Help! My Dog is a Flying Missile

[Claudiabehr 3]

Okay, so thinking like they tell you too......little P has this problem with jumping up on me and everyone and consistent "No" hasn't worked because other folks find it charming and don't help me with it. So I thought "Okay, I'll train her to jump up on command" which i've done. I say "upup" and she pops into either my lap or if I'm standing, into my arms. She loves this! The only thing is that now she's doing it when the urge strikes and it doesn't matter whether I'm looking, ready or willing. I'll just suddenly have this little missile flying throught the air aimed at my chest and if I don't comply I'm seriously worried she'll hurt herself.

Any suggestions? Extinguish the behavior altogether? Modify it?

[mr.coffee 364]

Ah, the Flying Shih Tzu Syndrome strikes again, eh? Yeah, Harley gets massive air when he feels like it, even from a standing launch but if he has any kind of momentum built it's shocking how high or how far he can spring.

Not sure how to effectively control that one. I use "hup" to call for go up the stairs, or get in the chair, or onto the bed, or up in general. He knows what it means and follows pretty well. He also knows "down" and obeys, as in down off the dining room table! Jumping down, he handles 30" with no problem. Jumping up he can manage at least 26" and possibly more. I've seen him leave the ground to snatch a loosely held toy at just below shoulder height, and I have no idea what sort of hurdle height he can clear since we haven't worked on that since autumn.

That is to say, he's good at jumping, but I've never tried to get him ~not~ to jump.

I would think if you really nailed down the whole jump up on command thing, it might follow then that you could get her not to unless the command is given. But...I know it doesn't always work that way. Is there a pattern to when she does it? If you knew it was coming, you might be able to react in time to stop it with an abrupt "No" and stepping out of the way...

-m

[tzuhouse 4]

Oh man Claudia...I don't know about that one....they do say to correct a behavior TEACH it so you can stop it at will....like barking. I was told to teach Rudy to bark on command and then I can teach him NOT to bark on command, that one always worried me, so I never did that.

I wish I had an answer, just wanted to say, we need a video of that darling flying missile.....LOL

[Cwag 0]

This made me laugh. I can see your concern and have no advice. We need a video of the upup.

[Claudiabehr 3]

Mike, I'm not sure what, if any, pattern there is at this point, as it's a relatively new "trick" and I'm with you on the fact that these guys' hind legs are steel in the shape of legs. I'm amazed that she can jump nearly 36 inchdes from a standstill..............it's funny cwag but it ain't pretty. If I see her crouching to jump and I say "no!" she immediately stops. It's when I don't see her winding up the legs of steel that she gets the jump on me (haha, made myself laugh...how pathetic is that).

Cathy, when I was teaching her roll over and I would hold the treat in front of me, she would constantly jump up to get it. So I started saying "give me ten" each time she would jump and then give her a treat and presto, she would begin to sit there until I said "give me ten" at which point she would jump and hit my hands with her paws. Now she only jumps (at trick time) when I say "give me ten." It really did work and I'm in the process of doing it with bark as she does THAT every time someone on tv knocks, rings, barks, or shouts (catch my drift here?). I can vouch for how effective it is, even though counterintuitive. I just don't know how to institute in this area.

[mr.coffee 364]

Okay, just had the craziest mental image - forgive me, Michelle - of a Shih Tzu vaulting over a Borzoi. Not sure where it came from. Made me giggle though...

Alright, then, I have your solution, and it's foolproof. You simply need to use the eyes in the back of your head, and perhaps supplement that by honing your psychic awareness. When the ESP alarm bells go off, you holler NO! real quick, and turn to see that young miss Panda was in fact coiling for the leap.

Other than that, I pretty much got nothin' for ya this time.

-m