Are You Fed Up With Your Dogs Barking At Visitors?
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Stop Your Dogs Barking When Visitors Arrive
Does your dog growl and bark at visitors when they come to the door? If he does, that's good barking!
We want our dogs to alert us to visitors, or strangers approaching the house - the sound of barking dogs will always deter burglars.
However, we don't want our dogs barking to continue after we've answered the door - we want them to sit quietly and patiently until our visitors have entered the house and are settled.
Unfortunately, what we want and what we get may sometimes be two entirely different things!
Don't worry though, help is at hand.
Stop Dogs Barking At Visitors!
To stop dogs barking when visitors come to call, you can either teach your dog the 'Be Quiet' command and use the command each time you have visitors, or you can follow these simple steps below.
Either way, your dog will be displaying perfect manners in no time!
Don't allow your dog to meet visitors at the door.
Let your visitor know that you're training your dog and ask them to ignore him completely; they shouldn't even look at him.
Give your visitor a couple of treats and ask them to throw one to your dog, but without making eye contact and without speaking to your dog.
Allow your dog to pick up the treat and ask your visitor to ignore the dog.
If your dog approaches your guest in a calm manner, he may reward your dog with another treat and eye contact can be made.
If your dog remains calm, your vistor may stroke and welcome your dog, but shouldn't make too much of a fuss of him.
If your dog misbehaves, or is not calm, ie jumps up or barks, let him know you're not happy with his behaviour by saying, 'No' or 'Bad Boy' and remove him to another room. Leave him there for a few minutes before letting him back in again.
If your dog insists on misbehaving, continue removing him from the room for a few minutes - he'll soon get the message!
If you practice the above exercise each time you have visitors, your dog will soon learn that:
Visitors are not a threat to him or you;
If he misbehaves, he will be excluded, and won't be given a treat;
If he behaves well, he will be allowed to join in the fun, and he'll be rewarded with treats!
Consider leaving a bag of treats hanging outside the front door, or on the garden gate, and ask regular callers, eg the postman, to give your puppy a treat each time he delivers the mail. This way your puppy will associate the postman, or anyone in a uniform, as a friend and learn to trust them.
