How to Train Your Dog to Not Jump on the Table

Living with a dog has many advantages for yourself, your family and your precious canine. Dogs provide companionship, entertainment and an endless source of love and devotion. Multiple studies have even shown that people that live with dogs are happier and healthier. In short, dogs are awesome additions to our daily lives. That is…when they behave.

Few things are more annoying or embarrassing than when your dog jumps up on the table during dinner. Whether in front of guests, family or just by yourself, Fido jumping up on the table is disruptive. The good news, however, is that its relatively simple to teach your dog not to jump on the table and there are multiple methods to fit your training style, doggy household preferences, and individual pet’s personality.

It’s a bit of a misnomer to say that you’ll be training your dog not to do something, including jumping up on the table or counter. Instead, you are training your dog to perform a behavior on command or when a particular situation occurs. Dogs do not understand the word “no” or any command that asks them to stop doing something. Dogs can and will, however, perform tasks their owner requests when trained correctly in the first places. As with all training, it’s important to keep sessions short and to not move on to the next step until your dog has thoroughly mastered the previous stages of the exercise. This will set your dog up for long term success and will have you becoming a master pup trainer in no time.

Before beginning to train your dog to not jump on the table, you’ll need to gather a few essentials. Locate a spot in the house where you can place a bed, crate or dog mat that will be your dog’s “place.” This will be somewhere your dog returns to on command when they need to rest, relax or generally be out from underfoot. You will also need a selection of tasty treats and a treat pouch that provides easy access for training. You should have several different “values” of treats to keep your dog interested and guessing. Try things like small pieces of kibble, cookies, small cubes of cheese and cut up pieces of hot dog or steak. Once you’ve compiled your tools to dog training success, it’s time to try out one or more of our methods below!