Door Bell Update

So it looks like Basil has the ringing of the doorbell to sitting to treat thing down now. "Stay" still needs work but at least they aren't in a frenzy anymore. He doesn't even bark when he hears the doorbell ring when we do our training. He remains rather unfazed.

Now, it's time for the true test...a REAL life situation. Mommy not at the door. Boys are lounging. Someone comes to the door and rings the bell.

(((((DING DONG)))))

And the frenzy begins.

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

GROWLLLLLLLLLLL

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

GROWLLLLLLLLLLL

Guinness is excited that someone is here. Jumping around. Bouncing off the walls.

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

Both are scratching at the door.

Mommy throws her hands in the air!

Be calm. Mommy breathes. Basil "Go to your spot". Use the body block to make him back up into "his spot". Keep doing it and don't get stressed out. Keep doing it until he calms down and goes to his spot. Then approach the door, but keep the boys in their spot at "Stay"...even if they approach the door, don't let them approach it before you do or do it over again.

After 3 tries, the barks became less and less and I was able to check them into their spot much quicker. I see hope. On a positive note, it tired them out and they fell asleep immediately.

*In addition, we put a sign on our front door asking people to please be patient while we answer the door because we're training our dogs. This takes the pressure off a little to answer the door quickly and gives us the time to train the boys.*

Update

I worked with the boys again today with the door bell and staying in their spot. Basil only gave "arfs" this time and then soon he didn't bark at the door bell AT ALL!

Is it too soon to celebrate?

Also, the boys shared a stuffie and the water bowls today.

Snarlfest 2010 update

We talked to the trainer about their little "affectionate" spat and he doesn't seem to be too concerned. He told us that we did the right thing by letting the dogs sniff outside first and that this is something they will grow out of. Right now, they are still getting used to living together.

We had guests over for dinner on Saturday night following their spat. Our friends brough two dogs with them - a shitzu and a shitzu-cairn terrier. We were prepared for this. Before our guests arrived, I walked Guinniess and Basil a couple of times around the block. Keith had Basil while I had Guinness on leashes. We kept them several feet apart.

Our guests rolled up. The dogs Dante and Comang arrivead and hopped out of the car. Basil and Guinness did the usual pulling on the leash to go towards the new arrivals. We reminded them to sit and tried to get them calm. Basil was fine. Basil got to go sniff the dogs first. Guinness was really jumpy and whining. After he was calm, he got to go sniff the dogs. We walked all of them into the open space of our back yard and one by one, we let the dogs off the leash.

Guinness was last to be let off the leash, but it didn't take long before he lost all interest and wanted to sniff and eat grass instead. I let him off the leash. He paid no mind to the other dogs. He and Basil sniffed and greeted the other dogs and there were no incidents for the whole night!

In addition, I'm training the boys to "Stay" reliable. Guinn knows "stay" but Basil doesn't so much. However Basil is better at staying once he sits while Guinn can't seem to focus on it. I'm training them to go sit in their "Spot" (in the corner away from the front door) so that I can approach the front door without crowding. I'm training them to not bark or jump at the front door when the doorbell rings as well.

Basil is really starting to get it. YAY! I ring the door bell. Basil barks "bark bark bark". I signal him to "go to your spot" and sit. Gets treat. I command him to "stay". I walk away, walk out, come back in. Basil is still sitting in his spot. I tell him "good boy! come!" He comes. He gets a treat. BOY, it's a lot of work! It's a constant process. I have to maintain that "I'm boss" all the time!

After 3 days of doing this repeatedly (15-20 times), Basil's "bark bark bark" became "bark". Once, he didn't bark at all!!! I was so proud. He even stayed put in his spot!

Day 1: Door Bell = Crazy Dog

Basil's mom (& disciplinary) here.

Today, I read all sorts of information online as to how to train your dog to stop from getting all kaaraazy when the door bill rings or when someone knocks on the door. One thing I read that was interesting is that some dogs don't get all barky until they reach adolescence. Here I was blaming his cousins, but maybe it was a coincidence. It's about the same time that Basil was becoming a teenager.

Goal: After one bark, we want Basil to back down away from the door. We want him to "stay" away from the door until we "release" him and then he can appropriately greet the visitor. We don't want him to get into a frenzy everytime the door bell rings or if a neighbor knocks on the door. One difficulty is that we really didn't train him to "stay" very well so we need to work on that.

Treats: I didn't understand the whole giving him a treat thing at the door. That to me sounded like you're reinforcing the undesired behavior. Then I read that you treat him when he is quiet and calm. Use little pieces of dry food or training treats.

Today, we started with knocking on the door. That seemed to be the less severe of the two. I did as I the information I read online. I sat with Basil and ignored the undesired behavior. When he was quiet, praise him for being "good quiet" and then give him a treat immediately. Keep repeating. Keith kept knocking at the door every 20 seconds or so and I would just keep praising Basil when he was quiet. If Basil ran to the door, I would gently and in a calm voice call him to come back to me and away from the door. If he barks, acknowledge and thank him for lettting you know that someone is there, and then point him away from the door.

We changed up the severity of the knocking but always knocked the same way ie. "knock knock knock" as most the neighbors do. The treats seemed to distract him enough that he didn't care as much about the knocking after a while. I could tell he acknowledged the knocking but then immediately looked to me for the treat and stayed sitting. Excellent!

We will keep doing this for another couple of days (Basil picks things up pretty fast).

Does your dog get all caarraaazy when the door bell rings? Do you have any other tips?