In honor of National Train Your Dog Month, here is the one question we hear over and over again:

“she barks…when someone knocks on the door, rings the doorbell…” 

All of us have or will have a dog like this in our lifetime of dog ownership. There are many ways to lessen this behavior but remember not all ways work for all dogs. This is one we have seen the most success:

Ask your dog for an incompatible behavior. When your dog starts barking, ask him to do something that’s incompatible with barking. Such as laying down on a mat or his bed will inhibit him from barking.  He will be in his ‘safe’ place.

Example: when someone is at the door

1. Toss a treat on his mat and tell him to “park it.”
2. When he’s reliably going to his mat to earn a treat, up the ante by opening the door while he’s on his mat. If he gets up, close the door immediately.
3. Repeat until he stays on his mat while the door opens.
4. Then increase the difficulty by having someone ring the doorbell while your dog is on his mat. Reward him if he stays in place.

This is a very abbreviated lesson plan on teaching this behavior. But if taught consistently and with happy rewards your dog can learn to go away from the door and be quiet.

Feel free to contact us if your dog has this issue. We are happy to help you via private training to help you understand the whole concept.