Dog goes crazy at the door

Ms Tootsie

Ok so our guy has in the last few weeks got into the terrible habbit of going crazy if someone rings / knocks our door or tries to post something through the letter box.

It goes beyond barking, he is almost rabid and it looks scary to whoever is on the other side but the minute we open the door he is all tail wagging and licking and happy. He is not an aggressive dog in the slightest so I dont understand the latest going crazy at the door behaviour.

We would like to stop it - because as I say he goes nuts, the barking is so loud, he is jumping and banging off the door and I am pretty sure he scares some house callers with this until they get inside and see what he is actually like.

Any idea why he is doing this and how we can stop it? The OH has been trying to reward him when he settles but it seems the scamp thinks he is getting kudos for going nuts at the door :rolleyes:

Please no suggestions re: hitting, shock collars, noise emitters etc. We are very much on the side of positive and reward based training.

jsabina

Hi Kaza,
not many advices from myself, but I would like to follow the thread as my dogs are doing the same.
They are both very good dogs and friendly and they start barking and jumping (jago) if someone is at the dor, sometimes even just passing by or of course the postman.
They do sometimes also when I go back home at unespected hour!!

I am not really concerned and I think it's their way to "protect" the house.. when they see that the stranged is "allowed" they would stop..
but interested to know more!

kylith

I have this problem too. What I've been doing is scattering food while saying "Enough" when they're barking. Having to hunt for the food distracts them from barking. I've been doing it for a couple of weeks and now they stop barking and turn to look at me when I say "enough" then I throw the kibble. Seems to be working so far, hopefully I can phase the reward out and have them quiet without someone in the living room to distract them.

fatmammycat

I've trained my dog to come get me if someone is at the door, so much so that he will sometimes go half way across the living room towards the hall, give two or three big boy barks, and about face back to whatever room I'm in ( I seldom answer the door myself, my office towards back of the house).
It helped hugely with any kind of door 'amp up' and his motivation was food. So, it goes, doorbell, bark bark, find owner, get treat. You can train this pretty easily with someone else, get them to ring bell, dog reacts, you walk away, call dog, give treat/ball/what ever drives your dog. Repeat, until the sound of the doorbell becomes 'hey, we go get treat now?' and voila, no more slavering at the mouth the moment guests come in or people call. It didn't take long to teach either, he had it after a few goes.
Best of luck!

cocker5

My cocker was the same as a pup.... what i did was told him no, took him back from the front door and sat him on the stairs, told him stay... over and over again... I wouldnt opened the door until he was calm and sitiing on the stairs.

It worked for us, now when some one calls he runs out and sits on the stairs waiting for me to open the door. etc..

It did takes many months to prefect it, but i presisted and it paid off... i NEVER opened the door until he was sitting on the stairs and calm even if by then the claller had left ... he eventually got the hang of it... eventually

maggiepip

fatmammycat wrote: »

I've trained my dog to come get me if someone is at the door, so much so that he will sometimes go half way across the living room towards the hall, give two or three big boy barks, and about face back to whatever room I'm in ( I seldom answer the door myself, my office towards back of the house).
It helped hugely with any kind of door 'amp up' and his motivation was food. So, it goes, doorbell, bark bark, find owner, get treat. You can train this pretty easily with someone else, get them to ring bell, dog reacts, you walk away, call dog, give treat/ball/what ever drives your dog. Repeat, until the sound of the doorbell becomes 'hey, we go get treat now?' and voila, no more slavering at the mouth the moment guests come in or people call. It didn't take long to teach either, he had it after a few goes.
Best of luck!

Thats a good one I might try it!!! Im ashamed to admit Ive been putting up with ructions when the doorbell rings for the past 12 years and never bothered to do anything about it:o

Tranceypoo

maggiepip wrote: »

Thats a good one I might try it!!! Im ashamed to admit Ive been putting up with ructions when the doorbell rings for the past 12 years and never bothered to do anything about it:o

You're not alone.....

foreversky

My lad barks when he hears something outside want's to go out side to see what is going on.then he comes bk when it's all clear.

mymo

I tried the dropping food and saying enough...
Oliver nearly choked trying to bark and eat at the same time, then gave up trying to eat and just stood there barking.

DBB

There's loads of really good ideas and advice here OP, the common denominator between them all is that the owners taught their dogs an alternative, and more acceptable behaviour, in response to the doorbell ringing.
I'll just flesh it out a bit for you.
It is really important to practise and practise this at times that you don't actually need the dog to behave himself when the doorbell rings, and set yourself up that he simply cannot react to the doorbell unless he's under your influence. So for now, I'd disconnect the doorbell!
I like to send the dog to a certain spot when the doorbell rings: it could be into a nearby room (that's what happens here), onto his bed, or onto a mat that you have positioned somewhere convenient. Let's assume you're going to teach your dog to get into his bed, but the following applies no matter what alternative behaviour you decide upon.
You may already be able to do this, but if not, to teach him to get into his bed: you can lure him on with treats, then treat him for getting in his bed with a food reward from the other hand (the food lure should preferably not be used as the reward): When he starts to get the idea, you can introduce a command.. "Get into bed", or whatever, and then lure, bed, treat and major verbal rewards. As he learns to respond to the verbal command, you can start to get rid of that food lure, and just give him a treat once he has successfully gone into his bed.
Once he is pretty good at this, it's time to introduce the doorbell: you may be able to access a doorbell noise through a "silly sounds" type phone app! Or, you can get remote control doorbells in Argos for small money. It is ideal to be able to set off the doorbell without actually having to go to the door!
Now, you ring your doorbell, then as before, give the verbal command... "Get into bed", and treat him when he does it: you may find it useful to have him on a lead for the first few times you ring the doorbell. You may also find it useful to use a real jackpot reward for when he gets into bed in this more difficult setting... chicken, or baked liver, sausage.. whatever makes his toes curl with excitement!
And continue to practise this, until the doorbell ringing results in your dog making for his bed, almost before he's even asked!
This has the bye-effect of making the doorbell less novel too: you'll be ringing your remote-control doorbell so often, and not reacting as you usually do to the doorbell by racing to answer the door, that the doorbell will start to become almost boring for him.
This is why you want to disarm your doorbell for now, because you don't want to have to carry out any of the usual cues, for now, that set him off.
Once you have a pretty reliable response of going to bed (or whatever alternative you've opted for), then you can start to practise it for real, getting friends, or your OH, to call to the door repeatedly, so you can practise getting him into bed AND answering the door. As was advised above, you should never answer the door until and unless he's in his bed... and that's why you have to practise in life-like but unpressured scenarios first.
Why he has only started this now, I don't know... I know we've been getting more and more parcel-type deliveries from Christmas internet shopping, and the wallop things like books make on the floor have given me a start, let alone the dogs! So maybe something like this has set up a fearful, defensive reaction when anything happens at the door?

musicfan1ie

Our dog only goes nuts with the postman. Seems to know when it's him. He runs at the front door like a crazed dog and chews the lfront of the letter. He does it before the sound of the letter box etc, seems to just know it's him. He's fine with knocks on the door. He barks a bit, but not too bad.

I've read something about dogs, particularly related to postmen, is that they visit the house regularly and are never invited into the house, so dogs see them as suspicious.

ZiabR

My Lab does this but only since she came back from my Parents house. It seems be more a learnt behavior. My parents dog does it so now my Lab does it. Thanks for the tips DBB, never thought of disconnecting the bell.

Millem

kaza2710 wrote: »

Ok so our guy has in the last few weeks got into the terrible habbit of going crazy if someone rings / knocks our door or tries to post something through the letter box.

It goes beyond barking, he is almost rabid and it looks scary to whoever is on the other side but the minute we open the door he is all tail wagging and licking and happy. He is not an aggressive dog in the slightest so I dont understand the latest going crazy at the door behaviour.

We would like to stop it - because as I say he goes nuts, the barking is so loud, he is jumping and banging off the door and I am pretty sure he scares some house callers with this until they get inside and see what he is actually like.

Any idea why he is doing this and how we can stop it? The OH has been trying to reward him when he settles but it seems the scamp thinks he is getting kudos for going nuts at the door :rolleyes:

Please no suggestions re: hitting, shock collars, noise emitters etc. We are very much on the side of positive and reward based training.

Two of my dogs go ballistic when someone comes to the door. The plus side is we very rarely get door to door sellers or politicians we went to training classes and they told us to put them in the bed command (which the dogs are very good at) however one of the dogs (the same one each time) will get out of her bed as soon as I go which then sets the other two off. So if they are upstairs I put them behind the baby gate or if they are downstairs I lock them into the door. (The one who gets out of bed can also open doors, don't ask me where she learned that from she is a rescue!!) I reckon it would be much easier with just one dog

TooManyDogs

kylith wrote: »

I have this problem too. What I've been doing is scattering food while saying "Enough" when they're barking. Having to hunt for the food distracts them from barking.

This is exactly what I did and it worked perfectly. I scatter food into the kitchen and pull the sliding door and then answer the front door. Now they head into the kitchen and are excited to see anyone coming in cos it's been associated with good things. Granted having so many dogs does mean that competition will make sure they stick to finding the food rather than focusing on the guest because they know someone else will get it if they don't

bluecherry74

logik wrote: »

My Lab does this but only since she came back from my Parents house. It seems be more a learnt behavior. My parents dog does it so now my Lab does it. Thanks for the tips DBB, never thought of disconnecting the bell.

It's definitely a learnt behaviour. My older dog is deaf and obviously never reacts to the doorbell. My younger dog has followed her cues and whilst he knows what the doorbell means, he doesn't make a sound. He just hops off the couch and waits to see which of "his" (i.e. my) friends is at the door.

Ms Tootsie

Thanks for all the great advice guys! Going to pick up some raw chicken and kick start the training this weekend