Whether from aggression or simply from over-excitement, having a dog who barks at the door is not just inconvenient. Even a friendly dog might bark at the door, which can frighten visitors and be annoying to owners. A well-behaved dog might still have a problem with barking. If you are at the end of your rope or even if your dog has just started to exhibit this behavior, there are lots of things you can do to improve your dog’s manners at the doors. Here are the steps you should take:
Start by making a list of what triggers your dog to bark.
Does he bark when certain people come to the door? Does he bark when certain kinds of people come to the door (i.e. is he more likely to bark at men? At strangers? At people that he knows?). Knowing what triggers your dog to bark can help you develop a plan that quells that barking instinct.
Start conditioning your dog not to react to people at the door.
One of the most effective ways to get your dog to stop barking at a door is to realize that this is often a fear response and to recondition her dog so that instead of feeling fear or aggression when they hear someone knocking at the door, they feel calm or enthusiastic. A good way to do this is to simulate the sound of someone knocking at the door and then rewarding your dog with his favorite treat. This will start to condition him to want to hear the knock at the door, believing that something good comes from this sound. Start by knocking on the wall or on the floor.
Intensify the conditioning.
Once your dog has started to correlate the sound of knocking and getting a treat, it is time to escalate the conditioning. Move to the door and knock on the wall or floor near the door, so your dog starts to associate the treat not just with any knocking noise, but with the sound of knocking near the door. Once he seems to be desensitized to knocking near the door, it is time to actually knock on the door and then reward him with a treat when he does not respond negatively with barking.
Use the same process to desensitize your dog to the sound of the doorbell.
If you have a doorbell at your front door, this might be an even more volatile trigger than someone knocking. You should be able to use the exact same process to desensitize your dog to the sound of that doorbell.
Condition him to be calm when the door handle is jiggled.
One of the biggest triggers for barking might not be the sound of knocking or the doorbell, but actually the sound and sight of a door handle being jiggled or turned. To condition your dog to be immune to this sight and sound, start outside your home and jiggle the door handle.
Present a treat when he hears the handle being jiggled. Once he is calm outside, move inside and repeat the process until he is completely calm at the sound of the door handle.
This same technique can be used to eliminate just about any bad behavior your dog has related to guests arriving or even to his owners coming him and trying to open the door. A process of gradually desensitizing your dog to the trigger and replacing negative emotions with positive ones will ensure that he is excited, rather than afraid when someone knocks at the door, the doorbell rings, or someone enters through the door.
