Dogs have an ingrained tendency to speak up when they hear a knock or doorbell ding. They may sense danger and hope their incessant yaps will alert us in time. Other times, our dogs are just excited to have a guest. Regardless of the reason, wouldn’t it be lovely to have a few effective tips to stop your dog from barking at the door?
Barking at the door is a behavior that sparks anger and frustration. We tend to yell at our dogs, hoping to stop the yaps with an angry voice. In actuality, though, dogs respond much better to calmness and repeated behaviors.
According to Shannon Griffin from Hound Therapy, she says “It’s not the dogs, it’s the people!” Once you know how to communicate with your dog and reinforce good habits, things become a lot simpler. Figuring out how to stop your dog from barking isn’t as intimidating as it might seem-all you need is time, patience, and some treats.
#1: Desensitize The Knock Sound
Dogs respond to the knock itself–the thing that sets off their excitement or fear. Training your dog to not react to the sound of knocks is the first step in curing the bad response.
Start by knocking on surfaces around your house, mimicking the sound of a visitor. Once your dog reacts with barking, scatter treats as you knock. You may also need to soften the sound of your knocks to dampen their reaction.
Keep knocking and giving treats, gradually increasing the volume of the knocks. Your dog will be unable to bark and search for treats at the same time, especially with a full mouth. Repeat until they ignore the knocks and instead ready themselves for a treat search.
#2: Introduce The Doorbell
With your dog ignoring knocks, it’s time to move on to their ultimate nemesis: the doorbell. The process here is just like the knocking process. You’ll have someone ring the bell, or play a doorbell sound on your phone, and condition your dog to ignore it.
Only begin rewarding once they have calmed down from their initial fright or excitement.
Increase the rings, rewarding your dog with treats as soon as they settle down. Repeat this until they ignore the ring, once again expecting treats instead of danger.
The key to this scenario is that no one comes in. For now, you’re focusing on removing their response to the noise. Your dog will pick up on this and deem the ding as unimportant. Once that happens, you’re ready to take the next step.
#3: Establish A Designated ‘Place’
A place command, like ‘go to your bed’ or just ‘bed’ is integrated at this point. Once your dog isn’t reacting to knocks and dings, you can begin desensitizing them to guests. Direct your dog to a specific place each time the doorbell rings to keep their reaction low and your guest safe from over-excited jumps.
Practice by ringing or knocking on your door. Immediately lead your dog to their designated place, like a bed or kennel in a closed-off room. Reward them with treats once they are in their place and have been able to ignore the possibility of a guest.
Try to make this process fun for your dog as you repeat it, either by racing them to their bed or playing with them once they’re in the room. Any positive association with going to their ‘place’ will make your dog more likely to obey.
Once your dog reacts to a knock or ring by rushing to their place, reward them with a long-lasting treat. Some toys can be filled with liquid cheese or peanut butter, like KONG toys.
#4: Pretend To Interact With Someone At The Door
In this scenario, you’ll have the doorbell ring, tell your dog to go to their place, and actually open the door and have a conversation. This mimics mailmen interactions and a myriad of others. Your dog may have a reaction to the sound of you opening the door and speaking. If or when they do, repeat the process above. Reward calmness and redirect their attention with treats. Once they ignore you and your supposed guest, you can start practicing with real guests.
#5: Practice With Real Guests
With your dog in their designated place, welcome and let in a guest. For the first few times, you may want to shut the door to your place room. Once your guest is settled, “Release the hound(s)!”.
Reward their calm behavior as best you can, giving them pets and praise for staying calm. As this process repeats, continue to follow the same steps and only reward calmness. You’ll soon have a dog desensitized to knocks, rings, mailmen, and visitors.
