Why do dogs go crazy at doorbell? Here’s What to Do Next

How do I get my dog to stop barking at the door knocking?Five steps to stop your dog barking at the door

  • Treat the door (or your visitors) like any other distraction. …
  • Encourage your dog to go to its bed when people arrive. …
  • Enlist help from friends or family. …
  • Take it outside. …
  • Be prepared to keep at it for the long haul.
  • Normally, family just walks in but guests ring the doorbell. This leads to extra excitement because the sound of the doorbell means that a new and exciting person has come to visit. To help your pup be better behaved when the doorbell rings, family members should ring the doorbell when they come home and calmly enter once the pup is quiet. If you are already home when another family member comes home, then you can go to the door and practice the sit and stay before letting the family member in.

    Next, teach your dog to sit and stay at a designated spot by the door. This spot should allow your pup to see who’s there, but still allow people to enter without your dog being in the way. Practice the sit and stay position by having someone come to your door without ringing the bell or knocking and repeating that step several times. If at any point your dog breaks their stay, close the door with the person outside. Soon your dog will realize that the only way he gets to see the person is if they hold the stay position.

    Does your pup go crazy every time someone comes to the door? In many households, the sound of the doorbell or knock often triggers loud barking and an overly excited dog. However, with training and patience, you can teach your dog to remain calm when guests arrive. Control the chaos by changing what the dog associates with a ding-dong or a knock on the door and rewarding good behavior.

    Sit and stay are great behaviors for any dog. Not only do they prevent your pup from becoming crazed when the doorbell rings, but these commands also stop them from running out the open door. Start by teaching your dog basic sit and stay commands and slowly start taking more and more steps back as your dog is successful. During this process, make sure to teach your dog a clear “release command”. This is a word or gesture that you tell your dog when they are allowed to move. Some examples of these words are “Ok!” or “Release!” The Canine Coaches at Dogtopia use “Play!” This release word teaches your pup that they must stay, even if guests walk in, until the pet parent clearly releases the pup to greet the person.

    Start by getting another family member or friend to ring the doorbell or knock on the door and immediately feed your furry friend a treat. If your dog starts to bark, simply ignore your pup. Once your pup is quiet, try again. Treat your dog for not barking. Your dog will already be excited so stay calm and use soothing praise throughout this exercise. If you can’t recruit a helper, you can carefully open the door (make sure your pup doesn’t run out!) and ring the doorbell or knock on the door. Most dogs will bark even when they can see the person ringing the bell. Practice for 3-5 minutes. Take a break, put the treats away, and repeat again later. Your pup will quickly learn that being calm and quiet earns a treat but chaos is ignored.

    Condition Your Dog To Expect A Treat

    Ring the bell or knock on the door and immediately feed your dog the treat. It does not matter if he is barking and running around like crazy. These are symptoms of his excitement and can’t be reinforced by giving him the treat. Sometimes you have to start by just throwing the treat on the ground until he realizes he is being treated. Continue to ring the bell or knock every 15 seconds for 5 to 10 repetitions. Stop, put the treats away and repeat later. Your goal is that when the dog hears the bell ring or a knock on the door, he immediately comes to you for a treat instead of going crazy at the door. When this happens, you are ready to plug in a new behavior.

    HELP! – My Dog GOES CRAZY When the Doorbell Rings!

    Boy oh boy, you would not believe how many times dog trainers get asked this one! It is a SUCH a big problem for dog owners coast to coast! I am happy to offer some real-life solutions.

    Why do so many dogs go crazy when someone knocks at the door or rings the doorbell? There are a variety of probable reasons. Here are a few:

    Dogs are always observing us and their surroundings, and things we are not cognizant of can become a cue to the dog. I recently worked with a delightful woman from the Deep South. She is a very friendly person who recently adopted a large shelter dog. The dog had begun to bark (she had a loud bark!) whenever anyone rang the bell or knocked on the door. As I was reframing what those sounds meant to the dog, I was making good progress when, on a whim, I added these words in a singsong type of voice that I have heard many people from the South use: “Who is it?”

    And that set the dog off, and she immediately barked. The owner asking “who is it?” had become the cue to bark. In all actuality, this dog was indeed a well-trained dog!

    Owners can also inadvertently create havoc at the door by pushing the dog down, kneeing the dog, pinching the dog’s front paws, or running around like a maniac screaming: “Off! Off! Off, Fido! Off!”

    We have a saying in dog training: You get what you reinforce. All the above actions, which may seem punitive to us humans, can look a lot like playtime to a dog. Alternatively, some dogs will accept the harsh feedback from a human because it still falls into the category of human attention. Most often, none of these attempts will stop the frantic door behavior.

    Also, I never advocate using physical force to train any animal. Why go there when there are so many force-free ways to teach animals how we want them to behave?