Dog growling at people coming to the door

[Growlingdog]

We have an 8 month old puppy who is very calm and placid with the family but growls at people who come to the door. I don’t even want to invite anyone over because I don’t want them to be growled at (and don’t really trust the dog not to bite). We love the dog but this is really affecting our lives.
Can anyone help? Will she grow out of it or do we need an intervention?
Thank you

No - you need to intervene.

Behaviour like this is usually caused by fear and the belief that there is a need to protect home territory from everyone who enters.

Can you afford to bring a trainer/behaviourist in to do some sessions?

Basically, you need to teacher your pup that guests are a positive thing. This has to be done gradually and can be complicated to navigate without help (and risky, if you push it too far).

Generally, the way to train a dog out of this is to desensitise her to things like the doorbell ringing, then to someone in the doorway, then to someone coming through the door, etc. This is done using praise/treats only when she shows a moment of calm (to ensure you're rewarding any calm behaviour, not reinforcing nervous behaviour). You can also ask guests to have a bag of treats on them and also not look at your dog. Basically, they need to completely ignore her, relax, and let her come to them if she feels safe enough to do so.

*teach your pup

Thank you. Will look to get someone to help. I was hoping it might be a phase that would resolve itself.
Thank you for your reply

I wouldn't address this without the help of a professional as if you get it wrong, you could accidentally create a very dangerous situation where you end up with an aggressive dog who bites (or attempts to bite) visitors to your home.

Ask your vet for some recommendations for accredited behaviourists - your insurance might cover some of the costs too :)

Some breeds are more prone to guarding than others, btw, so it may be that this behaviour is (at least partially) genetic.

No problem OP. Good luck! My dog does the same thing and it’s a work in progress. I hope you get on well with it!

We had the same - triggered by a house move in our case.

I also hoped it would resolve itself. It didn't.

A session with a behaviourist did resolve it though.

Make sure the behaviourist you see is APBC or CCAB qualified - literally anyone can call themselves a behaviourist so this is important.

In a puppy of 8 months it is highly unlikely to be a big issue if dealt with carefully.
Initially make sure your puppy does not have interactions with people at the door. So let them watch from a distance or in another room

DO NOT encourage the visitors to give the dog a treat this will just add conflict to the situation eg the dog wants the treat but is scared to go to the visitors.

You can give treats yourself away from the door whilst a family member goes to the door.

RIng the door bell a few times and treat for the door bell in the dogs bed, so the dog learns to go to the bed not rush to the front door. That alone will make a huge difference

Thank you very much everyone- very helpful and much appreciated xxx