Today we are going to talk about why dogs jump up and the possible reasons why it happens. 

Coming home from work or school is one thing that I know for sure most dog owners look forward to because of how excited their dogs become as they walk through the front door. And hey, it really is the one thing that makes a house a home, the loving welcome of someone that’s been waiting for you all day long. But, these are also times that our dogs are unable to contain their energy amongst other things.

I’ll be sharing with you and explaining some of the better thought of theories as to why dogs jump up and lick you. 

If you take a look at the natural canine behaviour, particularly the pack situation, you may notice that they will lick each others’ faces when they come into contact with each other. There are two ways to explain that. One way to look at it is as a means of showing affection, a gesture done calmly, with positive energy. The other one is that it’s a gesture which they use to appease each other.

Puppies on the other hand do it when their mother returns from a hunt to prompt her to so that she can then regurgitate the food so that the pups can eat

Many people overlook this detail and simply don’t mind that their dogs jump up to greet them and even have this exchange, when the dog licks the owner’s face. But now it makes even more sense that the dog will try to jump up to reach your face to lick it and to say hello, to show affection.

Another reason is that your dog might simply want attention. When they get carried away, instead of just wagging their tails, coming over to you or circling you and sniffing you, they can’t contain their energy and so they begin jumping up.

Jumping behaviour can be evident and commonplace when dogs play or play fight. Height is important in their world. The one who is above is in control, hence jumping up can be (playful) display of dominance. They will try to get on top of each other either with a paw above the neck of the other dog or the head above the neck or plain standing over the other, which also happens to be one of the strongest signals of dominance. By doing this, the dogs find out where they stand with each other, who’s in charge and who’s calling the shots. 

With this knowledge in mind, we can understand better that since we are physically taller and higher than them, jumping up on us can mean that they are trying to make up for the massive height difference between us and them.

Yet whatever the reason is for your dog to jump up at you such behaviour can is actually disrespectful. Why? you might ask, considering it can be a show of affection. Well, it is because when a dog does this, jumps up and licks you, he does this without your invitation, he comes int your space and just help himself to you.

Because this is disrespectful behaviour, it should not be encouraged. Allowing them to continue doing this, to them means that they you do not have any boundaries and that you go along with they want. So how do you stop it? 

One thing you can do, which will most likely work, is to ignore them when you walk through the door. Simple pretend there is no dog and walk on and ignore any attempts from your dog to make contact. Once your dog has calmed down and you can tell that he is able to manage his energy, you can say hello. If your dog gets carried away again and jumps up at you, disengage immediately and walk away.

There you have it! With this new knowledge you can better manage the way your dog comes at you and do it without feeling like you’re depriving yourself or your dog that warm welcome home while disciplining them and helping them contain themselves.