For those of you that have read our articles on door hardware, and especially the one discussing the benefits of lever handles versus round door knobs, this movie might give you a bit of pause for thought! You can see the dog is so determined to get out, that not having a lever handle on the door definitely won’t stop him!

Now, if this was your restored antique back door, having the lacquer scratched off the wood, the door chipped, and the doorknob scratched and knocked, you might not think it was as cute as it looks in the photo! Have a look over your shoulder, make sure your dog isn’t there … they learn by watching other dogs, you know! This is one trick that, if your pooch learns, you may want to consider installing lever handles so he can let himself out easily. Give up your owner’s rights and privileges gracefully – for the sake of your antique doors!

For that matter, when you have a home with a lot of delicate or old furniture, it is probably better if your dog doesn’t jump up at all – while it does give you a warm gooey feeling, that feeling is likely to be reversed as soon as your are buffing scratches out of your wood or cleaning dirty paw marks off the wall at about hip height. To train your dog not to jump on thing and people:

- Never give him attention when he jumps up – say ‘ah-ah!’ sharply, and then turn your back straight away. If he continues to jump up on you, walk away and give him minimal attention. Don’t even say ‘ah-ah!’ too many times – he’ll think that is the game!

- Start teaching him to play the sitting game. This involves:

• Getting a treat – hold it above his head while he is jumping. Most dogs sit when they see this, as it is an easy position to take the food from.
• Give him the treat as soon as all four paws are on the ground.
• Practice this until he starts to waste less time jumping up.
• Grab another treat and hold it over his head, but don’t let him have it until he sits. You can verbally tell him to sit, if you have taught him the word.
• Give him the treat as soon as he sits. Keep going at this until he has the idea – and most dogs are pretty clever once there is food involved!

If you then give him the jump up stimulus (whether you are walking in the door – someone is sitting on the couch – a cat walks by – whatever!), and go through the motions of the don’t jump-sit game, you’ll be on your way to keeping your doors, doorknobs, furniture and clothes in much better shape!

© Lucy Atkinson

          

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