Why does my dog bark at the doorbell?

Nothing can shatter peaceful lounging more than the sudden shrill of loud barking when the doorbell rings. To many owners irritation, it can often take several minutes before their dog calms down. When you have an enthusiastic barker it is either because they are happy to have a guest or annoyed you have a guest, you will know which one it is.

Remember, if it is the latter take precautions to ensure that your guest is safe. We suggest that if your dog is untrustworthy with guests either employ the use of a muzzle or pop him out in the garden and investigate the idea of employing behavioural techniques to resolve the problem.

Most dogs find the doorbell ringing a huge stimulus and although shouting at them sometimes stops that instance of barking, it does not get to the underlying problem that triggers it in the first place. The best way to approach this problem is to teach your dog an alternative response to the doorbell ringing.

Note, if your dog is an enthusiastic greeter to all who come to your door read how I stop my dog jumping.

One way is through a process called "flooding". Your dog is of course barking because past experience of the bell ringing has always meant that someone has or is entering your territory. The flooding technique involves ringing the doorbell over and over at irregular intervals. The important part of this is that there should be nobody new for the dog to bark at and they slowly come to realise that the doorbell ringing does not mean that someone has arrived. This process with time and patience resolves the issue of your dog barking at the door.

Remember, here at All About Dogs we know that there is more than one way to resolve an unwanted behaviour if you feel this method would not work for you please contact us for alternative solutions to the problem.