jumping off furniture

[barneysmommmy]

How do you get your yorkies to quit jumping off furniture? I have bought stairs for our bed. Barney goes up them just fine, but jumps off the bed instead of using the stairs. He also jumps off our couches. He's 12 inches tall and weighs 5.5 pounds. But I worry about his knees. Do you think since he's that tall that the jumping is still bad for him?

[Royce_Mom]

I feel your concern. My baby jumped off the couch and landed very bad (i'll never forget the loud yelp) he had to be put on a cast for 2wks. I too was at lost trying to figure out what to do to stop him from jumping and nothing helped, because he's a daredevil. So I just went and got some body pillows and layed them on the couches and so far he only tried once and saw he was getting nowhere so hopefully he has figure out is to high for him to jump. I hope it helps.

[107barney]

I would avoid the jumping. If he isn't using the stairs to get off the bed, he should lose the privilege of being on the bed. Even with good training, they sometimes jump off. My dog was 11.5 when he jumped off the bed and tore a ligament which needed surgery. I think I would try some training to use the stairs down. Use something high value like chicken pieces and lure him down the stairs. Reward at the end. If he jumps, he should be told NO. Mine understand "use your stairs" and they do. Hopefully he will get better at this.

[windwalker]

Using the "No" command and being in a blocking/control position, work the dog up and down the stairs. When you get new stairs you should train the dog both up and down till they do it natural. Leaving a dog with stairs to figure it out on their own, jumping is more natural and easier. Also going down stairs is unnatural and difficult, depending on the design of the stairs, ramps are sometimes easier and more natural (Carpeted or textured).

[nanahas3]

I feel your pain. We have tried every thing with our Laddy also. He is 5 years old now and the jumping with him is never ending. I bought ramps and stairs when he was a puppy and he did the same as yours no matter the endless work we did with him to climb down he would jump off. He can also clear a 3ft tall xpen standing flat footed and he is 5lbs. It is a constant worry especially as he gets older.

[Silver Lace]

My Joey jumped one time when he was a pup of about 5 months old off our back porch and he never did it again. I wondered if he hurt himself at the time but he walks fine and runs and plays just fine.Just sometimes when I pick him up to put him on my lap on his left side his left leg twitches up by his shoulder and I wonder if he did get hurt. I am so glad he does not want to do that jump again.

[yorkietalkjilly]

I made the result of jumping off the couch or bed so big a deal, following him around pointing at him saying, "Noooooooooo oh, nooooooooooo" "uh oh, bad doggggggggg, nooooooooooo" "noooooooooooo bad jump" and following him until I picked him up and always put him back up on the place he'd just jumped from and made him go down the stairs,whereupon he then had a "gooooood jump stairs" praise-phrase said over and over, smiles, happy-dancing party, a treat and lots of praise so he learned just to go down the steps and avoid the big dang fuss and get the good stuff. The thing is, you have to be consistent and be willing to go through whatever reactions you have every time in order for them to begin to associate the jumping off the furniture with your going haywire vs. the going down the stairs with nothing but positive reinforcement. Then you can stop all the reacting once they are going down the stairs all the time.

[kimp5]

Jess isn't allowed on the furniture so it isn't an issue anymore. Unfort when we first got her she was sitting next me on the couch got startled took a flying leap off the couch arm before I could get to her. result? broken leg with surgery plates screws and 8 weeks confinement. So now she has plenty of beds on the floor around the house. She doesn't even try anymore.

[gracielove]

Gracie has always used her steps on the bed very well. I guess since she can't get on the bed without them it never occurred to her not to use them to get down.

She has always jumped off the couch and other furniture but I haven't worried about it because they are not very high.

I do have a problem with her going into my daughter's bedroom. She will put her up on the bed and then sometimes go into another room thinking she will come right back and Gracie can't wait and will jump off. Usually when my daughter is in there with her and Gracie wants to get down she will do her little growl thing and that means she wants down. I'm going to have to find some taller stars to put in that room because it is way too far off the floor for her to jump.

Maybe you could rearrange your bedroom furniture so that he has less access to the floor and would be more inclined to use the stairs. I had to rearrange my bedroom when Gracie was a pup so that she could safely sleep in the bed.

[barneysmommmy]

Thanks for all the great advice. This is why I love YT. I'm going to work on scolding and treat training. It's almost like he thinks he's showing off for us. Even in the yard, he'll run around jumping on and off lawn furniture. Then, he zips right by us.

[barneysmommmy]

Originally Posted by windwalker

Using the "No" command and being in a blocking/control position, work the dog up and down the stairs. When you get new stairs you should train the dog both up and down till they do it natural. Leaving a dog with stairs to figure it out on their own, jumping is more natural and easier. Also going down stairs is unnatural and difficult, depending on the design of the stairs, ramps are sometimes easier and more natural (Carpeted or textured).

This is a very good point. We call him Kramer because he's so tall and awkward. He is terrified of going down our basement stairs. But he loves to run up them. I always thought it was because he was afraid of tumbling down because of his long legs. Anna is lower to the ground and she zips right down the stairs without a problem.

[windwalker]

Originally Posted by barneysmommmy

This is a very good point. We call him Kramer because he's so tall and awkward. He is terrified of going down our basement stairs. But he loves to run up them. I always thought it was because he was afraid of tumbling down because of his long legs. Anna is lower to the ground and she zips right down the stairs without a problem.

Just for kicks try going those stairs on all fours, not easy but not intimidating. Now look at going down the same way, scary huh, watch your dog going up, no problem, jumpipy jump, going down is dump and clump.

[AlecM]

You're right, Windwalker, - Shelby going up the stairs - she doesn't have to think about it- going down- it's "I've found the stairs, deep breath, I'll do a Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-facing dog) on the bed/top step to center myself, limber up, then however hard I try to be graceful, it's clump, tonk, clunk, all the way down...sigh"

[Susan78]

Our bed is very high so I tried puppy stairs but Kinder wanted to jump off the bed.I know she could hurt herself if she jumped off the bed .At nite we tell her to come get her night time collar and she gets so excited.We put her collar on and lease then I tie the lease to my wrist.When she has to go potty she paws us and then we let her go to the kitchen to use her pee pad.She sleeps in one spot all night and never moves but I still do this for a safe guard. For the couch she uses her puppy stairs and that is not very high. We tried training her to not jump off the bed and it just did not work.She is four years old now and at least her legs are ok. Hope this helps.Susan