If you have a Great Dane who jumps a lot, then you might be wondering how to train a Great Dane not to jump.
Great Danes are a lot of fun to be around because they’re quite curious and playful. But if you’re planning to adopt one, it’s important to note that it must be adequately trained from a young age, as Great Danes become extremely difficult for you to discipline when they grow larger.
Great Danes aren’t always aware of their size and their surroundings and may leap forward onto their owners, guests, or strangers out of excitement. They don’t necessarily do this to cause any harm. However, you still need to discipline them when they’re young to make sure they don’t accidentally injure someone or damage valuable furniture and accessories.
Training is not only effective at preventing them from jumping, but it will also keep them from getting lazy and lounging around all day. Since they’re people-loving creatures, it’s not difficult to train them.
In this blog post, you’ll learn how to train a Great Dane not to jump. But before that, let’s take a look at some common reasons why they jump in the first place so you can find the right technique for your dog to get him to stop jumping.
Why Do Great Danes Jump?
Several things can cause a Great Dane to jump, the first one being separation anxiety. Even though Great Danes are quite confident and have their sense of independence, they deeply value being around their owners.
They’re a lot more likely to suffer from separation anxiety than most other breeds because of their sensitive nature, and they just can’t bear to stay away from their owners for long. They can misunderstand the temporary absence of their owner, and this can cause them to go into ‘flight mode’ as well.
If you don’t train your dogs properly to make them understand you can’t give them your full, undivided love and attention, they can become incredibly distressed and agitated. This can lead them to behave unnaturally and jump around if they see you after you’ve been away for a while or even at the sight of new people.
Great Danes are also known to jump over fences either to escape or to chase after other animals that catch their interest. If they’re incredibly bored and don’t feel invigorated in their environment, they’ll look for all kinds of ways to seek stimulation. If you’ve kept your dog in constrained space, then they can become erratic and destroy their living space by acting uncontrollably.
You need to pay special attention to your dog to find out what satisfies him and how you can meet all his needs to curb his impulse to jump.
How to Stop a Great Dane from Jumping?
Here are 7 different ways you can train your Great Dane not to jump.
Ask any dog owner, and they’ll tell you that certain things can almost always get their dogs stimulated, no matter what they do. To stop your dog from jumping, you need to understand what gets him so excited and causes him to start jumping around the house.
Once you’ve identified the triggers, you need to figure out how to reduce them to make sure your dog stays safe and doesn’t injure himself or others around him. All you need to do is observe him now and then use your common sense to figure out when and why he jumps.
If you notice that your Great Dane loves to chase after other dogs or cats in the area, you should avoid taking them out during the peak walking hours. Children can also excite Great Danes, and if that’s the case with your dog, you must keep them indoors when children in your neighborhood are known to walk home from school.
There may be some triggers that you won’t be able to prevent, but it’s better to start somewhere because even a little bit of prevention may work in your favor in the long run.
If you’ve made the mistake of rewarding your dog every time he jumps with treats or toys or even your attention, then that’s probably what your dog is seeking from you when he jumps.
Your safest bet, in this case, is to remove the award, whatever it may be, from the behavior to get them to stop. It may take a while for them to learn that they’re not going to get what they’re looking for by jumping, but once they do, they’ll slowly start avoiding the behavior.
To make this technique a lot more effective, you must make sure that every single person in your house or everyone your dog meets is also aware of what not to do when your dog starts jumping. When other people don’t use the same technique as you, it can be very confusing for your dog to understand what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Once your dog is calm and realizes he won’t get what he’s after by jumping around, you can reward him with your attention and love. You can also offer treats to him to reinforce this behavior.
Another thing you can do to stop your dog from jumping is to take the fun out of this activity. The next time your Great Dane pup tries to jump on you, you should take hold of his paws before he’s able to put them on you.
Don’t let go of his paws and keep him standing on his back feet until he becomes tired and can’t hold his position anymore. That’s when you can safely release his paws and let him put them back on the floor.
If you’re interested in trying a different approach, here’s what you can do. When your puppy starts to leap onto you, instead of taking a step back, you should step forward. This can put your Great Dane off balance, and he’ll be left with no choice but to put his feet back on the ground where they belong.
You need to be extremely careful when you’re trying out these techniques to avoid frightening or causing harm to your dog as he may fall hard and get injured. Repeat this procedure until you’re successful at discouraging his jumping behavior. You can also alternate between these two techniques until you start to see results.
If you’ve trained your Great Dane to respond to commands like ‘lay down,’ ‘sit,’ or ‘four on the floor,’ you should try using the same commands to stop him from jumping. You can also make these commands more effective but offering them treats to reinforce good behavior and give them a message that they’ll only get rewards if they don’t jump up.
When your dog is over-stimulated, it will be especially hard for you to get him to follow your command. Things that can get your dog excited may include guests coming into your house, strangers he sees when you’ve taken him out for his regular walk, or other dogs that may catch his interest. In times like these, they’ll stop responding to the commands that you’ve trained them to obey.
To get your dog to respond to you in such circumstances, you shouldn’t expose him to challenging environments when you’re training him to obey simple commands like ‘stay’ or ‘sit.’
When you notice that your dog is getting excited in an environment he wasn’t familiar with before; you should immediately remove him from the situation to get him to calm down. Once he’s calm, you can try again, but don’t forget to be patient with him if you hope to make any progress.
As we’ve established earlier, one of the most common reasons why your Great Dane likes to jump up is to get what they want from you – your love and attention. If that’s what they hope to achieve by engaging in this behavior, instead of reacting to them, you should try remaining silent.
Following are some silent behaviors you can try to get your dog to stop jumping:
- Fold your arms around your chest and turn around, making sure your back is facing the dog. This should give him the message that jumping will not result in the reward he’s looking to get from you.
- Remain silent if he doesn’t stop leaping up and down even after you’ve turned your back on him. Stay in this position without saying a single word until he shows the behavior that you’re trying to reinforce.
- If your dog is particularly stubborn and the first two steps don’t work on him, you need to leave the area. Don’t give them any attention as you walk away and only return once they’ve calmed down and stopped jumping around.
If none of the methods above are useful in getting your dog to stop jumping, there’s one last thing you can try before getting external help. Tire your dog out with exercise, grab a leash, and go outside for a run with him or play fetch or tug of war with him, do anything you can do to wear him out.
You can also leave him in the yard for a while as you supervise. When he’s tired from all the exercise, he wouldn’t want to jump around when you finally take him inside.
If you haven’t been able to get your dog to stop jumping, it may be time for you to consider getting a professional trainer to help you out. But before you can hire a trainer, here are two things you should keep in mind:
- It may take up to six months to get your Great Dane trained. If time and money aren’t a problem for you, then, by all means, hire a professional trainer.
- Adult dogs are a lot more difficult to train and discipline, especially if they’ve been neglected or abused by their past owner. If your dog has lived a rough life, it’s probably a better idea to get professional help.
How to Keep Your Great Dane from Jumping over Fences?
If your Great Dane is particularly jumpy and loves leaping over fences, you need to install the right type of fence that he won’t be able to jump over. Even though a fence that’s about 4 feet in height is ideal for most dogs, it’s no match for Great Danes as they can reach about the same height as a fully grown adult when they stand on their hind-legs.
It’s better to install a fence that rises to 6 feet to keep your dog from escaping. You also need to make sure you’re putting up a good quality fence that has strong wood panels. Think of it as an investment; even if your pet learns how to climb up the fence in the future, you’ll at least be able to ensure no damage is done to the fence.
Regardless of which type of fence you end up choosing, you need to take precautions and conduct regular checks to make sure there’s no way your dog can climb up the fence. You can consider using ornaments or landscaping to make your garden a lot more secure and block any areas near the fence.
You can also invest in chain link-wire fences. These are quite popular among dog owners as they make it hard for dogs to prop themselves up.
Can Underground Fences Stop a Great Dane from Jumping?
Another alternative you can opt for is underground fencing. It’s also commonly referred to as invisible fencing, and the great thing about them is that they’re surprisingly cost-efficient and may even be a lot cheaper than your standard fences. They’re a modern solution, and you can find many companies that are willing to help set them up for you.
Here’s how an underground fence works: It’s a buried wire that gets activated when your dog’s nearby or steps onto an electronic transmitter. The transmitter then sends a signal to an alarm that you’ve installed on your property or sends a shock to your dog’s collar. You should adjust the intensity of the shock depending on how sensitive your dog as the last thing you want to do is to cause any distress to him or make him overly alert.
Since Great Danes are known to be quite sensitive, you need to be especially careful with underground fencing. If the electric transmitter gets activated when you’re not around to keep an eye on your dog, and it causes too much distress to him, you can expect to come home to a mess in your garden. This is because Great Danes are known to react to their agitation by destroying the area.
If you want your dog to have respect for the underground fence, you need to train them about the boundaries that surround the fence. It can take some time for your dog to learn what’s acceptable and what’s not. It all depends on how well he responds to your commands and how effective you are in reinforcing his behavior with rewards and your tone of voice.
If there are larger dogs in the neighborhood, they may not respond as well to the fence and may venture into your garden. That’s why you need to take all the factors into consideration and keep your Great Dane’s safety as a priority before deciding which type of fence will work best for your garden.
Parting Thoughts On How to Stop a Great Dane from Jumping
It’s necessary for you to train and discipline your Great Dane when he’s only a puppy, as the more significant he grows, the harder it will be for you to handle him. You need to be incredibly patient, especially during the first days of training if you expect to make any headway.
Take your dog’s needs into consideration, observe him, and identify jump triggers to find out which technique will be more effective at getting him to stop jumping around.
Most dogs require several walks a day, but Great Danes are generally fulfilled by a 30 to 60- minute long walk that’s moderately paced. When your dog has exerted all his energy, there’ll be a lot less chances of him leaping onto you or over the fences.
It’s also necessary for you to invest in a high-quality fence to make sure there are no distractions for your dog, and other animals aren’t able to entice him either.
With time, patience, and persistence, you’ll soon learn how to discipline your Great Dane and make sure he stays loyal and obedient to you in the years to come. If your dog is especially challenging to train, it’s advisable to get help from a professional trainer and let them handle the tough job for you.
