a reason, and invent one if you have to. The one family member who already ignored him at the door was told to change nothing. She was the best handler in the house.

At the park, once he clocked a person and started to load, I let him see them and then said ready. I did not block his view and I did not feed him. I wanted him to see the person and choose me, and by the end of the morning he was. I told them they did not need a program, two sessions would do it. The dog was fine. The value was in the wrong place.

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.

  • Bond through play

    This is Milo, our 19-month-old, 33kg Golden Retriever. When he lunged at people and dogs, I had to use all my strength to hold him back. Our last trainer said Milo had ADHD and needed medication. My gut told me there had to be a better way, and then I found the magic, Diona! I brought my 8-year-old son to our first consultation, and Diona taught us how to bond with Milo through play. By the third session, my son was walking our 33kg dog by himself! Now Milo joins us for most family activities, from walks to the fresh food market to watching my son's soccer games. Diona didn't just correct Milo's behaviour; she taught us how to read his body language and help him make good choices.

    Joey C. · 2026

  • 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

240+ 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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