i have a 8 month old american staffordshire pitbull and everytime i have a friend or family members come over...he jumps on everyone and leaves scrathes. I've tried everything but nothing seems to be working...I'm starting to get worried because some of my friends won't come to my house because of my dog...what can I do to stop my dog from jumping up on people???

Does your dog know sit? When people come in the door have them ignore him. Do not even look at him until he is sitting nicely. Then, you can pet him calmly and give him attention.

Another thing you can do is put him on a leash. Then have someone walk in a door. When he gets excited, get his attention with a treat then make him sit. Keep doing this until he automatically begins to look at you and sit when the door opens.

I've been doing the sit thing and i have asked my friends and family members to ignore him...but he gets more aggressive and jumps higher and tries nipping at their hands when they try to get him off them...i'm at a loss..nibblz is usually a good dog until we have company..but i will try the leash idea..hopefully that will work...

Yes, try the leash thing.

Even when he nips, ignore him. Turn your backs and pretend he doesn't exist. If you get after him for nipping, he doesn't care, you gave him attention which is all he really wanted. So, no attention at all. No pushing him off, no talking to him, no eye contact or anything. Only when he is calm, do you even glance at him.

I have seen the no attention thing work on TV. This kind of training also includes having family members come to help you train as well as having friends coming over to help train.
If you do not have that kind of help you might have to rely on leash training. You might need to place the dog into a sit (then sit stay or down stay) while on the leash. You would have to include the sit stay while you are standing or sitting on the couch.
That, of course, would place the dog on the floor near the couch and away from you and possibly the biting, If the dog is in a sit stay on the floor near the couch, praise but do not overdo the praise and treat. Show the dog it is better to sit on the floor near the couch then to be jumping and biting.
If the dog needs more control then that make another post. However, give the new methods time before making the next step.

i also have a 2yr old female pit bull and she does the same thing. i have tired the leash thing but she is so strong that i can not holdher back. i have tried the ignoring thing and that only works when nobody is home and i do it just because she is barking at me. that usually takes about 5 minutes before she understands what i am doing. during those 5 minutes she knocking me over and nipping at my feet because i keep turning my feet so that she always sees my back. any suggestions on that one?

Get a gentle leader or halti. She can't get away from that. Also just work on commands such as 'sit.' Even if it takes five minutes, keep ignoring her. Even if it is annoying and takes a long time, she figured out what you are doing! And that's the most important thing.

I saw an It's Me or the Dog with 2 old english sheepdogs about that age that were out of control. It seems to me what Vicoria Stillwell did was get the dogs lots of exercise, give them less unearned affection, insist that they listen to her by facing them and meaning it, seperate themselves from the dogs in another room when the dogs got out of control (get up and leave to a room with a closed door), and tether them on short tethers out of the way when there was less understanding company. I hope that helps.

I say if all else fails, get a cage or kennel & put the dog away when company comes over. At least people will still come over until you figure out what to do.

You must 1st establish basic commands with the dog & teach it to sit, down, stay.

Once it knows the word "Down", every time he jumps, put your knee up, not to hurt it but to gently push it back.... to let it know that you do not like being jumped on. At the same time you say in a very low voice "DOWN!"

I did that with my dogs & it worked & I had 2 very large dogs who jumped alot.

There is a difference between the commands "down" and "off." If down is your word for lay down, you should use the word "off" to remove the dog from guests. If not, use "down" to remove the dog, and use another word for down, such as "lay."

What you need to do is when the dog gets ready to jump, put your knee up so the dog is unable to jump on guests. After a few tries your dog will know not to jump on people.

I would NOT recommend kneeing a dog in the stomach. The reason the dog jumps is for attention. Negative attention is all the same, attention. Besides, get the dog in just the right spot...and that has got to be painful. Besides, how would a small child stop a dog from jumping on them? After the dog figures out nothing happens when jumping on that child, he'll go ahead and jump.

I have seen a knee up kind of training work. However, it has to be done correctly to be effective. That also means that you are not knocking the wind out of the dog etc.etc. Like I said it must be done correctly.
I think the easiest way to train is the treat method. So I will repeat. When you are alone with the dog, sit on the couch, if dog jumps on the couch you need to get up and away. Repeat as necessary. Treat the dog when it does not jump on the couch or you. After you treat, try again to see what happens and, again. Try to get that dog to know, to get the treat means to stay on the floor.
Next thing you REALLY, REALLY must do is to keep the dog off the couch permanently. I t does not matter if there are guests or it's just you. Keep the dog off the couch period.
A dog's brain is not as complex as a human. It can not figure out when it is OK to be on the couch and when it is not. If the dog is on the couch without guests he will consider the couch as his resting place. When guests come over and sit on the couch they are sitting on his resting place.
Now, it would have been better to train any new dog that the couch is not his bed. It is more difficult to train a dog that has a bad habit. It can be done but it takes time. Take the time and you and your guests will be happy for it!