How do I get my puppy to bark at the door?

Question

I want my 4 mo. puppy to start barking when people knock, or even when someone is approaching the door. He has happened on this a couple times, but no consistency yet.

1. He is a boxer/shepherd mix (rescue/ adoption)
2. I am a single women who wants a protective sounding dog barking at the door.
3. He already knows to stop barking in his crate or at the cat when I tell him "hush" so I think once I get him barking/alerting when someone is at the door, I think I'll be able to reward him and ge thim to stop. I have tried having people out in the yard making noise, knocking - he shows interest but no barks.

Answer 1

You can act real excited when there's a knock. Say, "Who's that!!!" "Whassat!!" very excitedly. It has always worked with my dogs after once or twice. Give him time. He's young yet. You might not need to do anything. He might do it on his own soon.

Answer 2

This is a subject that taught me a big lesson almost thirty years ago. I too wanted my dog to bark at the door or at least I thought I did. I too felt learning by example was best. Everytime someone knocked on the door I dropped down to all fours and ran to the door and did a real good job of barking. It only took two or three times and I do not suggest it. It is still going on today and what does that tell you. Of course I don't have a 30 year old dog. It was learned from that one down to the next one and next one and still today I get barking and carrying on with any movement or noise what so ever. It is a pain in the ***. Having Dobes they would bark if they felt there was a threat anyway. No, thanks to my long ago doggy behavior I have 5 dogs(3 dobes) which run to the door and bark at anything. We are working on this but I am disabled and they were taught well. Once your dog learns your his family and how much he loves you he will bark if he feels there is a need to and he will know if there is a need to probably better than you. I think you should just let him learn on his own in his own time. He is still very young. Or you could do what I did and regret it. My only hope would be to get rid of all and start over and I would rather die than do that but I tell you what,I don't ever ever lock my doors either. Never have!

Answer 3

This may seem like a good idea, but I would caution you: it is far more likely that people you know will be gracing your doorstep than people you don't know.

It's not the knocking you want the dog to discourage, it's people coming in without your permission. If you teach a dog that all knocking equals excitement, you may end up not being able to open your door without restraining your dog, which goes against what he's learned about the knocking. He'll be confused and upset and won't get the message at all.

Do you really want a dog that barks at your family and friends? I have friends whose homes I won't visit unless the dog is in another room for this very reason--nobody likes to be barked at and jumped on by a dog. The dog doesn't know the difference between a stranger's knock and your best friend's knock, so I agree with the posters who said to be careful what you wish for!

Answer 4

My 2 dogs(Aussies) did not start to bark at the door consistency until they were about 8 months old. I did not train them at all for it. Maybe with different timing for the kind of breeds of dogs like children have their own pace and timing to learn how to walk or talk. Try to reward your puppy with training reward treats made with pork liver, the brand is "Pet Botanic"- www.cardinalpet.com. It really works well on my dogs. It did work well when they were puppy too. I still use it to reward them for praise. I wonder why it is important for you to have puppy to bark at the door. Is it because you cannot hear the door bell ring from the door or people knocking on the door?
I am sorry to ask you the question as above. That's because I am a deaf person. I didn't mean if I have offended you at the last question.

Answer 5

I would say, the best way for a puppy to learn is from example so they can copy the behavior. Try getting your friend to knock at the door from one side. You stand on the other side with the dog to wait for the knock. When you hear your friend knock......start barking....encourage your dog to do the same by petting her and barking at the door. Eventually she will mimick you, and give her a treat. Be carefull with teaching a dog to bark, it's a very hard behavior to break once they figure out they can do it. Follow up with strict rules that she can only bark at the door.

I suggest that you don't train your dog to bark at the door. Eventually when older, she will probably learn this behavior herself. Barking at the door could be good security for you, or end up a huge problem that you won't want to deal with later when she wont stop.

Answer 6

When he does go into "Alert Mode," or when he ever does bark at an appropriate time, start using a phrase like "Who's That" or "Alert" to start marking the behavior and he will begin to associate that phrase with that feeling of alertness. You can also create situations that may instigate his alerting; have people walk outside your place and make noises, knock on your door, just create situations that may trigger this response. If he can see out your door (like through a window), maybe have people approach wearing unusual clothing; hats, sunglasses, overcoats, holding big bags or odd items like fishing poles or tools...all these things may be novel to him so he may bark. Over time, he will learn that that phrase means to alert, and when he does do it appropriately, give him lots of praise and pets. Good Luck!

Answer 7

yes be very careful what you wish for. my dog didn't bark until he was like 6 months old or so... we laughed the first time we heard him bark and now he doesn't stop. now he barks at every noise, person walking by or even a leaf blowing by but if you really want him to bark then treat him as soon as he does bark. rewards need to be immediate otherwise it doesn't work

Answer 8

Ugh! Are you sure you want to do that?
I was very happy that my dog did not bark. At about 7 months, she learned barking on her own and has never shut up.

Be careful what you wish for, it might come true.

Answer 9

If she see's someone went out the door yeah then she'll bark.

Answer 10

Catch him. When he barks reward him when he doesn't bark do nothing. Don't show him any attention - just open the door.

He'll catch on.