Inappropriate Greeting At The Door

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

One of the things we're struggling with is how Murphy responds to guests when they first arrive.  It usually starts with Guinness hearing someone at the door (before they knock or ring the bell).  He (Guinness) gets excited and runs to the door.  That sets Murphy of and he runs, following his brother and barking the whole way.  We keep leashes at the door so that we can immediately leash him up...but he's already in a his "zone" at this point.  It's very difficult to control him, even with the leash...he's jumping and just going "crazy".  Now at this point, Guinness gets all upset himself, and he starts.  It takes a good five minutes of struggling before I get the two of them calmed down enough to do a sit/stay.  Sometimes the visitor is still outside during this, and other times they're standing at the door looking horrified.  After this five minutes of "crazyness" things are fine, and the dogs relax and are great with the visitor.  Anyone else with this problem....how do you handle it?

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

On a side note...Murph has trained me this exact same way. We use poochie bells for when he has to go potty. Everytime I hear the poochie bells ring all I can think is Murphy has to potty so I go running down the stairs. Perfect example of how the doodles think...he rings the poochie bells and associates that with going outside....not necessarily going potty. See where i am going with this? Poochie bell..door open..potty becomes secondary. Which is exactly why I have to remove the poochie bells when murph is bored because he just rings them to get me to open the door so he can get outside to play. Hope i am making sense. Don't know what time it is there but it is 11:30 here and I have had a few glasses of wine :) Keep up the good work!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

That is funny!! I guess what goes around DOES come around!! But I do understand what you are saying about training Tara so when she hears the bell it means to go to her place, stay and wait to be released rather than her current response to the sound of the bell. Pavlov and you have proven it's possible!! LOL!!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Thanks for all the good information and encouragement!! I love working with Tara and she really is pretty easy to train, at least compared with some of my former dogs who were more strong willed. As with all of us the onus is on me to keep up the frequency and consistency of training. It is really nice to be working from home and be able to spend that much more time with her during the day (training and snuggling) :)

[cheryl & oliver]

Hi Jane, I have the same problem here as you do. When they hear someone at the door, or the doorbell rings, they both are uncontrollable. I have to just tell the person on the outside to either back up, and I open the door, (they won't run away) they just get very excited and circle the person, and then when the person or persons come in they are fine. I have tried everything I know of and nothing seems to help...It is like they block me out completely when someone comes to the door. I am going to have to try and see if I can do what Rona did with her Murphy. I know with two of them it is going to be a real challenge, and I just hope I am up to it, but it will have to wait until my knee is better. I took a bad fall several weeks ago and my knee is not up to a 70 lb and 55 lb dog charging at me. The thing that bothers me is, that once I open the door they stop barking and just let the people come in, although they do greet them on the proch, and then proceed to walk in with them...

[Adina P]

What if you recalled her out of the hall and back to wherever the hall begins? This would require more recall work and possibly keeping her on a long leash while you have friends coming for 'practice' rounds of doorbell ringing. Then...keep her in the down stay longer UNTIL she has no choice but to relax. This would also require more work on extended stays. I think the key is that both Come and Stays need practice with distractions including the ringing doorbell AND people walking in. Repeat ad nauseum till it sticks then do it another day.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

So if I understand correctly you are suggesting I leave the entry first, release Tara but redirect her to the next "staging area outside of the hallway and reinstate the down stay at that location? That sounds good.

What has happened in the past is that the 3 of us (Tara, the person and myself) all end up in a jumble in the hallway/entry intersection. I think I try to let the person go before me (thinking it is polite) which puts them in the line of fire so to speak.

But if I were to quickly move out of the entry, get control of Tara and relocate her it should eliminate that whole issue. I like it . :)

[Adina P]

Sort of...that would be okay too. I was actually thinking that upon the doorbell ringing and Tara rushing down the hall to the entry...instead of following her you say 'Tara Come' and if she doesn't respond then reel her in with the looooong leash, praising her as she comes, rewarding her then give her the command to down stay (perhaps in a certain spot you decide to make her spot for such things) and then go to the door. Do this in practice sessions with hubby ringing the bell until she is manageable. This means you may not make it to the door until many tries later. Instead she may break her stay...so you, without repeating the command put her back in the down stay and continue on toward the door, returning to re-place her as often as necessary. In the meantime, at other times practice long downs throughout the house.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We've been practicing the sit/stay today (in what we've decided is their "place") when someone comes to the door. This morning was a total disaster with the Fed Ex guy. This afternoon was a little better. My DH has been "in and out" a few times, and when Guinness & Murph hear the car in the driveway they go "tearing down" to the door (barking like crazy). DH knows to wait until I have them in a sit/stay in their place. They'll hold that position (unleashed), but only if I get down to their level giving them the "hand up stay signal". If I'm standing up they break their stay almost immediately. My question is whether that's a problem for now, or should I try not to get into that habit. Thoughts?

[Adina P]

That is a great start Jane :) As far a the hand signal, you certainly don't want to HAVE to do that forever. If it is something you just started today you may not have to continue but if you've done stays like this for a while or think it helps them bridge the gap then use it, but I would just gradually wean the hand signal. So now you are both down at their level AND holding your hand out...perhaps gradually stand taller and taller then hold your hand up for less and less time until the hand sign is as quick as the word 'stay'. What happens if they break? What is your response?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I think we all need to start with what we have that works and slowly transition to the way we want it to be. Once again Baby Steps! This sounds like your starting place and as Adina stated so well, slowly drop off the hand signals or other training habits you have acquired but do not want to continue with.

[Adina P]

I should clarify...hand signals are fine, but what I wouldn't want is to have to 'hold' my dog there with any signal. They should, eventually, be responsible to hold their own stay without me having to remind them.

[Carol Brand]

I think that those of you who have two dogs need to train each dog independently. Put one in a crate away from the other while you train.

The key to good door manners are:

1. Sitting quietly while people enter.
2. Visiting quietly only when invited to.

Sitting quietly can be broken down into:

1. That will do. This mean stop barking when I say so. Dogs that bark and bark and bark and bark are not only a nuisance, they are threatening to guests. So getting a dog to stop barking? You can either redirect your dog (this may come later when you have more control) or you can correct the behavior. I like to use a squirt bottle with water. If the water does not work then I add some vinegar to the water. Punitive? Yes, but I have VERY QUIET DOGS. My dogs are sooooo quiet that I went to my in-laws home for a funeral and for two days, no one knew that I had three dogs with me! You need to set up "that'll do" by having your friends ring the doorbell so that you can give your dogs directions.... "that'll do" or "thank you" and then PARTY if they are good or correct them if they don't stop barking.

2. Sit/Stay...... most dogs have a sit, but how many of you have a distraction proof stay? STAY means sit there (no moving or lying down or whining) until I break you off. If I want you to sit there until Jesus Christ comes again, well so be it. On leash, from the heel position with your dog on your left, say "STAY" and put your left hand in front of the dog's face as a visual block. Take two steps out, starting with your RIGHT foot. Turn and face the dog. If the dog moves or gets up, take it by the collar. Don't say anything thing or give another command, just collar pop the dog back into place and step back into your place. Count to maybe 15 and PARTY PARTY PARTY. Work on this until you can get your dog to stay in place at the end of a 6' leash for 3 minutes. Then add distraction. Have someone come to the door. Tell your dog "That'll Do". Then take your dog away from the door and put it into a SIT/STAY at the back of the entry. If you have laid the foundation, the dog will hold his stay. If he breaks, you know you have to go back a few steps. The biggest mistake that people make is going out too far too soon. Baby steps. Train each dog independently. Then train them together. Then add distraction.

Here is a picture of my three Poodles doing a sit/stay on a hike. The Brown one is only 6 months old. I had to climb down the rocks to take the picture.