Dog training - delivery problem

[deedeemegadoodoo]

My dog is 2 1/2. He walks fine in the lead, has great recall when out and will obey instructions (sit, quiet, come on, food, drink etc).

The one are where I just cannot get a handle on is when the postman, deliveries or strangers come to the door. He goes absolutely nuts with barking. He has recently started coming to me if I say ‘sit’ as I started to give him a small treat whenever he did it (in both calm and stressful situations). However, he is still barking a lot. We have tried to shut him in the back of the house when we answer the door, but this not solving the problem.

There has been a couple of occasions where he squeezed out the door, ran after someone and jumped up at the back of the legs and either scratched or nipped. Even worse, we shut him in the back, he ran round to the front and through the gate which the wind blew open!

Is this something I could train him not to do myself, or has it gone beyond that now and need to call in a professional trainer?

Hmm not sure but I have inadvertently trained mine to run into a certain room and sit behind a baby gate. I never actually did any training as I used to usher him in and close the gate whenever someone came to the door but now he briefly barks and then runs into the room automatically.

That’s a good idea @biteyshark. The problem ramped up during lockdown as were were both working from home for a period, and my husband still is. I find that I am more consistent with the dog commands etc. Another problem is that if my husband is in an online meeting, he can t just break off and deal with the dog.

I wonder if I could train my dog to go to a specific place when I say ‘door’? Train him to do that when noone is there, and then when people are at the door?

For now, you really need to keep him behind a door or barrier when the door goes - he has already scratched and nipped at people - you could be in real trouble if someone reported you.

There are lots of videos online about training door manners but for now your main concern needs to be to keep him (and visitors) separate.

You need your dog to be behind a safely closed door.

Yes I agree we have been keeping him behind the door, however, this will make the problem rather than solve it. I will have a look online, and have words with my husband about making sure this happens.

Mine even runs to the room when the tesco delivery van turns up . If you can use a baby gate to pen in a room you could take it in turns to knock on the door with the other person leading him to the room, close gate, throw in treats, answer door then throw in more treats and then let him out. As I said I never did that to train my dog but he just knows door means he will needs to go into the room so it was just the association as I did it every time.

Yes I agree we have been keeping him behind the door, however, this will make the problem rather than solve it

Why do you feel it will make it worse?

It's the safest thing for everyone involved - it means the dog can't run out (and potentially get injured or lost) and it means the person knocking on the door can deliver parcels or come inside safely. My dog is three and always behind a closed door or baby gate when the door goes.

If you want to train him not to bark then you need to desensitise him to the sound of the door or the bell, but dogs will naturally bark at the door - it's normal for them to "guard" their homes and alert you of potential dangers.

@icedcoffees that was a typo - it should have said MASK the problem. We will keep him out of the way, but would rather train him as well in case he gets outs (like he did the other day - our garden is pretty secure and we leave the patio door open so the dog and cat can sit outside. The gate to the back garden is also at the front of the house and it had blown open a touch and he got through two gates)

I would say the few occasions he has got out was when it was my husband opening the door so, like many dog issues, the problem is actually human!

Most dogs will run out of the door if given the opportunity - even if you train a stay or a wait, if they see a cat/another dog/a person on the road with a burger, they won't listen

As with most things with dogs it's all about management. Stop him ever getting the chance to go out - so bolt and lock the gate all the time, with a padlock if necessary. Have a rule so that the front door can only be opened if the dog is behind another door or baby gate etc.

By all means work on desensitisation towards the door but the best thing to do is to set your dog up for success by denying him access from the get go 😊

You need to supervise the dog in the garden until you can secure it properly. Getting nipped and scratched hurts and it shouldn't be something that delivery drivers have to face as part of their job. Training might be a long term solution but short term you need to ensure that no one else is injured.

@Doveyouknow the garden is secure - we have a gate that has a latch and a deadlock, we also have a smaller gate from the garden to the yard area where the locked gate is. However, I take all your points. I’ve spoken to my husband and we are going to get a proper metal gate rather than the small wooden one fro the garden to the yard.

My original post was about a long term solution. After the first couple of incidents, we have kept him in the back (behind a door). There has been one time where he ran round and got out the gate - this is where we want to find a long term solution. Please don’t think he is left to run around as he pleases because he is not,

Thanks all for your responses, we will get a trainer in.

Have you tried answering the door with the dog on a lead?

Other things to try

When he barks, tell he is GOOD (for alerting you), then introduce him to the postie and praise him again for becoming quiet. Make friends with your regular postie.

Try getting between him and the door and telling him to settle. If you tell him to be quiet from behind he will think you are also shouting at the delivery person.

Send him to another room or his crate, where ever his safe space is.

Dogs bark at delivery people (intruders), delivery person goes away, dog is very happy that barking made the nasty person go away so repeats the procedure.

A good behaviourist will work with the training you already have in place to find a solution.

Put a bolt on your gates, they should not be able to blow open in wind.

Thanks for that. If I answer the door and he is there, I pick him up and introduce him to whoever it is. That usually settles him. I will suggest the lead to my husband.

We have a bolt on the gate but it was unlocked due to bin collection. But it is something we need to remember,

Don't pick him up, use the lead. There is a reason big dogs are better trained.
If we all trained our dogs like they were Rottweilers, there would be no behaviour problems.

You and your husband need to be on the same page. Easier said than done.

Behaviourists are a good investment BUT you always end up feeling 'Doh, I knew that'. A good behaviourist can train your husband