Basil's reactiveness

As you all know, I've been working hard trying to tone down Basil's reactiveness to the door bell, a knock on the door or a new person walking into the house. Ideally, you want the dog to lay down in his bed in one spot and stay there until given the okay to go greet the new person. This is really hard when there's as much excitement as new company.

I try to use every opportunity for training. We had friends coming over and in anticipation, the leashes went on and the boys were behind the baby gate in the kitchen. They were sitting in the bed and watching me. Our friend came into the house and I kept giving them treats for being quiet and staying in their bed. They boys didn't even realize our friends came over. They were so good. I led them by the leash out of the kitchen and into the living room. We would stop and they would sit and they got a treat. I moved closer and closer to the friend and continued the same thing.

It was great!