Dogs jumping on household members before going for a walk

Abstract

Dogs exhibit some behaviors that can be undesirable to their owners. Among the most common is jumping on people, which has been primarily studied in the context of owners returning home. However, other situations have received little attention. The present study examined dogs jumping on household members in the period of time closely before going for a walk. Sometime during their life, 73% of dogs jumped on household members prior to a walk. Dogs were more likely to jump on household members when they were walked less than once per day than more than once per day. No significant associations of dogs jumping on household members with dog’s sex, dog’s size, or living with other dogs were found. Most dogs quickly wagged their hindquarters and/or tails, held their ears back, and approached in a lowered posture before jumping on their owner. Dogs were more likely to lick their owner’s mouth when the owner was crouching than when standing upright. No significant associations of owner’s body position with dog approaching in a lowered posture, quickly wagging hindquarters, quickly wagging tail, jumping on the owner, eagerly running about, or holding ears back were found. In conclusion, the frequency of walking and the human body position were associated with dogs jumping on household members and licking their owner’s mouth, respectively, before going for a walk.