Barking when people come in.

[Diana Allen]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop my dog from barking at people when they come in the house.... Cagney seems to have a hard time settling down when regular friends come in.... he seems scared sort of ... .barks and kinda cowers away....

[Diana Allen]

Hi there.... Cagney will keep barking for about 2 minutes until he gets told over and over to stop it.... it is very annoying... the treats don't work... wish it did....it seems so ridiculous as these are the same people who come over and over each week and he acts like it is the first time meeting them....I do appreciate your input on this.... :)

[Barbara Burrows]

Molly does the same thing, she isn't scared but barks when someone comes to the door. I try to get her settled before I open the door. I have her to go to her mat, tell her to be quiet and to stay. She knows she has to be quiet to get off the mat. I practiced having someone come to the door, have her go to the mat and give her a treat for staying there until I released her.
She was shy when she was younger, I ask people to ignore her until she approaches them.

[Diana Allen]

Hi there... I like this angle... I will give it a try... I tried giving treats to the people upon entering but he takes them and still barks at them.. .so I will see if I can get him to stay and reward him if I can get him to be quiet and not leave the mat... worth a try... it is so unneeded... I agree about ignoring Cagney too until he is ready to feel comfortable with them... it is just odd that it is the same people over and over and it is a scene each time... I appreciate you help....:)

[Ginny Nightingale]

I have a relative whose dog acts the same way and one of my doodles is like this with men. I keep her sitting BY ME as they come in and I do not release her from my side until she has settled down. That is when she gets treats. I do not think having the guests give her treats will help because she will associate a reward with barking and being unfriendly. I tried giving my relative's dogs a treat as soon as I get there, so the dog will like me more--it has backfired, because now he barks at me UNTIL I head for the treats and give him one! Then he runs away and is afraid of me anyway! Some dogs are not overly friendly and its hard to change that.

[Diana Allen]

AWW had to laugh at your story... sometimes eh... you just can't win!

[Holly Doodle]

We have also been having this issue, we're starting to get it under control by using treats and a water bottle. If she's quiet she gets a treat, if she barks she gets sprayed in the face. It has worked pretty consistently but we have to know when someone is coming over so one of us can answer the door and the other can be by her. Our problem has been getting it to carry over to when we don't know that someone is coming. You may want to try it :).

[Diana Allen]

Thanks for the tip..... and you are right ... knowing when someone is coming is the thing....!