Now that we have three dogs, the race to the door when someone knocks (we deactivated the doorbell) is on! We’ve followed several dog training tips to help keep your dog from barking at the doorbell with great success. We get to start from scratch with the training now that we have a puppy in the house again. Mikkel Becker’s tips will help.
photo: Mr. T in DC
By Mikkel Becker, Vetstreet.com
Dogs erupt in a frenzy of barking whenever the doorbell rings or there’s knocking at the door. It’s not even unusual for dogs to hear knocking or the doorbell on TV and to still be set off in a barking fit.
Why dogs bark at the doorbell…
There are various reasons why dogs bark at the doorbell or knocking at the door. It’s not the sound in and of itself that starts the reaction of barking, but it’s what happens after that causes the dog’s barking. Often dogs bark as soon as the doorbell rings or there’s knocking at the door and owners soon after open the door, which actually teaches the dog that whenever they bark, the door magically opens. Adding to the commotion is when owners yell at their dogs for barking, which simply gets the dogs even more excited and wound up, and more barking ensues.
There are also dogs that will bark at the doorbell because they are fearful of the person on the other side. For these dogs, it’s essential to change their emotion to people coming into the home and to help build their confidence, which should be aided by the combination of your veterinarian and a certified professional dog trainer.
In order to stop barking at the doorbell or knocking at the door, you need to teach your dog an alternative behavior to do in its place. One of the best things to do is teach your dog to lay down on a mat whenever the doorbell rings or there is knocking at the door.
Teach your dog to lay down on a mat or dog bed…
To begin, first teach your dog to lay down on a mat or dog bed on cue. Start by placing the mat on the floor and rewarding your pet for investigating the bedding. You can toss treats on the mat to pique their interest. Reward for any movement towards the mat by tossing treats in the middle of the bed. As soon as all four paws are on the mat, encourage them to lay down by asking for a “down,” or simply waiting for it to happen as you continue to treat them simply for staying still on the mat. Once your dog lays down, continue to reward them randomly for laying stationary on their mat. Next, reset your dog from the mat by tossing a treat off the mat and then rewarding again for your dog getting on the mat. You can ask your dog to lay down again when they re-station on the mat or simply wait for it to happen.
Once your dog is readily going onto the mat and laying down, add a cue to the behavior, such as “mat.” Say “mat” just as the dog is starting to walk towards the mat. Once your dog readily goes to his mat on cue, it’s time to teach them to do this with the doorbell or the knocking.
Practicing the “mat” cue with your dog…
Start off with either knocking or ringing the doorbell. If knocking, start with a soft knock, which is less likely to initiate barking, and can be done behind your back as you stand next to the door. Quietly knock, then wait two seconds before you say your word “mat” and reward your dog for going and laying down on their mat by the door. Repeatedly do this process with a small 2-4 second delay between the knocking and asking the dog to go to their mat. Reward any anticipation of the knocking and going to their mat. Eventually you want your dog anticipating that you always ask them to go to their mat after the door knocks so that they begin to run and lay on their mat at the sound of knocking. Once your dog starts responding simply with the knock, take out the “mat” word all together.
Gradually you can practice with louder knocking. Then practice with someone familiar outside, such as a member of the family. Have them knock and ask your dog to go to their mat. Practice repeatedly without the person coming in.
Train your dog to stay on their mat or bed…
In a separate session, train your dog to stay on their mat in a down while the door opens. Do this by having your dog on leash and without anyone outside of the door, open the door a crack and treat your dog for staying in place on the mat. If they stand up, shut the door and try again by opening the door less of the way the next time. Over time, you will want the door to be fully opened without your dog getting off of their mat. Practice having family members stand outside of the door as well and your dog staying in place.
Now, combine the training…
Next, you want to combine the training so that there is someone familiar outside of your door knocking and your dog will run to their mat. Then practice them staying on their mat while the door opens and the person steps inside. Then they can be given their release word, such as “okay,” which lets them know it’s okay to stand up and greet.
Practice with the same steps next to train your dog to lay down on their mat when they hear the doorbell, which will prepare your dog to lay on their mat regardless of whether a person knocks or rings when they come to your home.
The polished behavior should be a dog that goes and lays on his mat when the doorbell rings or someone knocks, and they stay on the mat while the door opens and a person comes inside until they are given a release word to go greet.
Related articles by Mikkel Becker:
Why Is My Dog Afraid of the Doorbell?
Stop Barking at the Doorbell (VIDEO)
My Dog Gets Overly Excited When We Have Visitors — How Do I Calm Her Down?
August 1, 2012 at 11:11 am
Great tips. This is definitely an area we need to work on with our pup. He starts barking even before the bell, as they are walking up to the door. We joke that he is our doorbell. I will try some of these training exercises. Sounds like there’s hope.
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August 1, 2012 at 4:15 pm
I’m glad that you found something that can help you!
The battery in our doorbell ran out and we haven’t replaced it. But the dogs love a door knock. We live in a rural area so if someone is knocking at our door, it’s probably a neighbor who is prepared to get a lot of love.
Kimberly
Twitter: thefurmom
August 7, 2012 at 1:31 pm
I personally like my dogs barking when someone is at the door. It lets me know someone is there and most people are less likely to bother trying to sell something to us or bother us when there’s dogs barking at them.
August 7, 2012 at 4:34 pm
I know what you mean, Susan
Our dogs are completely harmless and friendly, but they have big barks. Blue and Sydney scared a guy who was visiting my boyfriend last week, because they used their big boy barks. Rodrigo wiggled up to him to make a friend. We definitely get fewer solicitors now that we have dogs.
Kimberly
Twitter: thefurmom
August 13, 2012 at 2:27 am
I was looking for this info. Thanks to you!
December 13, 2012 at 7:19 am
This is GREAT advice and if followed with consistency WILL work for a majority of dogs.
Training a dog to go to their mat or bed is one of the easiest behaviors to train. It gets a little tricky when you incorporate the door cue and the stimulation of another human, but if trained with OCD type consistency, it has a great chance of working.
I have personally had a lot of success using a Cesar type methodology of simply claiming the door and the entry way and letting the dog know it is not their job to alert me to such stimulus. With medium energy level dogs simply backing them out of their space and resetting their mental state can work as well.
It’s always about combining the “no” with the “yes”….
NO – you cant act like a spazz and greet people when you want and how you want
YES!! – you can absolutely go to your designated place, come your silly butt down, and wait till you are invited if you would like to calmly greet MY guest….
Bringing both together is tricky at times, but oh so rewarding……
Again, GREAT advice in this post!!
KD
Twitter: KDMATHEWS1
December 13, 2012 at 4:54 pm
We rarely have guests so we’ve never trained our dogs to do this, but I think we should start.
What impressed me was that the pizza guy arrived, I was out back on a potty break with Rodrigo. He heard the car drive up and prepared to jet off to great our guest and I said “no, stay with mommy” and he stopped, finished his business, and then we went in the house through the back.
It was such a thrill!!!!
Twitter: thefurmom
December 13, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Just reading about your example with Rodrigo made me smile! I know exactly the feeling you had….nothing is quite like the excitement you experience when you watch one of your 4 legged kiddos have a moment where they show you that all your hard work, love, and effort paid off, and you successfully communicated an expectation to them!!
that’s AWESOME!!!!!
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KD Mathews recently published..Why the "STAY" Command Is Dumb And A Waste Of Breath……
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January 23, 2013 at 7:21 am
I have an Aussie mix that barks at everything. I could teach him not to bark. It would probably be a bit more difficult because of his breed instincts, but I could do it if I tried. You have some great tips and we are working on them in the sense that they have to wait patiently on their bet (mat) while I let visitors in. But I’ve decided I want my dogs to bark when people are outside my house. There are unsavory people out there claiming to sell something but are actually casing the place and knocking on doors to see if someone is home. My dogs are great theft deterrents.
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January 23, 2013 at 7:22 am
I meant bed, not bet.
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January 23, 2013 at 7:15 pm
I hear ya, Dawn. We live in a rural area – if you’re not the postal guy/gal or UPS guy, then you don’t belong here. I want our dogs to bark. One thing we did was put our dogs in time out for 10-20 seconds every time they barked. We only had to do this with Rodrigo and Sydney learned by watching. He’d bark, we’d say “oops” and then “time out” and walk him to the laundry room. It was so annoying, because we had to stick to it, but it didn’t take him long to realize that he couldn’t bark in the house.
Today, he barks once when he has to go out, when he’s hungry/thirsty, or lost a toy beneath the sofa.
Kimberly
Twitter: thefurmom
February 24, 2013 at 9:49 pm
After Mort barked at our front door that was *unlocked* by someone we didn’t know, we suddenly ceased asking him to stop barking!
But in all seriousness, this is all we had to do. Keep in mind Mort is so intense, his hackles raise (he is naturally a sensitive and insecure dog), and previously had a big issue with the doorway after a mishap as a 10 month old pup.
In a calm and confident, firm but positive tone and body language facing your dog (I picture that President Obama meme caption “Calm the __ down, I got this”), “Thank you, I got this – all is OK. Banana, Artichoke, ___insert any words here in same tone.___” Wait. They calm after you acknowledge the “door event” is fine. Open door. 99% of this is in your body language, tone, and relationship — you do not need to train anything, or use treats. This works with (many) shelter dogs you might volunteer with and don’t know well too around doors and other obstacles.
How long did it take with Mort to learn this new door behavior? Twice. And we barely get any visitors or doorbell rings, either
I can do this from 20 feet away, and all he’ll utter thereafter is an “ufff” under his breath.
The big advantage? They can still alert you (natural, acceptable response), they can join you at the door and you can continue training acceptable behavior (learn not to door dash when they are at the door – good behavior to learn without the doorbell involved), they know they are working with you and the event is fine, you can adjust the reaction, and you build your relationship/confidence/teamwork — it doesn’t become a training cue, involuntary response, or bribe for food. You also don’t need to search for treats or need a bed nearby – just your voice.
Just another option. Great article!
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Jen recently published..Diezel not given a chance at Sonoma Animal Care and Control
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February 25, 2013 at 7:36 am
Wow, what a fantastic solution, Jen. Thanks for breaking it down for us! This is amazing!!!
Twitter: thefurmom