Is your dog or puppy overly enthusiastic when people come to your door? Running to the door, barking, or jumping on visitors when they arrive can become a real problem, especially when your 5-pound puppy turns into an 85-pound dog. Here are some steps to help:
Step 1: Desensitization
First you must desensitize the dog to the ringing of the doorbell and knocking on the door. To do so, you must repeatedly ring the doorbell and knock on the door until the dog doesn’t respond to them anymore.
Step 2: Increase Intensity
The next step is to make the bell ringing and knocking more intense-try doing both ringing and knocking at the same time. Then try it with strangers instead of people already in the household.
Step 3: Show the Dog What To Do
Teach the dog what you would like them to do when the doorbell rings or someone is knocking on the door without any distractions (sit, lie down, or go in their crate).
Step 4: Put It All Together
Combine steps one through three.
Step 5: Reinforce
Reinforcement is key to the dog understanding that they have to do this every time that the doorbell rings or someone knocks. Practice this frequently until it is a normal part of your dog’s routine.