# Can anyone give me tips on how to train 'off' command?



## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

Hi guys

I'm starting to sound like a stuck record. Other than shouting 'off' and pushing feet to floor, is there anything else I could be doing. It's exhausting because the play biting is bad as well. He jumps up at everything, coffee table, dining table, up at people and trying to get on laps. Wouldn't be do bad if we trust him to not eat our faces and hands!!

I have bought a training lead to try.

He has picked up commands with treats really well so wondering whether I should reward when he gets off and maybe he will pick it up quicker?


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Compressed air!


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

Interested to see these responses as well. Our issue is that Ruby KNOWS what "off" means, and listens, however she is still jumping up in the first place. As soon as she jumps up we say "off" and off she goes, but we want to stop the behavior from happening to begin with. I've heard that V's are very jumpy dogs and it's hard to rid them of this.

What worked to for us to get Ruby to start acknowledging the command, was a spray bottle with water in it.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Snap lilyloo, Boris is exactly the same. He knows the off command and if I anticipate him jumping up and tell him off, all is well. He is quite good outside the house now and never jumps up at people while we are out walking, which he used to do. 

In the house, especially if he is excited he still jumps up. If I think about it we have actually progressed alot as I was always telling people we met out walking that I was awfully sorry. 
*Baxtersmum* you could get some "Pet Corrector" from Pets at Home or similar. Boris hates this - it is only compressed air but they don't like. it. What did work for a while when he was young was putting gravel in an empty aluminum can. On good shake and a no did work until he thought it was funny  The other thing you could try is spraying him with water.

Re the biting, we solved this with SOFT toys. I had always bought my puppies hard toys thinkng that was good for teething. Then I read in this puppy book, when your puppy goes to bite you, replace your hand or leg with a soft toy. That worked brilliantly.


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## NeverGiveUpRAC (Aug 27, 2012)

Cole still jumps up maybe once or twice a month...before it was all day everyday lol. ;D

I think keeping consistent...not letting him have anything to find when he jumps up onto the counters. The treat after he gets off might be a good idea. I treated Cole whenever he did the behavior I wanted. I did use the spray bottle, not compressed air, but I think either will help. Jumps up, "No, off!", didn't listen, SPRAY "Off!", then make him sit, treat. 

Now, when I tell Cole"get down" he sits immediately. I tell him "good boy" for sitting. 

Good luck and update us! <3


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## HanksMama (Oct 25, 2012)

The thing that worked best for us was quickly turning around or turning/walking away when Hank jumped up on us. When he jumps up, he's looking for attention, so by taking away the attention, you're taking away the motivation to jump. When he stops jumping and sits or stands quietly, turn to face him/walk back over to him and offer lots of treats and praise. I also used my friends as guinea pigs to train him with this, and stood by with the clicker to click and treat when he sat instead of jumping. Now when Hank gets excited and starts to jump up, he'll usually correct himself and sit if I even back up a little bit.


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## Kermit_days (Sep 24, 2012)

Our Ruby, 12 weeks now, is the same. It became a game and all the jumping up/me pushing her down... To the point she would get exciting and start nipping too.

Yesterday I decided to try something different. I part-filled a small metal flask with dried beans. When she got up I would say 'down', give her a few seconds to respond, then say it again and shake the flask. I only had to do it about 3 times to get the message. Since then she's been MUCH better at responding, and when she does try it on just showing it to her does the trick. my son even managed to eat some crisps on the sofa without any physical intervention.

I've only used it for jumping up so far. I don't want to use it so much that it looses effect. It's still early days, but so far so good.


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

These are all great tips. Thanks for sharing! Hopefully they will work for me ;-)


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