Jumping on the table - you're not a cat

[Lady Cavalier]

Lady has learned a very bad skill - jumping from chair to the table! She clearly knows this is not allowable. If we catch her in the act, all we have to do is make our "no" noise and she immediately backs away. Also, if she is up there and we walk in the kitchen she immediately looks and us and quickly makes her way off the table. Does anyone have any bright ideas for how to break this habit?

[ByFloSin]

Holly Poppet does this too, at every opportunity in fact. I suppose it's difficult for her to understand that she should not sit there, because every evening it doubles as the grooming table. None of the other four bother, but I have managed to limit it to the breakfast bar in the kitchen, which is granite and easy to clean, plus I am the only person who ever eats there, the dining table being in the living room.

Holly just sits there, grinning at me and the other dogs beneath her and I just don't have the heart to stop her.

[Nicki]

You could try putting something like baking tins on the table so if she jumps up they will make a noise and scare her but I would worry that she might herself if she gets a scare and falls.


Lots of positive training, reward her for coming off when you tell her, not jumping up on there when you are in the room - hopefully eventually she will learn she gets more praise and attention for being on the floor.


I have some table "ornaments" too!! We changed our sitting room around, which means there is a very convenient coffee table between the chair and the sofa - great for just walking across rather than going to the trouble of jumping down and actually having to walk across the floor [EEK what an awful thing to expect a Cavalier to do ]


I had never had problems previously with the dogs going on to tables etc, but Lauren particularly is a climber and jumper, actually she is very cat-like and well balanced, so is a devil for jumping up on to tables etc. She jumps straight up to the back of the sofa and walks along the top, which is all of 6" wide, she has no fear of heights at all.

She is the one who climbed over the 30" high puppy pen on more than one occasion at about 4 1/2 months old hubby did suggest concrete boots

[Mindysmom]

Rylie is my table jumper - my other dogs never did. I have "solved" the problem by not allowing him in the dining room unsupervised and always making sure the chairs are pushed in. It's a work in progress.

[Karlin]

You would have a couple of options. One is to train an 'off' command and also a 'come up' command and only ever allow her to come up onto a sofa, bed, chair etc when invited.

The other -- and really, this probably now needs to be done in conjunction with the first -- is management. Management is ALWAYS the easiest and fastest solution -- if chairs are pushed in or doors are kept closed to that room or her access is otherwise limited, she won't be getting on to tables. I have two that will get on a table if I am not there (the problem with option 1 for any dog that is already doing this as it is already a learned habit!!) and in my house chairs are always pushed in. Or a dog ends up on the table...