Doorbell barking is a behavior that is expected to be on the rise especially in pandemic puppies. The reason being, most of the puppies that were adopted during the lockdown haven’t had a chance to welcome guests at home and socialize with a wide number of people and pets. Apart from doorbell barking, other behaviors that are expected to show their heads are separation anxiety, leash reactivity and behavior problems stemming from boredom and frustration. Coming back to the issue at hand, let’s dwell deeper into things you must know to stop the annoying behavior of your dog barking at the doorbell.
Your dog barking at the doorbell could mean several things. However, it can be broadly classified into two –
Excitement barking – This includes the happiness of seeing someone new at the door, inability to control oneself at the sight of a favorite human(s), playful bark and/or any other vocalization stemming from uncontrollable excitement.
Fear barking – This may include fear of new people, sounds, territorial barking (fear of losing one’s territory or resources), anxiety due to past experiences, etc.
WHY IS YOUR EXCITED DOG BARKING AT THE DOORBELL?
The answer to this question lies in the question itself. Yes, it’s because he’s excited. A friendly dog will naturally get excited at the sound of the doorbell, as doorbell = new people! The second the guests enter the house, these dogs jump, lick and greet them with absolutely no respect for personal space whatsoever. This excitement increases fourfold every time the doorbell rings. The sooner this is controlled and managed, the better it is for the dogs and the humans.
3 ways to manage excited Doorbell Barking –
Do not yell at the dog for barking.
It will just be perceived as additional barking by your dog and will further excite him. Dogs respond better to human body language rather than words. Your dog will feed off your energy in most situations. Thus, irony died a painful death the last time you yelled at your dog to shut him up.
Do not allow the dog to meet guests in that state of mind
Letting your dog meet guests after going bat-shit crazy is rewarding him for that behaviour. If it’s not possible to ask your guests wait outside till your dog calms down, make your dog wait to meet them. Ask your dog to Stay till he completely calms down and then let him go say Hi (if the guests are okay with it). Do this at a distance where your dog can see the guests but can’t reach them. Using a leash in this situation makes the exercise a lot more easier to accomplish.
Practice impulse control training at the sound of the doorbell
Impulse is the reaction that a distraction triggers in your dog’s brain. In this case, the dog’s impulse after listening to the doorbell is barking. Impulse control is training the dog to control this impulse at the sight or sound of the particular distraction. Multiple times a day, ring the doorbell and get your dog to calm down at the sound of it. Do 25-30 repetitions a day in the initial phase. Depending how quickly your dog starts calming down, reduce repetitions. Don’t shy away from using treats in this exercise. The faster your dog calms down, the more treats he gets. The best commands to use in this case would be getting the dog to go into a down position and making him stay till he can stay calm once he hears the doorbell.
WHY IS YOUR NERVOUS DOG BARKING AT THE DOORBELL?
New people coming into the house can be intimidating for a lot of dogs who are scared and nervous about new experiences and people. Dogs who are territorial can also be easily ticked off by the sound of the doorbell.
Behaviors like barking and growling at visitors are actually your dog’s efforts to keep a problem at bay. They’re warning signs begging for distance and space from “invaders.”
While it is important to control and manage these behaviors with training, the more important step here is to get to the root cause of the behavior and deal with that. Eg- Putting your dog on the leash and sending him in another room when guests come over is a way to just curb the barking behavior. However, the essence here is to desensitize your dog towards new people and make him more comfortable around them through positive reinforcement.
5 steps to curb doorbell barking of a nervous dog
1. Desensitize your dog to the sound of the doorbell
Dogs learn by association. As of now, in your dog’s head, the doorbell sound is an association of scary new people coming in to scare the living daylights out of him. Change this association to him getting his ultimate favorite treats (like sausages) every time the doorbell rings. However, do not give him treats for barking and being scared.
As an exercise, ring the doorbell multiple times a day and desensitize him to the sound of it. This could mean ringing the doorbell 50-60 times a day initially, till your dog starts acting indifferent of the sound. As soon as your dog starts doing that, teach your dog to calm down at the sound of the doorbell. Once your dog calms down, give him lots of his favorite treats as a reward
2. If guests make him uncomfortable, give him somewhere else to go
Understand that the real reason your dog barks is not just at the sound of the doorbell, but what the doorbell brings along with it. New entities entering one’s house can scare a lot of people, let alone dogs. Thus, if you have guests or new people frequenting your house, make sure your dog has a safe and cozy spot he can go to where he won’t have to interact or deal with the guests. You can make the sound of the doorbell a command to make him go to his crate and stay there till release. This will take multiple trials before he actually starts doing so in real life scenarios.
Giving him somewhere to go will not only remove the unnecessary ordeal of your dog having to interact with the guest, but also add a safe place where he can run to when he’s anxious. However, it’s your job to make sure that while he’s staying in his spot/ crate, no guest must approach him. Personal space must be respected at both ends.
3. Give him his prized possessions when guests come over
Guests coming in must be a happy experience for everyone. Even for your dog. A good way to do so would be to give him his favourite things only when the doorbell rings. Does your dog have a favourite toy or a bone or a chew stick that he cherishes far more than anything else? Take that out only when the doorbell rings. As soon as the guest leaves, the stuff goes away too. This will create a gradual positive association for the doorbell in your dog’s head.
4. Avoid comforting your nervous dog
Comforting a scared or nervous dog comes naturally to us. However, comforting a barking dog can only make the behaviour worse as the act of petting a dog can be very reinforcing. Your dog will only learn that it’s okay to bark as the human appreciates it. Encourage him to go to his spot/ crate and ignore him till he calms down. Once he does, go ahead and reinforce the behaviour by petting him and giving him treats.
5. If your dog is territorial, change his resources spots
Territorial behaviour is a very common reason for dogs barking at the doorbell. The dog thinks new people would come into the house and take any of his resources like food, toys or bones away. Hence he barks to keep “intruders” at bay and to alert the humans of the house. There is a possibility that he does so because his resources are in the same spot where the guests come in and settle down and he’s just trying to guard those. However, if he has a crate to go to when people come in and has all of his resources there, he’d probably have one reason less to bark. Try changing his resources spot everyday so that your dog does not become territorial about a particular spot or a specific room.
CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT TIPS
The first step towards working on any behavioral issue with a dog is to focus on controlling and managing the behavior. This means doing anything and everything in your power to avoid putting the dog in situations that might trigger the behavior. Once you learn to manage the situation and stop the behavior for the time being, you can then focus on dealing with the root cause of the behavior.
Given below are some of the ways to control and manage the barking situation at hand –
1. Leash control in the house
Having the dog on the leash when guests are over or during any other situation that may act as a trigger, can give you much better control over your dog. It’s better to use the leash to take your dog out of a particular situation rather than lifting him up or physically pushing him away or even grab his collar.
2. CBD oil
CBD oil works on the endocannabinoid receptors in your dog’s body. These receptors are like a bridge between the body and the mind and in a way control how the body reacts to a nervous state of mind. CBD oils help in soothing these receptors, in turn resulting in a relaxed and less anxious state of mind. With reduced anxiety, your dog has less reason to bark excessively. You can read more on the effects of CBD oil on canine anxiety HERE.
3. Crate Training
Teaching the dog to settle down in a crate not only helps your dog calm down faster, but also provides him with a sanctuary when a guest is over. Crate training helps make your dog and the guest comfortable around each other.
4. Ultrasonic bark control device
One of the most popular, no-pain technologies that help in controlling a dog’s barking behavior is the Ultrasonic bark control device. This device detects the bark and immediately emits a high pitch tone that is audible only to your dog and is intended to distract your dog and stop their barking temporarily. This sound is really unpleasant for your dog and will create a negative association with barking over time. 
5. Teach and heavily Reinforce the “Quiet” cue at home as much as possible
The behavior that you need the most form your dog should also be rewarded the most. For me, the most important behaviors I need from my dog are “Come” and “Settle.” They help me communicate with my dog and effectively teach him to be a good boy in any given situation.
Whenever I give these cues to my dog, I make sure I reward them heavily with high-value treats. So, when I actually need him to do perform these behaviors in emergency situations, he’s well versed with them.