labradoodle puppy jumping up

Labradoodle Puppy Jumping Up

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A Labradoodle puppy jumping up might be cute whilst they’re small, but will soon become problematic.

If this behavior is rewarded with attention – even negative attention – your Labradoodle may jump up more often.

Instead, reward calmness, and ignore behaviors and behavior patterns that involve jumping up.

These large, high energy dogs must be trained from a young age in basic obedience, including keeping all four paws on the floor.

Labradoodle Puppy Jumping Up – FAQs

Puppies are adorable! At least, they are until they start jumping up on everything and everyone they meet.

This is the exact moment many Labradoodle owners discover that not everyone loves their new puppy as much as they do.

Luckily, Labradoodles are fast learners. This is a behavior we can train out of puppies.

Why Do Labradoodle Puppies Jump Up?

Labradoodles are a high energy breed, no matter their age.

Labradoodle puppies are exuberant. They love to play and they love to be with you.

But, this isn’t necessarily the only reason that your puppy is jumping up. After all, they won’t just jump up at you.

They might jump up at the kitchen counter, at the sides of their puppy pen, or even at the door.

Researchers have found that the behavior of young puppies and young human children are very similar when it comes to a type of communication called ‘social referencing’.

Social Referencing

Social referencing has two parts.

In part one, your Labradoodle will look back and forth between you and an item or object they are interested in.

In part two, your Labradoodle will try to interpret your response to whatever is going on, then adjust their behavior accordingly.

The first few times your puppy jumps up at someone could be instinctive, or completely innocent. But, often, puppies will learn that this behavior gets them something quite rewarding.

labradoodle puppy jumping up

A Common Example

Let’s imagine that a mail person comes to deliver your post. You and your puppy are inside together.

Suddenly, your puppy starts barking. You find puppy paws everywhere you don’t want them to be as your puppy leaps about in excitement!

What do you do? Most people will push their puppy down, give them a pat to reassure them, and then get up to retrieve the mail.

You might feel frustrated. But, it’s likely that your Labradoodle is feeling delighted.

Your puppy’s behavior got your full attention immediately. Barking and jumping up worked! This behavior gets filed away for the next time it could come in handy.

What This All Means

In other words, your Labradoodle puppy may jump up instinctually the first time or few.

But, after that, every time you react, you are potentially teaching your puppy to repeat the behavior again whenever they want your attention. And this is likely to be all the time.

This is the most common way that an initially innocent behavior like Labradoodle puppy jumping up will quickly turn into a major behavioral issue.

When Do Labradoodles Stop Jumping Up?

Labradoodles are high energy dogs. They grow up into their bodies well before they grow up into their minds and manners.

Enduring the so-called ‘puppy phase’ of your Labradoodle’s life can be quite taxing on your patience.

But, this behavior is something that most people will accidentally reinforce. It’s not something that Labradoodles will grow out of on their own.

You need to work with your puppy to ensure that they stop jumping up at people. You can’t expect them to understand that you don’t like it if you’re rewarding them with attention every time they do it!

There are steps you can take to prevent opportunities where your Labradoodle will want to jump up.

But, more importantly, there are ways you can train your Doodle to stop jumping up altogether. Let’s learn more.

How Do You Stop A Labradoodle Puppy From Jumping Up?

Teaching a young puppy not to jump on people or things happens in two parts:

  • Managing the problem behavior
  • Then teaching a different behavior

Jumping up is a hard behavior to prevent, because most dogs love to do it! It’s a self-rewarding behavior. The fact that you also respond to jumping just makes it even more fun.

Your first challenge is going to be making it impossible for your Labradoodle to jump up. It helps to start this training when you know in advance you are going to be around to spend time with your puppy. If you are working full time while raising your puppy, and someone else cares for your puppy during the day, you’ll need to get them on board with the plan.

Preventing the Behavior

Here are the four easiest ways to keep your puppy from jumping up on other people:

  • Put your Labradoodle in their crate or puppy pen when visitors arrive
  • Remove them from the room when you have a visitor
  • Use a house leash to control indoor jumping
  • Use a harness and leash to control outdoor jumping

Once you’ve started working to prevent the behavior, you can decide what you want your alternative behavior to be.

What do you want your Labradoodle puppy to do instead of jumping up?

The best choice will be one that stops jumping up from being an option. Such as sitting.

Your puppy can’t jump if they’re sitting down!

How Do You Train a Labradoodle Puppy Not to Jump Up?

Teaching your Labradoodle puppy to sit down instead of jumping up is the harder part of this process. But, it will be worth it.

This is a two-step process.

You will need a clicker to mark the behavior, and some high value training treats.

Step One – Teach Your Puppy to Sit

Pick a quiet spot in the house where there are no distractions that could catch your puppy’s attention.

Wait for your puppy to sit, and click your clicker when their bum hits the floor. Then give them a little treat.

Once your puppy is sitting reliably to get treats, you can pair the behavior with a cue, such as the word “sit”.

Keep practicing the behavior until your pup is sitting every time you say your cue!

Step Two – Increase the Difficulty

Now it’s time to do it all over again. But now, each time you will make it slightly harder for your puppy.

This could be by increasing the time your puppy has to sit for, in order to earn their treat.

Or, getting them to sit reliably when there are toys nearby.

Eventually, when your pup is great at sitting everywhere with small distractions, you can bring in another family member. Then a friend your dog likes. Then a stranger.

With each new person, or each new distraction, get your puppy to sit before they receive any attention from their new friend. Or before they get the treat from you.

Soon enough, your Labradoodle puppy will automatically want to sit when a new visitor arrives, no matter how exciting they are!

What Not to Do

Training can be tough. Especially when you realise you have to stick with it every single day to create good habits.

But, no matter how frustrating or tiresome you’re finding it, there are a few things you should never do when teaching your Labradoodle not to jump up.

You should never:

  • Yell at, physically hit, or punish your Labradoodle
  • Try to balance on one food so you can block your jumping Labradoodle with your knee
  • Laugh it off as a puppy behavior that will pass without training (it won’t)
  • Decide to just keep your dog shut at home away from everyone and everything

Work with your Labradoodle to solve the problem. You can also reward them with little tasty treats whenever they keep their feet on the floor rather than jumping up at someone.

This way, you’re anticipating the bad behavior before it happens, and rewarding them for doing something different. This will make it less likely that your Doodle will then jump up.

And remember, you’ll get the behavior that you reinforce. So, don’t reward your Labradoodle for jumping up with treats or attention.

What if Training Isn’t Working?

Any dog of any size will eventually cause problems if they don’t learn not to jump up at people or things. But, a fully grown Labradoodle can cause some real damage.

Especially to very young children, very old people, or anyone that isn’t paying proper attention when your Doodle launches themselves.

If the above training method isn’t working for you, you may be increasing the difficulty for your Labradoodle too quickly.

Or, you may accidentally be reinforcing a behavior chain in which your Labradoodle sits, and then jumps up straight after.

Remember, preventing your Doodle from jumping up is just as important as teaching a replacement behavior.

It will take a lot of time, patience, and consistency to teach your puppy that the rewards of not jumping outweigh the rewards of jumping.

So, keep at it. And, if you’re really struggling, you can always join an online training course, or bring in a behaviorist or trainer to help you at home.

Labradoodle Puppy Jumping Up – A Summary

Have you had success in teaching your Labradoodle puppy not to jump up at people? Or are you just getting started on your training journey?

Labradoodle puppies are full of energy. Raising them with good manners is a pretty big task.

But, in the end, it’s one that’s definitely worthwhile.

References and Resources

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