Tips to get a middle aged dog to stop barking when the door goes.

[C0rdeliaChase]

He's almost 9, really well-behaved and good-natured. He was very easy to train as a pup, but the one thing we could never get him to stop doing was to stop him barking when someone knocked at the door.

We've pretty much just accepted it as his one flaw, it's cute how excited he gets when it's a visitor he knows.

But, I'm starting a new WFH job next month. DH works nights, so needs to sleep during the day. We only have one tiny living room and I'm going to have to set up my workstation there. I'm being provided with a desktop, not a laptop which means I won't be portable.

The job is mostly answering the phone so I'll need quiet. I really need to find a way to stop him from barking if someone does knock at the door. I can't have him loudly barking when I'm on a call.

So wondering if anyone has any tips on how to help? Oh, he's a Border Collie, btw.

TBH I’d stick a note on the door!

Our border collie's just the same. If you have a door bell with a tune, change the tune, as they associate the sound with the action. Keep him in a different room with the radio on as a distraction? Note on door, also.

My lab does this and I had a trainer do some sessions but she still barks so it’s a tough nut to crack and it can take a while to properly sort out. Like others have said a note would work. I have a sign I got from Etsy saying don’t knock on my door leave deliveries by bin too.

I also use a remote controlled dog feeder called a Trixie to dispense treats when someone is about to knock on my door which helps to desensitise the noise,

I also learnt that you should avoid shouting or raising your voice (if you do) as a dog can misinterpret that as encouraging them to keep doing barking.

Good luck

Following with interest. I put a note on the door, and close the curtains. Not ideal but defo works wonders.

I think it's unlikely that this can be solved in your timescale, if indeed it can be solved at all. For the time being I'd focus on management strategies. If you do move on to training you'll need to have management strategies in place anyway, as it's going to be very difficult to train out the behaviour while he still gets the opportunity to practice it.

Without knowing more about your setup it's hard to suggest what management might look like, but you could start by thinking about what exactly sets him off - is it people ringing the bell or does he pick up on people walking up the path, opening the gate or whatever? Is it particular visitors or everyone? That should give you some ideas about how to minimise the triggers.

I've found that notes on the door only work when delivery drivers take the time to read them, some are great but some just bang on the door regardless, so you might need to restrict your online ordering to companies who use local delivery drivers you can trust.

Sorry I don't have a better solution. My dog is a sweetie but is known locally as 'the little brown dog who barks in the window' despite input from a qualified behaviourist and some of the best dog trainers in the country. Keeping a detailed diary of what exactly set her off enabled me to see that her main triggers were people or things actually coming through the door, or things like the sight or sound of the post van that predicted that this was about to happen. I put an external post box up for letters and I always request delivery to the back door, this has made things much more manageable. I tried lots of things unsuccessfully until I kept the diary so I'd recommend this as a starting point.

That's just a normal dog thing, surely. I know, not helpful. Can you put him in a room at the back of the house with music playing? Sometimes works for my dog. Not that we do it intentionally, that just how things are at the time.

Get a door bell.
Before the door bell goes on the door press the door bell and put treats in the dogs bed
Ring the door bell regularly and put treats in the dogs bed
When the dog recognises the doorbell tone to go to their bed and get a treat you can put the door bell on the door.
Do give your dog treats for going to their bed at the sound of the door bell.

With a collie will take about 2 days to train.

^^ this

i did this and now when the doorbell goes my dog sprints to her bed and waits there for her treat.