Why Does My Dog Keep Jumping Even When I Ignore Them?

You try turning your back, crossing your arms, and avoiding eye contact—just like the trainer said.

But instead of calming down, your dog jumps higher, barks louder, or nips at your clothes. By the time they settle, you feel like you’ve been through a workout.

“Just ignore it,” everyone says.

But what happens when ignoring doesn’t work?

The truth is, ignoring bad behavior doesn’t teach your dog what to do instead. It leaves a gap—and when your dog doesn’t know how to fill that gap, they’ll escalate to see what works.

This is where understanding thinking, feeling, and doing comes in. By addressing how your dog anticipates, reacts emotionally, and behaves physically, you can shape better choices and reinforce the behaviors you want.

Why Is Ignoring Not Working?

Ignoring behavior comes from the idea of extinction—if a behavior stops getting reinforced, it should eventually disappear.

In theory:

• A behavior that isn’t rewarded fades over time.

If jumping doesn’t lead to attention, your dog will stop jumping.

But before the behavior fades, there’s often a spike called an extinction burst. Your dog jumps harder, barks louder, and tries everything that’s worked before to get a response.

It’s not defiance—it’s frustration.

Ignoring alone often fails because it doesn’t show your dog what to do instead. Extinction works best when paired with incompatible behaviors—actions your dog can’t do while misbehaving.

Why Does My Dog Act This Way?

To teach your dog effectively, you need to understand three parts of behavior:

1. Thinking: What your dog anticipates will happen based on past experiences.

2. Feeling: The emotional response that drives their actions—excitement, anxiety, or frustration.

3. Doing: The physical behavior that follows.

Jumping when you walk in the door isn’t random—it’s fueled by your dog’s thoughts (anticipating attention), feelings (excitement), and actions (leaping to greet).

When training addresses all three, the results are stronger and more reliable.

How Do I Stop This Before It Starts?

Using both classical conditioning (CC) and operant conditioning (OC) ensures your dog learns on multiple levels.

• Classical Conditioning (CC): This is about associations and feelings. When your dog anticipates something exciting, like your arrival, they feel energized before you even step inside. This emotional reaction fuels the behavior.

• Operant Conditioning (OC): This focuses on consequences and actions. Your dog jumps (behavior), and attention or frustration follows (consequence). If the consequence is rewarding, the behavior repeats.

By addressing the emotional response (CC) and reinforcing calm behaviors (OC), you create lasting change.

Why Does Sitting Help?

An incompatible behavior is something your dog can’t do at the same time as jumping.

• A dog can’t jump and lie down at the same time.

• They can’t bark wildly and hold a toy in their mouth.

Teaching these behaviors gives your dog options. When they feel excitement, they can respond with calm actions because they’ve learned it leads to rewards.

Am I Rewarding the Right Thing?

Reinforcement works best when it matches the behavior and emotional state.

• For high-energy behaviors like recall (coming when called), use excitement. Call your dog with enthusiasm, and reward with play or chase to match the energy.

• For calm behaviors like settling on a bed, reward gently by placing a treat between their paws. This reinforces stillness and relaxation.

The energy of your reward should reflect the behavior you want to encourage.

Why Can’t My Dog Stay Calm?

Expecting calm behavior in the middle of excitement without preparation often leads to failure. Practice these calm actions ahead of time:

1. Sit and Stay: Teach your dog to sit and hold the position, even with minor distractions.

2. Place Training: Show your dog how to relax on a bed or mat. Reward calmness.

3. Down-Stay: Reinforce lying down and staying in place. This is one of the most reliable ways to redirect excitement.

Training incompatible behaviors early gives your dog tools to handle excitement when it happens.

How Do I Fix the Chaos at the Door?

1. Set the Stage (Thinking): Before you walk in, set your dog up for success. Leash them if needed to prevent jumping.

2. Redirect Emotion (Feeling): If your dog starts to jump, guide their excitement into a sit or down cue. Use a calm voice.

3. Reward Behavior (Doing): When their paws stay on the floor, reward immediately with attention, treats, or praise.

If jumping happens, don’t react negatively. Calmly disengage, and the second their paws return to the ground, reward the right behavior. This creates a pattern—paws down = attention, jumping leads to nothing.

Why Can’t I Just Ignore the Jumping?

Extinction alone is incomplete—it works best when paired with teaching and rewarding positive alternatives.

• Ignoring jumping may eventually stop it, but not without frustration along the way.

• By redirecting your dog to sit or go to their place, you fill the gap left by ignoring unwanted actions.

This reduces the frustration of extinction bursts and teaches your dog a reliable way to get attention.

Why Is My Dog Listening Sometimes But Not Always?

Recall Training
Call your dog excitedly. Use an enthusiastic voice and reward them with a high-energy game when they return. This makes recall fun and reinforces the action.

Bed Training
When your dog lies down on their bed, calmly place a treat between their front paws. This reinforces the behavior in a way that encourages relaxation.

Door Greetings
Ask your dog to sit or go to their mat before opening the door. Reward calm behavior immediately to build positive associations with staying grounded.

Why Is This Taking So Long?

• Overreacting: Responding with frustration can reinforce jumping. Stay calm.

• Inconsistency: If jumping gets attention sometimes, the behavior will persist. Consistency from all family members is essential.

• Lack of Preparation: Don’t wait for the excitement to teach calmness. Train calm behaviors regularly in low-stakes environments.

Will This Ever Get Better?

The goal of distraction training is to shape your dog’s ability to think, feel, and do the right thing in various situations.

By blending classical conditioning (emotional responses) with operant conditioning (reinforced behaviors), you build a dog who can handle excitement, stay calm, and make better choices.

In the end, teaching—not ignoring—shapes the calm, well-mannered dog you want to raise.