How to Train Your Beagle Dog to Stop Jumping
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Introduction
As a Beagle owner, your dog’s enthusiasm can be infectious. He’s quick to invite you to play and run, often barking or howling along with you as you sing your favorite song, and leaping for joy when you come home for the day. Well, it’s more like jumping. He really likes jumping whenever you get home. Up on you, up on the door, and maybe sometimes up and down on the furniture.
You might have grown used to his greetings, but the guests you invited for dinner and their small children may not be so excited. How can you teach him that jumping up is probably not the ideal way to greet people walking in the door?
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Defining Tasks
It’s easy to teach a Beagle that jumping is rewarded with affection. Any time you pay attention to him when he jumps is just a reinforcement. Even puppies will pick up on this cause and effect and you may not realize how troublesome it is until your Beagle is fully grown and is getting his paws all over you or your guest’s pants.
The good thing is, Beagles pick up on things fairly readily. Within just a few weeks, you can reverse this behavior and turn your jumping Beagle into a calm and polite host. Catching this behavior at puppyhood is the easiest, but adults are quick to respond to training with the right encouragement.
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Getting Started
Beagles are eager to please and as such, you shouldn’t have much trouble teaching them a new behavior. A good treat is enough to encourage learning, however, a toy or a leash may also be needed if you plan on offering your Beagle an alternative activity to engage in rather than jumping. You’ll need to simulate the situations where he tends to enjoy jumping, so be prepared to come in and out of your house, if necessary.
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The Turn Away Method
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Leave the house
Pretend as though you’re about to come home from a day at work or from running errands. Have your keys in hand as your dog can often relate the sound of keys to an exciting arrival home.
Walk back inside
Do your best to walk in like you usually do. If it’s too different, your Beagle may not recognize what he should be doing when you come home for real.
Ignore your Beagle when he jumps
Turn your body away from him and don’t make eye contact.
Avoid talking to your dog
Even a verbal ‘no’ can be seen as attention which will reinforce any bad behavior.
Reward your Beagle for good behavior
Once he has all four paws on the ground, you can turn and acknowledge your Beagle with treats or affection.
Repeat several times a day
Doing this over and over again will remind your dog that you’ll give him attention when he behaves properly. Eventually, he’ll realize that staying on the floor is the appropriate way to say hello to you.
The Fetch Method
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Pick a job
Find a toy or a leash for your dog to use. This item will be what your dog will bring to you instead of jumping when you arrive home.
Picking up the object
Before you can teach her to bring it to you, reward your Beagle with a treat any time she decides to pick up the object or even if she noses at it.
Encourage her to bring you the toy
Use the name of the object like ‘rope’ or ‘ball’. Point at it and ask her to bring it to you with a lot of enthusiasm. Any time she makes progress towards bringing it to you, reward her with a treat.
Move to the front door
Once your Beagle can reliably retrieve the item for you, stand at the front door, without opening it, and ask her to bring it to you. Reward when she makes progress.
Walk out and back in
Leave the house as you do usually and then come back in a few moments later. As soon as you walk in, ask your Beagle to fetch the object.
Show her what you want
If she struggles to understand, walk over to the object after walking in the door. Point to it and ask her to bring it to you.
Be consistent
Ask for the object each time you walk in the door. If you anticipate having guests, let them know beforehand that they should ask your Beagle to fetch them the object when they come inside.
Bring in multiple objects
If you feel confident in your Beagle, repeat the training with other objects that are okay to bring to you when you come home. A little bit of variety can be fun for her and will keep her from jumping up to greet you.
The Sit Method
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Perfect the ‘sit’ command
Check that your Beagle knows ‘sit’ and how to maintain it for more than a few seconds. Practice away from the door if you need to.
Pretend to come home
Leave the house and then come back in after a few moments. Try to mimic everything you’d do on a normal day.
Ask your Beagle to ‘sit’
As soon as you walk in the door, before you do anything else, ask your Beagle to perform a ‘sit’. Have a treat in hand to encourage her to do so. As soon as she moves to go into the ‘sit’, reward her with a treat.
Ignore any other unwanted behavior
Make sure you have a really tasty treat that can overpower your Beagle’s desire to jump. Don’t offer any pets or affection until she does what you want.
Repeat the process
It may take a few days of repeating before your Beagle understands that you’d like her to sit down instead of jump up. Have treats on hand during this learning period whenever you leave and come back home so you’re ready to reward.
Inform your guests
Make sure any visiting family or friends know the procedure for entering the home. Have a bowl of treats near the door for them to take from and offer your dog when they come over. Make sure they have her sit and you’ll never have a jumping problem again!
By TJ Trevino
Published: 12/15/2017, edited: 01/08/2021
