Help! How Can I Train My Dog Not To Bark Or Act Aggressive When Someone Comes To The Door?
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He is an Itailian Greyhound mix and has extreme high anxiety
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Teach your dog that visitors are a good thing for him/her. When our dog was young, I kept a box of treats outside. When someone came to the door, I asked them to grab a treat and then come in, then give our dog the treat if she was being good. Raven soon associated new people = tasty treat. When somebody comes knocking, she usually comes streaking to the door — tail wagging, face happy, no barking! She doesn’t get treats anymore, but our visitors like to pet her because she’s so friendly and happy. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; once you get your dog to the point where he’s sweet, people will want to give him positive attention, which will make him like people more and expect good things from meeting new ones.
You should also make sure to give your dog some loving attention (if he/she is being good) while the visitor is there — let him know that you won’t ignore him just because other people show up. Don’t get angry at him if he barks, and don’t yell. Express pleasure and excitement that someone is at the door. Yay! Visitors! Make sure he knows YOU like visitors.
Also, if your house is near the street where the dog can see/hear people passing all day, you might consider keeping him in another part of the house or blocking the windows/doors so he can’t look out. Dogs have an instinct to protect their territory, and if a dog sees someone walk near, and barks, and the person keeps on walking, the dog will assume that he has successfully warned off a potentially dangerous intruder… so every time someone walks past your house, the dog is rewarded for barking. From the dog’s point of view, barking is a strategy that pays off, and he may be confused as to why you frown on it — he’s keeping you safe, day in, day out, and you have the gall to complain!
keep him on a leash whenever someone comes and scowl at him everytime he does something wrong.
It worked for me, I hope it workes for you!!!
My sister has a bark collar for her dog. Try that. It may seem mean but as far as I can tell it doesn’t hurt them. Good luck.
Talk to your vet and get a referral to a professional dog trainer — one who is kind and reputable! Best, Isabella
Hi!! You should get Cesar’s Way by Cesar Milan. I know the whole idea of “The Dog Whisperer” is kind of cheesy, but he really knows what he’s talking about. We read his book and were able to train our pup so quickly. He’s very obedient now. Plus, Cesar is highly regarded in the doggy world.
You should check out these websites for good deals on the book:
http://www.half.com
http://www.alibris.com
http://www.bookfinder.com
Good luck and please, let me know how it goes!!
If he gets to the door first, that makes him the dominant one in the house.
Try checking out the Dog Whisperer on national geographic.
This man, Cesar Millan is just phenomenal. I have seen many shows where after just 10-30 minutes the dogs behavior changes by 360 degrees.
I use a spray bottle with water in it. When my dog behaves bad, I squirt her and she stops. Soon your dog will know if she/he barks they get sprayed.
I was told to use a kennel and advise my guess that I had dogs. I have the similar problem with my 3 dogs. They all bark and want to jump on people when they come threw the door. I was told to tell my guess that I have dogs and that when come to the house, to either ring the bell or knock on the door. When I let them in to ignore the dogs and not to talk to them and to stay in one spot for a few minutes. Once the dogs calm to then reach to them and talk to them calmly. Now since you mentioned that there’s aggressive behaviour in your dog, that when the kennel comes in good use. Before your guess comes to your house advise them to be patient at the door, as you have to put the dog in the kennel close to the door. Then you let them in and they have to do the same as without the kennel. Once the dog calm, you can let him out and ignore him or her for a few minutes to give him chance to calm down a bit.
You’ll notice that his behaviour will change after a few times that you’ll do this exercise with him or her.
If you have a partner you can try this,asking your partner to act like a guess.
Hope this help!!
Good luck!!
The only things that worked for us was using “Bark Busters”. It was pricey but it really did work.
I’m a big fan of positive reinforcement, because it’s kinder on the dog and it generally produces more lasting effects..
What I would do is recruit a friend to practice walking by the house, and when your dog starts to bark, introduce him to your friend and have the friend give him something like a treat. When done enough, this will cause your dog to welcome new visitors rather than act aggressively.
get him a musle and he should stop for the most part …i had to do this with my bfs dog. and it worked .. they are like 5 bucks at petsmart..
I had the same problem, she would just go off when anyone walked by, came to the door or what ever, she is not vicious, doesn’t bite, and is actually a lover, and wouldn’t go after the people or anything she would just start barking and carrying on. She is also a pit bull so needless to say she put the fear into everyone. The only thing that worked for me was a shock collar, I know it sounds bad, but it worked, and it is no worse than putting a battery on your tongue. It took less than a week and half to get it under control.
Take him to group obedience training, that will give you some idea how to train him and make him socialized.
As to anyone who thinks the “Dog Whisperer” can magically fix any problem in a couple of minutes the way he makes it look on his show, I have some swamp land I’d like to sell to you.
Takes work and patience to properly train a dog, and no shock collars or pushing the dog down like Milan does is every going to make a good dog, both are aggressive training and make for aggressive dogs in the long run. Patience and repetition is the way to go – try those group obedience lessons, it’s fun and very helpful.
you can uy tose electric colars that should shut him up
there is a collor you can buy that is designed to calm them down… it doesnt hurt the dog it is actually really loose. but the positioning is like the wild alpha male dog has got the other dog aroung the nose to make him submissive.. kind’ve the same effect but its just a loose strap that sits accross the nose and makes them real calm. it doesnt restrict any movement at all its a mental thing.. my friend has a dog and when i walk in the dog goes crazy and jumps all over me but when the dog has that thing on when i come in he walks over to me and basically just wants me to pet him but waits for me to pet him and doesnt jump up and down and he doesnt bark