Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Champagne
Apr 29, 2009

I have 2 poodles 1 yorkipoo and 1 yorkchi. When people come to our door they all run to the door barking and jumping on them, they don't stop barking until our company sits down. When the door bell rings now I take them into the bedroom and close the door. They bark until we get settled,when our company leaves the barking starts again, until I let them out of the room. I really need help with this problem,outside of the barking they are wonderful companions. they listen to every thing but No Barking. I don't know if I should train them together or 1 at a time all help would be apreciated.

Champagne:

Posted by KOPsarah
Apr 30, 2009

Hi champagne,
This can be a common problem especially with multiple dog households. I would recommend starting training with one dog at a time. Put the other dogs somewhere out of sight. Have someone ready to knock on the door while your dog is loose inside the house and you are near the doorway ready to react. Have treats on you and make sure the dog knows you have them. Start by asking the dog to sit and giving it a treat. Repeat several times. Then get the person to knock on the door. As soon as the dog shows any sign of calming down again give it a treat. If it barks again or is distracted by the door wait again till it is calm and treat immediately. Repeat the knocking and treats without the person coming in until the dog is less interested in knocking sounds, once this occurs get someone to knock and then actually come in. Again ignore the dogs bad behavior completely but treat immediately when the dog behaves. Have the visitor coming through the door show no attention to the dog at all so it comes to find both knocks at the door and rather boring. Repeat often with all your dogs you should eventually be able to get all three dogs to sit when someone new comes to the house or leaves.

Let me know how you get on with your training and if you need any further assistance don't hesitate to ask