How to get your dog to stop barking at the door
Dog and Puppy Training
Coco at the front door sitting waiting for me to open it.
When the bell rings or someone knocks on the door have your dog sit or down in a particular spot. Allow the dog to see the door and always use the same spot and position (down or sit). Remember, consistency, patience and simple communication are very important in dog training. Don’t open the door, or even move toward the door until your dog is in the proper place and position. If you move toward the door and fido moves, move away from the door and direct fido back to the place position. Try to move in the same method and posture every time. Give fido lots of praise while you are moving toward the door. I say to the person on the other side of the door, “just a minute” this is a clue to my dog Coco it is time to sit and wait until I answer the door, not her.
Keep in mind, there is a mindset amongst trainers that if you don’t protect and make your dog feel safe, they will step up and do it themselves. I think this is very true at the front door, or meeting new people in general.
So move to the door only when your dog can stay in the designated place. This could take time so you need a very patient assistant on the other side of the door. Btw, when you choose this assistant try to have someone your dog loves! When the exercise is over the big payoff for fido is to be greeted by the mystery human behind the door and if it is someone fido loves then it will make the positive training lesson more memorable. Having a family member enter when the door opens might not be as powerful a reward as one of Fido’s favorite humans WITH TREATS! Let your dog know that in most cases the human on the other side of the door is someone they like and the entire experience will be a good one.
So keep working on getting closer to the door while praising and/or directing Fido to remain in position. Once you can get to the door, continue slowly, if Fido moves SHUT THE DOOR and make the corrections and start over were you left off. Once you can get to the door and open it you need to change your training depending on the situation. If you dog is friendly and just wants to greet the person at the door you can continue. If your dog isn’t friendly and you are working on he/she to be more acceptable of strangers in your house then jump down to dealing with the less friendly dog at the door.
Let your dog see that you are ok with this person in the house, shake hands, be friendly. If you dog is friendly welcome the person into the house and have them go over to pet Fido. If fido moves before they go to him, start over at the point of failure. Fido has to stay still until the person comes over to him or until YOU decide he/she can move. At this point a friendly dog, like Coco will be busting at the seams to get up and welcome the person into her house. Your dog’s reward (besides optional treats) is that the person is coming to meet them. At that point you can release Fido and have he/she welcome the guest.
Keep working the lesson until the person can get over to Fido to say hi without him moving.
If you are in the Margate or South Florida area and have questions, contact me.
Coco sitting at the front door
DEALING WITH THE LESS FRIENDLY DOG WHEN OPENING THE DOOR
If your dog isn’t that friendly, keep safety first! You don’t want the dog to have a bad experience or allow him to hurt your assistant. You should be at the point where the door is open and your are inviting the person in. At this point you need to know your dog, is he going to run out the door or possible hurt the person if you release him? If your dog is going to want to check out the person but has no interest in being friendly, now would be the time to release him and let him approach the person (AFTER YOU DO) let him see you greet the person and that you are ok and comfortable with the person coming into your house. NO HUGS AT THIS POINT! Fido might not understand someone invading your space. If Fido just isn’t that friendly, but not aggressive, you can release him and he can greet the person if he wants or to go back to what he was doing. During this exercise your goal is to teach him that the door doesn’t get opened until he behaves a certain way and that YOU are in charge. You are trying to get him comfortable with the idea that he does NOT have to protect you at this point. YOU are not nervous or scared about who is at the door so he doesn’t have to be.
DEALING WITH AN AGGRESSIVE DOG WHEN OPENING THE DOOR
There are different levels of aggressive dogs and their motivations can be complicated so dealing with them has to be done carefully. If you get him to stay in place while you open the door you’ve done well. Now continue slowly moving in small increments to the point you can talk to the person with the door open just enough to talk but not letting the person in. If your dog can’t maintain his self control at anything beyond this point you should have a professional dog trainer working with you.
If you are in the South Florida area I’m in Margate, contact me and I can put you in touch with someone who can help with your aggressive dog.
Here is a video on how to keep your dog from running out the door when you open it.