I have raged war on a bad habit in this household

[Lizabeth]

My grand puppy has a bad habit that has become worse and worse, he barks and barks every time someone knocks at the door, he will not stop, he will not stop when people come in, then he jumps on the people. Gidget is not aloud to bark none stop, she is not aloud to jump on people, and she is not aloud to bark and bark none stop.

 

So here is the problem. Gidget gets in trouble, Orion does not......... Because he does not jump hard! Well Grandma has put her foot down. The past 2 weeks I have been working slowly on these dogs teaching them how to behave when we have guests over.

 

First they have been left in the other room with the baby gate up until they can sit quietly before being brought in to meet our guests, sometimes not even brought in at all should it not be necessary.

 

This last 2 weeks we have been working on sitting in the kitchen while I knock at the door, they are to sit and be quiet, if they do so they get a treat. then they sit quietly I knock and open the door, if they can they get a treat, and then i do so again and I open the door and say hello, They are actually letting me open the door say hello and then opening the screen door with out barking or moving!

 

We will continue this for awhile having them sit in the other room with the baby gate up when real company comes, then we will try with a real guest and see how they respond.

 

This morning I did however bring them into the kitchen to greet my daughters bf telling them they could enter but to be calm and to come in and say hi, they did so well I gave them a treat and told them to sit down and relax they both did!

 

Poppy was so proud of them. she will give them the funniest looks because if one screws up no one gets a treat. She just is the little cheerleader over there when we are training for those 2 to get it rite the first time so she gets her treats

[KaliFreya]

Maybe this tutorial could help. I'm dealing with barking at the door with my smaller bc mix, Kali, who is extremely vocal in general. I've made the mistake of allowing it to become a habit, and now I need to deal with it the best I can. We are working on staying calm when somebody passes by our door, and will gradually habituate her to people knocking/ringing.
I'm afraid this is one of those things that really take some time and patience, and sometimes to them barking is more rewarding than getting that treat, so I have to be creative with rewards I give, to always keep her interested in earning it.

[Tommy Coyote]

My dogs do not bark at people. Isn't that strange? They bark at cats, other dogs, squirrels, or just to express their pure joy at running around the back yard. But they do not bark at people. They are not watchdogs.

[Gideon's girl]

My dogs do bark when people come to the house, but I want them to. Once I acknowlege them, they stop, so nothing excessive, but strangers know I have dogs, if they come to the door.

[rushdoggie]

Good job!

 

I train dogs all the time, mine do all kinds of weird and wonderful behaviors, and yet sometimes I am still surprised at how well training works.

 

Its an amazing feeling when you decide that you are going to change something, and you set a plan and you get what you want.

[CMP]

When my dogs bark at a door knock, I thank them sincerely, praise them and tell them to "no speak". It works once they get the concept. Dogs who don't stop barking are put away pretty quickly.

 

If they put paws on someone without being asked they are instantly put away and not allowed back until the people are leaving. My dogs put paws on me all the time and I like it but most people don't so they need to get that. By put paws on, I mean jump. The BC puppy has discovered that touching someone gently with one paw on their leg is sort of okay.

 

Good for you for training this stuff - it will make YOUR life much better

[Gideon's girl]

I tried "No Bark" with Micah. He would shut up immediately for the "No" part and then bark immediately for the "Bark" part, just that fast. I tried about 10 times and got the exact same response each time. I finally taught "Hush."

[CMP]

hahahaha - that's hilarious

 

I use "no" in front of many other words they learn so they are pretty used to the linguistic device.

 

In fact, I concatenate words a lot for the smarter dogs

 

"home" is a concept. I add "go", "stay" and "come" regularly - by the time they are about a year, they have it all down.

 

I add "no" to many things: no speak, no bite, no jump, no chew. Seems to work out okay as long as you have proofed both words. No proofs itself, of course.

[Lizabeth]

Thanks for the video and the input, they used to bark just when someone came to the door, then they started this barking at people who walked past the house, some of you know just how out of hand that got when we first got Gidget, Then it settled down, now it has become just a horrible habit that the more we tell them to stop the worse it has gotten.

 

So far so good on curbing it, I will watch the video after I wake up a bit. It is like one starts the other follows, then the youngster "Gidget" gets way too excited and hyped up we have to nip this one in the bud. They want to please so I do have that working in my favor.

[Gideon's girl]

hahahaha - that's hilarious

 

I use "no" in front of many other words they learn so they are pretty used to the linguistic device.

 

In fact, I concatenate words a lot for the smarter dogs

 

"home" is a concept. I add "go", "stay" and "come" regularly - by the time they are about a year, they have it all down.

 

I add "no" to many things: no speak, no bite, no jump, no chew. Seems to work out okay as long as you have proofed both words. No proofs itself, of course.

I do likewise. Micah is the first dog I've had where this didn't work, out of about 30. He can handle "Let's go" and "Go on" and "Go home" and several other word combos, but not "No ...." That may be his sense of humor though. He definitely has a strong sense of humor. I specifically teach "Bark" so I can teach "No bark" Micah didn't get the memo.

[Andie182]

My problem is that I work 24 hour shifts 2 days a week and when I am at work my husband is home with the dogs. We have a Chihuahua and an English Pointer that we have had since they were puppies and my husband has spoiled them rotten!!!! They beg for food and bark at the door!!!!!!! Drives me nuts but every time I get a handle on them, I have to go to work and he undoes everything that I have done!!!! I've written them off as a lost cause. Hubby is under orders that he is not to touch my new BC puppy when I am at work other than to feed her and let her out in the back yard a few times a day to let her run around!!!! He better follow the rules or I am taking HIM to obedience school!!!!! LOL

[Gideon's girl]

LOL!! That's when the choke chain comes out!

[Lizabeth]

Id like a remo for Gidget, on, off, slow. reverse, pause, mute, oh how nice that would be, and while I am at it how about a set of blinders, like they put on horses!! Little miss busy body over here is so interested in what the other dogs are doing, not wanting to miss out on any fun, never goes potty, she will wimpier to go out, then forgets! I tell Orion no playing Gidget has to potty, she still forgets, even when I tell her. So after I have gotten totally tired of it, I make her hold it tell her back teeth are floating, then she will go (maybe). Even if I put her out by herself she forgets to potty! She is such a silly little thing at times.

 

It could be worse, we had a couple times where she was too scared to go outside for whatever reasons, now its just shes too busy having fun or sticking her nose in the other dogs business to bother to think about her own. That's my girl!