How to Teach a French Bulldog to Stop Jumping on People

For this Calabasas dog training session we worked with Angus, a 1-year-old French Bulldog who jumps up on people and has started getting more aggressive with the kids since being neutered.

When I sat down with Angus and his guardians, I saw the humans doing several thing that are contributing to his unwanted behaviors; child playing too rough with the dog, petting Angus when he jumps up on them, giving him attention when he is excited, insufficient exercise as well as no rules and little structure.

I suggested some rules and ways to enforce them, reminding them that they have 3 seconds to correct or reward Angus if they want him to be able to make the connection. This family is high energy and Angus is clearly mirroring some of that energy. Increasing his exercise through a dog walker, day care or other activities will help quite a bit.

I also went over ways to add structure to help flip the leader follower dynamic as it was clear Angus saw himself as a peer to the humans, not a follower. Its going to take the humans acting like a leader through their actions in order for the dog to start to adopt a followers mindset.

After going over all the little things that have confused Angus into the wrong behaviors, I turned my attention to the dog jumping up on people. Training a dog to stop jumping on people is all about helping the dog learn a new way to interact and ask for attention. I pulled out a leash and showed the family an easy way to stop a dog from jumping on people.

I made sure to point out that petting Angus when he is excited will only make him more excited and is certainly related to his unwanted jumping behavior. By ignoring him until he is calm, then immediately giving him attention and affection, his guardians can help him learn for himself that calm and balanced is the only way to get the human’s attention.

To help the family remember all the dog behavior tips I shared in this at home dog training session, we shot a roadmap to success video you can check out below.