The answer
Teach it on command, the trainers say, and then stop the version you didn't ask for. Across twelve dogs the pattern is the same. A behaviour the family sometimes wants or the dog loves (jumping up, mouthing, barking at strangers, guarding) gets a cue ('up', 'uppies', a chest tap, 'watch') and a release. Once it can be asked for, it can also be refused. 'If you can put it on command then you can also easily tell them not to do it' (Akira). 'I teach all the dogs that we work with up up up … that way it's very easy for me to make it clear that like i can punish it when they do it when i don't ask but then there's like an outlet for it' (Apollo the Sharkie).
The reason given most often is fairness to the dog. For a people-wary dog, punishing every jump risks teaching that approaching people is bad. Penny's trainer: 'if you punish jumping especially with a dog like her she could start to think that going to someone is bad'. Akira's: if a dog's normal greeting is to jump and you correct it every time, 'they start being wary of you'. With a cue, the dog learns 'this thing is actually fine to do if I'm asked to do it if uninvited it's a problem' (Callie). The allowed exception is made explicit too. Bandit's owner lets Bandit jump on him and nobody else, so Kelton puts jumping on the owner on a cue, and any uncued jump, on anyone, can be penalised consistently. Kali loves physical contact more than anything, so her jumping is kept as a reward by cueing it.
The same shape runs beyond jumping. Clark Kent's mouthing is not extinguished, which Evan calls 'an unrealistic expectation', but made 'context dependent': a tug toy yes, hands no. A guarding dog's alert gets a deliberate word ('watch') instead of an accidental trigger ('what's that'), because 'you still need the dog to be a dog' (Major). For a dog who must sometimes bark and bite, Lucy's evaluator says you have to 'build in a not right now', praising the wanted alarm bark so the stop does not generalise into never barking. A fixating working dog is given a target he is allowed to fixate on (Donny). Rocky's trainer adds the limit: some interests (squirrels, birds) have a time and place and are recalled off at their peak; others (chasing joggers and bikes) have none.
Inferred, not said in these words: the cue turns one ambiguous behaviour into two clear ones, the invited version and the uninvited version. That is why the trainers file it under clarity rather than permissiveness.
What to do
Pick a word or signal for the thing he loves (jumping up, for example a chest tap and 'up'), invite it and enjoy it, and release with 'okay'. When he does it without the cue, mark it ('nope', 'uh-uh') and answer it the same way every time, with everyone. Give mouthing a toy. 'if you can put it on command then you can also easily tell them not to do it' (Akira, watch 56:29).
What the trainers say
So if a dog has any kind of issue with like jumping, we normally will teach them an up ease.
that way you can ask them to do it and it just kind of increases the the clarity in the the training because if you can put it on command then you can also easily tell them not to do it
and jump then um they can get sketched out by you if every time they come to you and their normal greeting is to jump on you then they start being wary of you
bitey biters um what i normally do is i teach them um i teach them a jump command i teach all the dogs that we work with up up up so that they know to go up
make it clear that like i can punish it when they do it when i don't ask but then there's like an outlet for it
because it makes it a lot easier to punish in a way that he understands what he's supposed to be doing and not doing
for the dog to make it easier for the dog is put the jumping on you on cue
make it a command then they know okay this thing is actually fine to do if I'm asked to do it if uninvited it's a problem
So what I'm teaching her here is calm liberty. So in a home context, she can get pets, she can do all kinds of stuff, but she can't get on top of me like that. Unless I ask her to.
that we are going to um instead of trying to have an unrealistic expectation of you know extinguishing a behavior like mouthing we make it context dependent
what do we do well we could try and suppress his instinct to play but that's like you know telling a child you know you can't have toys
like this is what you fixate on you don't fixate on anything else right and if you want to fixate on something oh then go ahead and like fixate on that
And what you said is already on the right track, which is you put it on a cue, right?
have to say not right now somehow right and that's kind of the point you have to build in a not right now
protection work is just like the trash can you are building in a knot right now where it's like hey like you can like yeah everything's you can bark you can do all that stuff in fact sometimes you want them to do it
night and someone has bad intentions so with our dogs for example my dog we teach them the word watch watch which means look be alert and be aware of anybody suspicious and bark if you need to
um so what i did is i i um i'm making it a command so up up up up and then that makes it where if you didn't invite it you can punish it
i get punished for that so jumping you can make it where it's like hey if invited totally fine if not invited it gets punished
So I did an uh-uh because I'm teaching him to jump up on command, not just randomly.
that's what you want no okay um because some people do right yeah no it's one of those things where it's like time and place
a little jumpy sometimes but he's short enough where it's not terrible and i've just been teaching him uh uppies so that i can tell him to stop if he does it right yeah that way it's on command
How it looks, dog by dog
Akira
The 'up ease'. In a livestreamed session with Astro, the trainer explains that dogs with a jumping issue are taught to jump on command, onto the handler's arm. That raises the clarity of training, and it protects the approach: a dog corrected for every jumping greeting can 'start being wary of you'. Akira then greets Christian with corrections for uncued jumping and mouthing.
On film
So if a dog has any kind of issue with like jumping, we normally will teach them an up ease.
greeting is to jump on you then they start being wary of you because you're correcting them for
Akira goes uppies.
Apollo (the Sharkie)
A house rule for bitey Malinois. The trainer teaches 'up' to all the dogs he works with. It gives jumping an outlet and a use as a reward, and it lets uncued jumping be punished 'in a way that he understands'. At Lowe's Apollo jumps on a visitor and is called off into a down.
On film
dogs that we work with up up up so that they know to go up but that way it's very easy for me to
He's a goof. Nope. Nope. No. Okay. Nope. Okay. There you go. So I taught him an up command
Bandit
The allowed exception. Bandit's owner lets him jump on him and nobody else. Kelton's fix, to make it easier for the dog, is to put jumping on the owner on a cue, a chest tap. Any uncued jump, on the owner or anyone else, can then be penalised consistently. It sits inside his larger frame for the owner: penalise the few prohibited choices and leave every other lawful one alone.
On film
for the dog to make it easier for the dog is put the jumping on you on cue
your whole life um the product that i prefer is you train the dog what choice has not been made and then you allow them to make every other lawful choice
Callie
'Uppies' and calm liberty. On a walk the lead trainer tells a second handler why: most people punish every contact, so make it a command and the dog knows it is fine when asked and a problem when uninvited. At the house lesson it is called calm liberty: pets and freedom, but no climbing on the handler unless invited. Later in the recording she is invited up with 'Uppies'.
On film
potentially if every time they go to like make contact with you they get
but she can't get on top of me like that.
Clark Kent
Conditional permission for a drive. Mouthing in a teething puppy is treated as normal. At Home Depot the trainer compares suppressing it to telling a child he can't have toys, and says it is allowed only when a person starts the play, otherwise 'nope'. By the go-home, Evan narrows it: a tug toy, not hands, and no mouthing of anyone, 'period', so the dog doesn't learn person-by-person exceptions. The toy then doubles as a reward for recalls.
On film
toys let's go yes so what we do is just make it conditional you know he's allowed to mouth when
and what we would do is if he wanted to mouth we'd give him this and we let him mouth this
a case-by-case basis. Oh, I can't mouth this person, but I can mouth that person. It's like, no, no mouthing, period.
Donny
Give the fixation a target. The plan is not to suppress it but to point it at a game the handler owns: 'this is what you fixate on'. Let him spend it there, then do obedience.
On film
training to get that energy out and keep his fixation on something right where I teach him
Then you take it and you do the obedience.
Kali
Keeping the dog's favourite reward. Kelton tells the owners Kali likes physical contact more than anything, and that jumping up has been encouraged as her reward. Now that she handles pressure, the plan is to invite the jump on a cue (the owners already 'do the taps') and punish it uninvited.
On film
And what you said is already on the right track, which is you put it on a cue, right?
Lucy
'Not right now', for a protection dog. Lucy must sometimes bark and guard and sometimes stand down. The evaluator's rule is not to punish the behaviour but to build a permission and a stop ('out') into the communication, and punish only failure to stop. The owner is told to praise her barking at strangers outside ('good girl get him'), so the stop does not generalise into never barking. The same trainer's trash-can example: every behaviour around the can is allowed except the one.
On film
don't just be neutral about it be like good job yeah good girl get him yeah good right like good
right so it wouldn't be bad if she actually did the bad part would be that she didn't out right
Major
Guarding on a cue. At a follow-up the owner has been saying 'what's that', which sets Major growling on high alert. The trainer suggests a deliberate cue instead. Her own dogs learn 'watch': look, be alert, bark if you need to. The alerting is kept, not trained out, because 'you still need the dog to be a dog'.
On film
watch watch which means look be alert and be aware of anybody suspicious and bark if you need to
that's nice so you still need the dog to be a dog right they're meant to be here to protect you
Penny
The people-wary reason. Penny loves jumping and has scratched the trainer. He made it a command ('up', a chest tap) and uses it as a reward. At the mid-program lesson he shows the owners that uninvited jumping gets 'nope', a leash pop or social and spatial pressure, then reconciliation. The reason: punishing all jumping could teach a dog like her that going to someone is bad.
On film
didn't invite it you can punish it okay so it makes it very clear hey sometimes it's okay
learn okay that's not the contact because that's the risk if you punish jumping
Rocky
The cue and the limit. In a home session Rocky's uncued jump gets an 'uh-uh', 'because I'm teaching him to jump up on command, not just randomly'. At a follow-up the trainer sets out the other half: some interests have a time and place. Squirrels and birds can be chased in a field and are recalled off at their peak. Chasing joggers and bikes has no place and is stopped without a command.
On film
So I did an uh-uh because I'm teaching him to jump up on command, not just randomly.
where it's like time and place okay so like right here if i say right now no this is not the time
Roofus
A mild nuisance. Roofus is 'a little jumpy sometimes' but small enough that it isn't terrible. On his first store trip the trainer says he has been teaching 'uppies' 'so that i can tell him to stop if he does it … that way it's on command'.
On film
teaching him uh uppies so that i can tell him to stop if he does it right yeah that way it's
Why it works
Stated: a behaviour on cue can be switched off, because the cue defines the uncued version as a separate act (Akira watch 56:29; Rufus watch 29:24). That makes punishing the uncued version clear to the dog (Apollo watch 13:24; watch 13:01). Punishing every instance of a greeting behaviour risks attaching the punishment to approaching people, especially in a wary dog; the cue keeps the approach safe (Akira 56:46-56:58; Penny watch 06:50; Callie watch 12:56). The cued version keeps an outlet and a reward for a dog who loves it (Apollo 13:05; Penny 01:30; Kali watch). Extinguishing a normal drive is 'unrealistic', so it is moved to an object or a context (Clark Kent watch 25:15). A job-relevant behaviour needs a 'not right now', not punishment, and the wanted version keeps being praised so the stop doesn't generalise (Lucy watch 24:46, 17:49). Inferred, not stated: the cue works like a boundary on a behaviour's context, the same logic the trainers apply with 'okay' releases and the four windows.
Where the trainers differ
Who may the dog do it with: a cued exception, or nobody at all?
One view
Keep the behaviour with the people who want it, on a cue (jumping on the owner, mouthing when a person starts play).
On film
for the dog to make it easier for the dog is put the jumping on you on cue
toys let's go yes so what we do is just make it conditional you know he's allowed to mouth when
Another view
No person-by-person exceptions: no mouthing of anyone, period; the permitted version moves to a toy.
On film
a case-by-case basis. Oh, I can't mouth this person, but I can mouth that person. It's like, no, no mouthing, period.
How to read it
Clark Kent's file holds both, a few weeks apart. Bandit's solution (a cue on the owner) sits between them: an exception, but a signalled one.
Put it on cue, or give it no place at all?
One view
A drive the family dislikes gets a cue, a target or a time and place.
On film
like this is what you fixate on you don't fixate on anything else right
Another view
Some behaviours have no place (chasing joggers and bikes) and are stopped without a command.
On film
where it's like time and place okay so like right here if i say right now no this is not the time
How to read it
Not a contradiction so much as a sorting rule. The files never state how a family should decide which behaviours get a cue and which get none, beyond danger and the family's own wishes.
Common owner mistakes
- Allowing jumping for yourself and punishing it for everyone else, with no signal to tell the dog which is which.
On film
for the dog to make it easier for the dog is put the jumping on you on cue
Bandit · Watch at 38:28 ↗ - Punishing every jump on a dog who is unsure of people.
On film
learn okay that's not the contact because that's the risk if you punish jumping especially with a dog like her
Penny · Watch at 6:50 ↗ - An accidental trigger for alerting ('what's that').
On film
night and someone has bad intentions so with our dogs for example my dog we teach them the word
Major · Watch at 21:46 ↗ - Trying to extinguish a normal puppy drive instead of giving it a place.
On film
what do we do well we could try and suppress his instinct to play but that's like you know telling
Clark Kent · Watch at 2:00 ↗ - Punishing a guard dog's barking wholesale, so she stops alerting altogether.
On film
want them to do it um but if i say not right now not right now and if you only punish directly the
Lucy · Watch at 27:45 ↗
Questions owners ask
Won't teaching him to jump on command make him jump more?
The trainers say the opposite: once it is on command you can tell him not to do it, and the uninvited jump becomes clearly wrong. 'If you can put it on command then you can also easily tell them not to do it.' Rocky's trainer marks every uncued jump with 'uh-uh'.
On film
that way you can ask them to do it and it just kind of increases the the clarity
So I did an uh-uh because I'm teaching him to jump up on command, not just randomly.
Why not just correct every jump?
Because for a dog who greets by jumping, correcting every greeting can teach him that coming to people is dangerous. Penny's trainer: 'she could start to think that going to someone is bad'.
On film
learn okay that's not the contact because that's the risk if you punish jumping
What do I do about puppy mouthing?
Don't try to extinguish it; Evan calls that unrealistic. Give it a toy (tug), let him mouth that, and say 'nope' when he mouths hands, with everyone in the house doing the same.
On film
and what we would do is if he wanted to mouth we'd give him this and we let him mouth this
I want my dog to bark at strangers, but not at my friends. Is that possible?
Yes, by building in a 'not right now'. Praise the barking at strangers outside, stop it with 'out' when you want it stopped, and punish only ignoring the 'out'. Major's trainer teaches 'watch' so alerting is on a cue, not set off by 'what's that'.
On film
have to say not right now somehow right and that's kind of the point you have to build in a not right
watch watch which means look be alert and be aware of anybody suspicious and bark if you need to
Should my dog ever be allowed to chase squirrels?
Rocky's trainer calls it time and place: in a field, fine; on this walk, recall him off at the peak. Chasing joggers and bikes has no place at all.
On film
where it's like time and place okay so like right here if i say right now no this is not the time
The lesson
The goal
Give a behaviour the dog loves a cue and a release, so the uncued version can be stopped clearly without punishing the dog's approach.
Learn first
See it done
- Penny: Up on cue, used as a reward; uninvited jumps penalised. Watch at 1:17 ↗
- Rocky: 'Uh-uh' for the uncued jump. Watch at 4:56 ↗
- Callie: Calm liberty: pets yes, climbing only on invitation. Watch at 4:28 ↗
The drill
As run with Penny, Rocky and Callie. Choose a cue (a chest tap and 'up'). Invite the jump, enjoy it, release with 'okay'. When he jumps without the cue, mark 'uh-uh' or 'nope', add light social or spatial pressure (step in), then reconcile. Everyone in the house uses the same cue and the same answer. For mouthing, offer a tug toy as the permitted outlet and mark hands. For alert barking, praise it at strangers outside and practise 'out' on some of those occasions.
Watch out for
- Allowing it sometimes with no cue.
- Punishing the approach instead of the uncued jump.
- Different rules for different people.
- Suppressing a drive with no outlet.
- Punishing every bark on a dog whose barking you sometimes want.
Check yourself
Does your dog have a way to know when jumping on you is welcome and when it isn't?