Why Your Puppy Barks When Strangers Are At The Door
One reason your puppy barks is from an instinct handed down to her from her grey wolf ancestors of 15,000 years ago. Wolves then (as now) lived in packs, and barking was a way of scaring off intruders and alerting the rest of the pack to a achievable danger. Today, you and your family are your puppy’s “pack,” and she engages in this sort of territorial barking whenever she senses a stranger nearing her pack’s “den” (in this case, your house). Not surprisingly, it’s this incredibly habit in your puppy that makes her an excellent watch dog, so it is possibly not something you need to stop entirely. The challenge arises when your puppy starts barking at the approaching letter carrier or family friend and does not stop.
When your puppy initial alerts you to someone at the door, it is best to let her know you’ve got received the warning with a warm pet and whatever verbal indication of approval the two of you’ve got worked out by this point (which is likely to be some variation on “good dog”). At that point, the barking ought to cease. If it does not, use a short command like “Stop” or “No additional,” delivered firmly and strongly, but not angrily.
As with most training, you need to back up the command with positive reinforcement when your puppy obeys you. It could take a even though for your puppy to stop barking and exhibit the behavior you would like to reinforce with praise or a treat. But eventually, she will quit barking and as soon as she is silent for as briefly as a few seconds, pour on the reward.
But although all this is going on, the individual outside is waiting for someone to open the door, generating this type of training rather impractical to use on just any approaching stranger. One strategy to get about which is to have a friend volunteer to play the stranger in a purposely planned training exercise. Have your designated stranger approach the house and ring the bell whilst you and your puppy wait inside. When your puppy starts to bark, thank her. If she keeps on barking, give her the command to “Stop!” and wait quietly until she does. When your puppy stops barking, give her praise and a treat. Then move away from the door, have your “stranger” ring the bell, and start off the process over again.
By then end of numerous repeats, your puppy should be responding additional speedily to the “Stop!” command. Do this over numerous days, and your puppy must learn to fall silent in just a number of seconds. Your volunteer stranger will invest a whole lot of the exercise standing outdoors, which is why you might need a especially patient friend to help you with this game. And you’ll surely need to do it in good weather!
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