Reducing the occurrence of mouthing and jumping in a dog through conditional discrimination training

The team worked with one pet dog who jumped and mouthed people at the door. They set up a simple rule: a green card on the floor meant 'come say hi.' An orange card meant 'stay put.'

The dog got treats only for calm greetings when the green card was out. When the orange card showed, no people, no treats. After ten days the green card was gone. The team watched if the dog still kept four paws on the floor.

Jumping and mouthing almost stopped once the dog learned the card rule. When the green card vanished, the calm greeting stayed. The bad habits did not come back.

Stimulus control had transferred. The door itself now cued polite behavior, even without the card.

Annable et al. (1979) also cut a body-focused habit—tongue thrust in a child with CP—using food rewards and a gentle spoon push. Both studies show you can weaken persistent topographies without pain.

Rimmer et al. (1995) replaced eye poking with a video game. Davidson et al. (2022) replaced jumping with calm approach. Both swapped the reinforcer instead of punishing the act.

Cengher et al. (2020) used extinction to spark new communication forms. Davidson used extinction of the old greeting cue to spark a new, calm response. Same process, different species.

You can copy this in any home or clinic. Pick a clear Sᴰ—maybe a small rug by the door. Reinforce only when feet stay on the rug. Fade the rug later. The trick is one simple rule the learner can see. No need for spray bottles or knee blocks. Clean stimulus control gives you polite greetings and keeps the relationship fun.