Stop Puppy From Rushing the Doorbell

A watchdog should, well, watch. And sound the alarm. But beyond that is your job. No dog should be allowed to decide who is okay and who is not, or who is welcome in your home and who is not. That's your job.

When someone comes to the door, do you need to grab at your puppy and try to shush him while you're trying to open the door?

Do you find yourself trying to read your visitor's lips over the racket your pup is making?

If your puppy keeps barking or lunging at people even after you've answered the door...

• he is either barking mindlessly, with no self-control
• OR  he is taking it upon himself to decide whether your visitor is a threat, when he should be leaving that decision up to the leader... which is supposed to be you.

Either way, this is not the behavior or attitude you want.

Once your pup has sounded the alarm, he should turn the situation over to you. If YOU decide the person at the door is harmless, your pup should accept your judgment and be quiet.

Teach your pup to be civilized when the doorbell rings.

YOU  should answer the doorbell – not your puppy. Certainly he can accompany you, but he should not charging around in front of you. You want him to feel confident that YOU  are the one who will face potential "threats" at the door. That's a leader's job.

If that doesn't describe what's happening at your house, you'll need a friend to help you. In fact, several friends would be better – though not all at once!

A watchdog should, well, watch. And sound the alarm. But beyond that is your job. No dog should be allowed to decide who is okay and who is not, or who is welcome in your home and who is not. That's your job.

Here's the set-up. You sit on the sofa pretending to watch TV. Your puppy is lying down or sitting or standing near you. Of course, he's on leash, yes? A pup who isn't responding to the doorbell properly has a behavior issue, which means he shouldn't be off leash inside the house.

Because how can you correct a dog who you can't get hold of?

The doorbell rings. You've already told your friend to ring just once,  no matter how long it takes you to open the door.

Your pup launches into action, springing into the air, possibly yelling with excitement and rushing for the door. Thank heavens he's attached to the leash, so he can't get very far, but he gives it his best shot, scrabbling across the floor and snappng the leash taut.

We don't want any of that.

So if your pup is in front of you, stop. Don't take another step toward the door.

Instead, use the leash-handling techniques you learned from my leash training article to get your puppy to a position beside you and slightly behind you. Then loosen the leash so the clip hangs straight down and there is a U-shape in the leash.

Repeat and repeat and repeat, making each tug firmer than the previous one until finally he chooses to stay beside or behind you on a loose leash.

If he's too strong for you, he needs a different collar.

Once you have him under control while you're standing still, you'll probably find that the barking has stopped too. If not, correct the barking with these techniques.

Now take one step toward the door. If he rushes again, stop and repeat your leash-handling technique. (Hopefully you've chosen a patient friend and explained that it might be a while before you actually open the door!)

Eventually, you should be able to reach the door with your pup walking calmly beside or behind you.

Now open the door. If he tries to rush past you, don't hold him back with the leash. He won't learn anything that way. Have you taught your pup to Wait yet? Use those techniques to stop his door rushing. And remember, if he keeps ignoring it, he needs a different collar.

And if your puppy JUMPS on the person when you let them in? Here's how to handle jumping.