When people come to the door or walk across our front garden one of my labradors (18months) barks loudly and alot and gets himself into a very agitated state.
Once he starts barking he sets the other one off (5 years) and it is very difficult to stop them, let alone open the door to guests. We have resorted to shutting them in another room whilst we open the door which can take ages.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Barking labrador
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Barking labrador
H J Doney
Owner of 2 naughty labradors
Owner of 2 naughty labradors
Firstly, a brilliant way to stop dogs all joining in and barking together is to give a treat to the one that isn't barking. Then when dog A starts, dog B can say 'ooh that means I get a sweetie' and comes to you rather than the other dog.
I think it's a good idea to shut dogs away when you let people in the house anyway, just because not everyone likes dogs, sometimes people can leave the door open and the dogs can get out, and it's just basically easier all around.
If you have a room you want to shut them in, you can keep a box of chews in there (out of reach) and then condition the dogs that when they hear the door, if they run into that room they'll get a treat.
I cheated when I did this with my dogs and bought some wireless doorbells. I bought two bells that hooked up to the same receiver. Before I put the bell on the outside of the door, I practiced ringing one of the bells, and then running into the kitchen to give the dogs a chew. After a while they started pre empting me and running into the kitchen waiting for the chew when they heard the bell. Once I'd reached that stage, I started giving them their chews, shutting the door and going to open the front door and pretending someone was there. After the dogs got used to that, I put the other bell on the outside for people to ring. The whole process from start to finish took about a week, and only a few minutes a day (although a lot of chews to start with!)
Now I've got the spare bell indoors, and I do ring that every now and then so that the dogs don't know the difference between there really being someone at the door and me ringing the bell.
There are other ways to do it, but I find that the easiest because the dogs really really want to run into the room and get their chew, and it also gives them something to do while I get rid of the inevitable salesman!
I think it's a good idea to shut dogs away when you let people in the house anyway, just because not everyone likes dogs, sometimes people can leave the door open and the dogs can get out, and it's just basically easier all around.
If you have a room you want to shut them in, you can keep a box of chews in there (out of reach) and then condition the dogs that when they hear the door, if they run into that room they'll get a treat.
I cheated when I did this with my dogs and bought some wireless doorbells. I bought two bells that hooked up to the same receiver. Before I put the bell on the outside of the door, I practiced ringing one of the bells, and then running into the kitchen to give the dogs a chew. After a while they started pre empting me and running into the kitchen waiting for the chew when they heard the bell. Once I'd reached that stage, I started giving them their chews, shutting the door and going to open the front door and pretending someone was there. After the dogs got used to that, I put the other bell on the outside for people to ring. The whole process from start to finish took about a week, and only a few minutes a day (although a lot of chews to start with!)
Now I've got the spare bell indoors, and I do ring that every now and then so that the dogs don't know the difference between there really being someone at the door and me ringing the bell.
There are other ways to do it, but I find that the easiest because the dogs really really want to run into the room and get their chew, and it also gives them something to do while I get rid of the inevitable salesman!
