How can I stop my dog from barking and rushing to the door when the doorbell rings?
Your dog has learned that the sound of the doorbell predicts an exciting, or for some dogs, scary event – visitors! Every single time the doorbell rings, there is someone at the door. If you want your dog to stop barking and rushing to the door when the doorbell rings, teach your dog that the doorbell almost always predicts absolutely nothing.
You can do that by ringing the doorbell many times a day with nobody at the door. An easy way to accomplish this is to switch to a wireless doorbell system with two remote button units (if you already have this you are ready to go). If you don’t already have a wireless system, you can pick one up fairly inexpensively at any do-it-yourself store, just make sure you get a system with two button units. You will need to permanently switch to the new wireless system because your dog will be able to tell the difference between the sound of your current doorbell and the new one, and will learn that one sound predicts visitors but the other doesn’t.
Replace your current doorbell with one of the wireless button units. Keep the other button unit in your pocket. Ring the doorbell many times a day for several days. At first your dog will bark and run to the door. Eventually, after the bell has rung many times with nothing happening, he will begin to ignore it. Once he no longer reacts to the sound of the doorbell, ringing the bell a few times each day will be enough to convince your dog that the doorbell almost always predicts nothing.
You can take this approach even further by ringing the bell and then opening the door and pretending to greet someone. Your dog will learn that the sound of opening the door and greeting usually predicts nothing and will stop reacting to those sounds as well. After awhile your dog will snooze right through a UPS delivery to your front door.
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LJ Burgess says
I WANT my hound to run to the door barking his head off when someone’s
There! I don’t mind if it scares them off either!
Good job Milo, good job!