Dogs, especially puppies, are well-known for being rambunctious and difficult to handle at times. Once a stubborn dog learns that a certain behavior gets your attention, even if that attention is not the positive love that it wants, it will keep doing that behavior because it sees any reaction from you as a reward.
While this can be entertaining at first, and maybe even fun for you when your dog is a puppy, it can quickly escalate into annoying behaviors and situations that are not good. For example, when you have a dog, you probably do not want that dog jumping over a baby gate and accidentally hurting your child.
Unfortunately, when some dogs learn that they can get the attention they want from you by jumping over a baby gate, they won’t stop doing it. Some dogs may even see it as a challenge to keep jumping over the gate whichever way it can.
This is something that no parent wants to deal with. In this kind of situation, you will want to do what you can to try and prevent your dog from jumping over the baby gate.
There are a few types of solutions that you can aim for in this. There are the immediate solutions, such as locking your dog in another room while the baby gate is up, or purchasing a baby gate that is specially designed to prevent dogs from jumping over them.
There are also the long-term solutions, such as sitting down with your dog (and the baby gate) and teaching your dog not to do that anymore, or sending your dog to an obedience course if you find that you do not have the time to do this.
No matter what choice you choose for your family, you can rest assured knowing that you won’t have to worry about your baby and leaving the baby gate unattended when the dog is roaming free around the house once you find a solution to this problem.
The real question simply becomes a matter of figuring out what the most effective and most efficient way to deal with the problem is.
The Short-Term Solutions
Sometimes, the best solutions are going to be the short-term ones. These solutions will focus more on preventing your dog from getting up and over the baby gate, rather than teaching your dog that it shouldn’t be trying to jump over the gate in the first place.
In a sense, it focuses more on stopping the effects of the problem, rather than treating the root of the problem. It is a good place to start, especially if you are worried about the way your baby and your dog will interact with each other.
The easiest solution to try here is going to be to purchase a baby gate that is designed to be pet-jumping proof. These gates are designed to be taller than most dogs can jump, often reaching about 40 inches in height.
Rather than being short and thick so that your dog cannot squeeze through it, these gates tend to have small gaps and a tall clearance for the dog to handle. As long as your dog isn’t small enough to pass through the gaps, this kind of solution will keep both your dog and even older toddlers from being able to get out.
Most of these gates can be mounted to the wall, which can help if you plan on having the baby gate in one set location. Some gates can expand to the side to cover a much larger play area, while other gates will be able to withstand dogs that are several hundred pounds.
These gates, while not the best solution to keeping some children out, will work well to keep your dog from jumping into the room.
You could also try the opposite solution. Rather than trying to fix the gate, you could consider locking the dog away while the gate is in use. Depending on what the use of the gate is and how long the gate is typically out for, this solution may not work for everyone. However, for the people that this solution will work for, this can be another extremely easy way to stop the problem.
If your dog is locked in another room or in its own crate, it physically cannot jump over the baby gate, eliminating the problem at-hand.
For times when you only need the baby gate closed for a few rare occasions, locking the dog in another room or in its crate may be one of the more straightforward solutions out there, though you will want to make sure that the dog doesn’t come to view it as a punishment, or you may have to fight your dog to do this.
Finally, you can put a deterrent in front of the baby gate. There are a few types of deterrents that you can try, depending on what your dog is most deterred by. Some dogs don’t appreciate the texture of deterrent mats, which work well for this situation.
These mats commonly have both an unpleasant texture and will emit a sound that most dogs don’t appreciate when weight is put on them.
You can set those kinds of mats in the area where the dog would normally land, so that the dog will quickly come to associate jumping up and over the gate with landing on the deterrent mat, which is something that the dog won’t appreciate in the slightest.
There are similar deterrents out there as well, including scent deterrents, sound deterrents, and so on.
The Long-Term Solutions
These solutions will often take a fair bit more time to employ than the short-term options, but the upside to this is that these solutions will have a much longer-lasting effect on your dog, and often for the best as well.
More often than not, you can employ one of these tactics while you use a short-term solution to keep the dog out so that you can teach it in peace.
The best solution here is going to be to gradually teach your dog not to jump over the baby gate. This is best done with puppies who are easier to train, but it can still be taught in older dogs. The goal of this will be to train your dog not to be tempted to head toward the baby gate.
You will want to set the baby gate up and act as if you are using it normally, but you will want to keep an eye on your dog as you do this. If your dog begins moving toward the gate in the same motions used to jump over the gate, then try calling the dog back toward you.
If the dog comes back successfully, you can give the dog a treat. When your dog begins to realize that staying by your side means treats, it will come to learn that nothing good comes out of jumping over the baby gate.
This will leave both you and your dog happier, as neither of you has to put up with the other.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies…I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house.