Stop Jumping Up for Good in 3 Seconds

Contents:

A New Way to Greet? Four on the Floor
When Disaster Strikes
Summer Fun with your Cat

A New Way to Greet? Four on the Floor  

Dogs of all breeds jump up to greet each other. And people too. It all stars in puppyhood and becomes a problem as the dog gets bigger. Licking the mouth of the mother dog was a puppy's way to ask for food. So jumping up for a pup is a way to get attention, food or whatever the puppy wants. Jumping up is a problem for the big dogs even though the little ones are just as "jumpy." Few people complain about the small breeds jumping up because their nails are not a painful and they don?t knock you down! There is old and new information and tools to stop the jumping up. There is a quick and easy way to get the jumping up to stop, and as usual it will mean the human has to act counter to what you would think would work!  That's because you have to reward the right behavior - all 4 paws on the ground for all greetings.

Corrections like yelling, jerking on the collar, swatting or knee in the chest don?t work. Why? Because that all of these techniques give the dog a response from you (even in a negative way).  To the dog the greeting is returned. It may not make sense to you, but remember we are talking about dogs. In a way we do the same - we slap each other on the back, shake hands, or hug when we meet. Imagine if we did not speak the same language of someone, wouldn't we do something physical to get attention?

So here is the secret to stopping jumping up. Any and all touching, commanding, or even looking at your dog happens only when all 4 paws are on the ground.  The hard part is for us to stop our inclination to push the dog off, pet them or look at them saying " noooooo."  Start by touching your dog only when all 4 paws are on the ground. As soon as they start to jump up take a huge step back, turn your back to them and stand still for a count of 5. No talking, no looking no nothing!  The dog is not getting what they want. They will stop jumping. As soon as they are standing or have all 4 paws on the ground, verbally praise them. Lots of praise and as soon as they start to jump shut it off like a switch, turn around and nothing. If they keep all 4 on the floor, then pet them calmly. Keep your greeting calm to help them keep calm. If they are leaping in the air away from you still ignore them. Remember 4 on the floor.

 It helps a lot to just go ahead and praise and pet your dog when it is just standing there doing nothing. It's like catching your dog being good - all 4 are on the floor. The tough times are when you come home. Take a deep breath, stand still, wait and when you dog has 4 on the floor greet them. It's ok for them to be a bit wiggly as they have all 4 on the floor. How polite you ask your dog to be is up to you. The first level  is to stop jumping up. If you have small children, older people or need more sanity about greeting wait until your dog is sitting for greeting after they have learned to not jump up.

What to do if other family members encourage jumping up? After you have scolded that person for sabotage, and making life more difficult for you and the dog don't despair. Your dog will learn to not jump up on you and still jump up on them. The dog will learn to greet nicely for you but still jump on them. What is still a problem is that the dog will likely jump up on new people since it knows 2 ways to greet and jumping up is the greeting the dog is more inclined to do. If this is your situation, keep your dog in another area in the home as new people come in and command a sit or 2 before your dog can greet. Your dog will be focused on you and how you say to greet. And then tell your visitors only pet or greet as the dog has 4 on the floor. Some people like it when their dog jumps up to greet them. If you have a family member that likes this then that may never change. What can change is that for you your dog can be more polite and with your leadership can also be better mannered around others. As they say, you get the behavior you reinforce!

I have a good video demonstrating how to use the 4 on the floor technique and check out my Youtube videos. 

When Disaster Strikes

Tornadoes destroyed many homes in Illinois and other Midwest states this Spring. Would you know what to do to keep you and your pet safe during and a disaster?

Before:

• Keep a collar with identification tags on your pet. Include your name and current phone number on the tag.
  
• Consider getting your pet microchipped. Microchips are inserted under your pet's skin between the shoulders. When your pet is found, shelters and veterinarians can scan your pet and find the microchip. We call the company with the microchip number and they give us your contact information. *Always keep this information up to date*
  
• Keep a leash (dog) or carrier (cat) and disaster kit in an easy place to grab on your way out the door.
• Disaster kit: current photos of your pets, food, bottled water, can opener (for canned food), food and water dish, a few days of your pet's medication, toy, poop bags (for dogs), litter pan with litter and scoop (for cats). At least once a year exchange the medication in the kit with new medicine, so this disaster kit medications don't expire.
• Contact family, friends and hotels to find pet friendly places to stay if your home is destroyed.

During:

• Remain calm. If you start panicking, your pets also start panicking.
• As soon as you can, get you and your pets to safety. Waiting to the last minute can cause you and your pets to getting stressed.
• Go to your family, friend or a hotel that accepts pets.
  

• Try to keep you pet's routine the same as it was before the disaster. With so many changes going on right now, a familiar routine and toys are comforting to your pet.
• If your pet was injured or is acting strange or aggressive, please contact your veterinarian.
• If you lost your pet during the disaster, you can use the photos to make missing signs. Contact local animal control and veterinarians to let them know you lost your pet.

Summer Fun with Your Cat

Hello my friends. It's me Ranger! The girls said I get to write another article. Yeah! So I thought and thought and decided to talk about cats. And how you can let your kitty outside to play and be safe at the same time. Kitties enjoy going outside to sniff the fresh air, explore the backyard and watch the pretty birdies. I know I like to go outside, but the girls don't let me go out very often. They say I will get hurt if I go out all by myself.

The girls take me out on a harness and leash. The harness is called Come with Me Kitty made by Premier. (Only the best for me). I didn't like the harness very much when I first started wearing it. I would roll around and wouldn't walk because I had it on. But the girls gave me cookies when I had it on and said I looked so pretty. So I decided maybe the harness wasn't so bad. And they told me I could go outside when I had it on. How awesome is that! They said it will keep me safe so I don't run into any cars or dogs that don't like me. The girls will walk around and call my name, so I go to see what they want and then they just walk away and call my name again. I go see what they want and they walk away... they say they are encouraging me to walk. I can walk, I just enjoy smelling the flowers and watching the bugs in the grass. I even got to go to Vintage Karma, a new store downtown. I didn't walk all the way there, Dr. Foote carried me. They took lots of photos of me during the visit. Check them out on the here. 

Kitties can also enjoy the outside in a kitty fence. I don't have one of these... yet. I am working on getting one. They look really awesome. Your kitty can roam around freely in the backyard. You can even convert your wooden fence into a kitty fence. Check out Purrfect Fence's website to learn what kind of kitty friendly backyard you can have.

Let me know how your kitty enjoys going outside. Take some photos of your cat outside too. You can post it on my facebook or send an email to the girls at okawvetstaff@mchsi.com.

For more information about walking with your kitty, check out this article.