How do you train a dog to bark when someone knocks on the door?

Question

I have a 3 1/2 yr old English Bulldog, and is a very sweet lovable dog. When someone knocks on the door, it doesn't phase him but I want him to bark at the door when someone knocks so that people know there is a dog in the house. Most dogs have a natural ability to pick up good people vs bad people but not this one LOL. We had someone break into our car once and the guy came back and returned my wallet with everything in tact (no money or credit cards were even in there) and asked for a reward for finding it etc. Well, it would've been nice for our bulldog to bark and make his presence known. Anyone with any ideas?
Experienced answers only please!

Please don't tell me you can't teach an old dog new tricks because he has learned sit and lay down recently - He's not old, he's only 3 anyway! Thanks

Thanks to everyone who answered - The idea to make the barking sounds worked! I had a friend knock on the door and barked when he knocked - low and behold! It worked - gave him treats and got all excited, but today he doesn't feel like doing it ha ha! Oh well, I'll keep trying - thank you everyone who answered!

Answer 1

Yes, teach your dog to bark on command. With that done have someone knock on the door. As soon as they knock give the bark command. As soon as he barks give him praise and a small treat. Just keep doing that till when they knock....he barks. Always plenty of praise.

Training your dog to bark on command has another hidden feature - you can also train her to stop barking on command.


Steps:
1. Hold a particular toy, such as a ball or squeak toy that causes your dog to bark. Give the command BARK or SPEAK.

2. When your dog barks say, GOOD.

3. Give him the toy or food as a reward and praise him.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until your dog understands the command to bark.

5. When your dog understands the command, command him to bark.

6. After three barks say, QUIET or SILENCE or any other word(s) to command him not to bark. Praise and reward him with the toy.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until he understands the command.

8. Instead of using a toy, have someone knock on the door and repeat steps 2 through 7, rewarding him with praise and affection when he succeeds.


Warnings:
Give unlimited praise when dog succeeds, every step of the way.

Answer 2

We have taught our dog to bark on command. When he does bark, say a word like speak. In the end he associates the word speak with barking so now if we want him to bark we just say speak.

Also when somebody comes to the door we get him all excited by making a big thing of their being somebody at the door.

Answer 3

I had the same problem. We lived way out in the country at the time and I wanted to be sure I knew whenever anyone was around. What I did was bark whenever anyone came over (you may want to explain to family and friends what you're trying to do beforehand so they won't think you're nuts!). This actually worked for me, after a few days of that, he started barking whenever anyone would pull up. It may not work on all dogs, but what will it hurt to try? Good luck!

Answer 4

Hi, I understand that you are looking for some advice or resources to help fully train your dog or fix behavior problems. If a professional dog trainer is not an option at this time, or if you want to trt training your dog on your own (a great way to bond), I'd suggest you https://bitly.im/aOelo

A friend recommened it to me a few years ago, and I was amazed how quickly it worked, which is why I recommend it to others. The dog training academy also has as an excellent home training course.

Answer 5

Sorry! It's instinct. They either will or not.
You might experiment with a friend playfully attempting to hurt you (You yell ouch when making believe hurt).
But this may not work either as dogs have instincts about fears and friendships.
Worth a try.......Also contact dog trainers and see if they have had requests along this line. Some dogs just won't bark. Some don't until certain ages.

Answer 6

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/doglessons

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 7

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/cL6jQ

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 8

I trained my dog to bark on command such as "who's here?" and then progressed to knocking on wood and saying "who's here?"
But my dog had the natural instincts to do this. It may take you a long while before a bulldog gets the knack of it, they don't tend to be natural guard dogs.
Plus you should also train in a volume control. My pooch knows the difference between whisper and quiet and singing.

-a dvm

Answer 9

do yourself a favor and train him to bark on command and NOT at the door. Get him excited and tell him a key word that you want to use every time you want him to bark.(speak or bark) whatever word you decide on use it consistantly. Every time you use the word and he makes any attempt to make a sound (even just a grunt at first ) reward him with his favorit LOW CALORIE snack. (I say this because at first you will be giving him alot of snacks) and give him lots of praise. When he starts to bark consistantly at the key work then start alternating snack and praise rewards. Eventually you will be able to cut out the snack and just say good boy and he will be tickled that he made you happy. If you teach him to bark at the door you will come to regret it.

Answer 10

go to petsmart and get a bark collar. tough love but that come with the dog and you can either deal with it or train him, which i think is very difficult if you dont get a bark collar because it is like getting the dog to pee without lefting up his leg but barking at the door isn't that important and they won't care. i actually like when my dog barks because he let's me know who is coming but 56% of the other time i would rather him not. ps teaching to bark on command only works on puppies usually.