My two shih tzu puppies are now 7 months old. They sleep in the kitchen. On a morning they are so pleased to see me, they get so excited, bounce up and down, jump up my legs and can softly bite at my fingers or clothes. I love them to bits and am so pleased to see them too, but this behaviour is not the best as they do tend to scratch my skin and it hurts. I'm not sure what to do though to change things. It feels wrong to discourage or reject their love. Can anyone advise me please?

I am far from a doggy expert but my what I did with mine is totally ignore him when he was jumping up (i think its called being a tree????), when he calms down I then give him fuss and attention. He is still happy to see me in the morning but doesn't jump up, more importantly he doesn't jump up at guests when they come into the house.

My dog sleeps in the lounge and used to try and do the same, it was like someone scraping forks down my shins every morning when he was small . I have a pet gate separating the lounge and kitchen. When I used to come downstairs in the morning I would open the gate - if Kilo jumped or mouthed I would go back and shut the gate; when he had backed off and stood nicely, sat or lay down I would go back in and give him fuss and praise.....it only took a few days for him to realise that he didn't get attention for the jumping and excitable behaviour.

Now when I come downstairs in the morning, he is really excited, but walks over for a good ear scratch or just lies on the rug, thumping his tail and waiting for a big fuss .

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I've done the ignoring, didn't really work, it just made them more enthusiastic to be noticed. I've just taken down the baby gate and letting them have the run of the kitchen and lounge. I did notice they seemed calmer this morning as I walked in with their leads for walks, rather than heading for the coffee.

i pretty much do what dogless described, although in a morning its a little different as kiva still sleeps in her crate. but i do still walk in the kitchen and ignore her, put the kettle on and then open her crate door, she has learned that whining, scratching or any other attention seeking behaviour gets her the opposite, none so she will quite happily sit quietly until i open her crate, then if she starts jumping at me i turn my back on her and she sits for a morning fuss. it is only overnight when her crate door is closed so during the day if she is in the kitchen with the baby gate closed i have told everyone if they approach the gate and she jumps at it to turn around and walk away until she sits, and if she jumps up once they are through to turn their back on her, she is very clever and now will pretty much sit at your feet if she wants something because she knows jumping gets her nowhere i dont see it as ignoring or snubbing her, just the behaviour, because she now knows if she is sat/calm i will fuss/cuddle/play with her til the cows come home

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But if you persist, they will learn that their increase in enthusiasm to be noticed won't work - only if you want to obviously. Kilo has the run of the kitchen and lounge in the day, but I have left the pet gate up mainly to control calmness around visitors and to keep him out of the kitchen if there is food out....he is a dedicated counter surfer .

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Ok, I shall have another go with the ignoring. Thanks all for your help.