The Problem
Your friend comes over. Your dog launches. Paws on chest, face headed for theirs, tail going like a helicopter. Your friend says "oh it's fine, I love dogs" while being knocked backward. You say "down" repeatedly. Nothing changes.
Or worse — it's an elderly neighbor, a child, someone who genuinely doesn't love it. And your dog, who means nothing bad by it, has just become a liability.
"How to stop my dog from jumping on guests" is one of the most searched dog training queries online. It's also poorly addressed — because most advice either doesn't work (pushing the dog down, kneeing them, saying "no") or works in training sessions but falls apart at real door arrivals when arousal is 10x higher and everyone forgets the protocol.
Why It Happens
Jumping is natural canine greeting behavior. Puppies greet their mothers face-to-face. Adult dogs greet each other at muzzle level. When a dog jumps on a human, they're trying to do the same thing — get close to your face, make contact, say hello the way dogs say hello.
The behavior gets reinforced almost immediately in puppyhood. A tiny 8-week-old jumping up is adorable. Everyone bends down, makes eye contact, gives attention. The puppy learns: jumping up produces the thing I want most. By the time they're 6 months and 45 pounds, the behavior is deeply grooved — and the same response that used to get rewarded is now getting shouts, pushes, and frustration.
The dog hasn't stopped because from their perspective, it still works. Getting pushed off is still contact. Getting shouted at is still attention. Any response — positive or negative — feeds a behavior maintained by social connection.
There's also an arousal component. A dog who sits beautifully in training is a different dog from one greeting a guest at the door. Doorbell rings, someone new appears, excitement surges — and learned behaviors go partially offline. The four-on-the-floor rule they know from calm practice simply isn't available at peak arousal.
This is why the fix isn't just "teach sit." You have to train specifically at elevated arousal, with real people, at the actual door.
The FetchCoach Approach
The mechanism is simple: jumping earns nothing, and four paws on the floor earns everything. But making that mechanism work requires two things most people skip.
First: consistent response from everyone, every time. Research consistently shows dogs trained by one person but greeted normally by others don't generalize the rule. The dog learns "jumping doesn't work on this specific person" — not "jumping doesn't work." Every person who greets your dog must follow the same protocol. Brief guests before they come through the door.
Second: below-threshold practice before threshold arrivals. Before addressing jumping at the front door when arousal is maxed, build the alternative behavior — four on the floor, or a sit for greetings — in lower-arousal contexts first. Kitchen practice with family. Leashed practice with calm people. Gradually working up to door arrivals.
The sit cue is the most reliable incompatible behavior — a dog who is fully sitting cannot simultaneously jump. But incompatible behavior only works if the sit is fast, reliable, and happens before excitement crests. That's a training goal, not a command you issue once.
FetchCoach coaches you through setting up practice scenarios, briefing guests on their role, and troubleshooting what specifically breaks down. The coaching is specific to your dog's history — some dogs jump on everyone, some on specific people (usually the ones who've rewarded it most). The protocol adjusts accordingly.
What FetchCoach doesn't do: we can't control what your guests do. If extended family continues letting the dog jump at every holiday dinner, you're working against that reinforcement history. We'll coach you on how to have that conversation — we can't make it happen.
The 7-Day Starting Plan
Day 1 — Sharpen the sit
Twenty clean reps: ask for sit, dog sits, mark ("yes"), treat delivered at nose level — never above eye level. The treat comes to the dog low and calm. This is planting the idea that rewards live down near the floor, not up near your face.
→ See the sit skill guide for the full mechanics.
If your dog doesn't have a reliable sit yet, spend this day building it. Don't address jumping until sit is fast and clean.
Day 2 — Build four-on-the-floor as a default
Walk toward your dog. The moment all four paws are on the ground — before jumping begins — mark and treat. If they jump, turn your back, wait for four on floor, mark and treat. Repeat 15–20 times throughout the day. Deliver treats low — at nose level, or tossed on the floor.
Day 3 — Add a household "guest"
Have someone the dog knows walk through a door inside the house as if arriving. Same rules: four on floor earns the greeting, jumping ends it. Ten reps per session. The person turning their back the moment paws leave the ground is the critical mechanic.
Day 4 — Leash at the front door
Dog on leash. Knock or ring doorbell. You hold the leash while a guest enters. The leash isn't for correction — it's for preventing rehearsal of the jump. Guest enters, waits for four-on-floor, then greets. If your dog can't get four-on-floor even on leash, the arousal is too high — practice with door closed, then door open with no one there, before adding a real person.
Day 5 — Brief your guests
Before each arrival: "If he jumps, just turn away — no words, no pushing. The second he has all four paws on the ground, say hi." That's the whole script. Most willing guests will do this. A few won't — that's useful data about who needs the leash management indefinitely.
Day 6 — Dragging leash
Same door protocol, leash still on but you're not holding it — just there if needed. Your dog is now making more of the choice. Jackpot the first clean four-paw greeting with a handful of treats and genuine praise.
Day 7 — Off-leash trial with a familiar guest
Someone your dog has practiced with this week, now off-leash. Stand ready to block with your body if the jump starts. Mark and heavily reward the clean greeting. This is the first real-world test of the week's work — not the last session.
What Coaching Looks Like in the App
Three weeks in, you might message FetchCoach: "He's great with my partner but still jumps on everyone else." The coaching response walks through the reinforcement history — who's been consistent, who hasn't — and designs a guest protocol specifically for the inconsistent situation.
Or: "She can sit for greetings with me but the moment my sister walks in the door it all falls apart." That's an arousal problem, not a skill problem. The coaching response is different: what's the specific relationship your dog has with your sister, what would below-threshold practice with her look like, can she arrive in a different way?
FetchCoach knows your dog's breed. Labradors and Golden Retrievers are notorious for persistent jumping — selected for enthusiasm around people, deep reinforcement history. Border Collies often jump differently — as a herding-adjacent behavior. The coaching accounts for that.
Baelor's version of this: Baelor — Jason's 3 months-old Golden Bernese — is in the middle of this one. The sit for greetings is solid with Jason. With visitors he's still working through the arousal, especially with someone he hasn't seen in a while. Protocol is real-time: leash at the door, brief the guest, reward the moment four paws land.
Follow Baelor's real training journey →
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