Kicking the Doorbell Excitement

[Moo]

Sometimes it's "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?" and the rest of the time, it's "YAY! YOU'RE HERE! PLAY WITH ME!" But either way, I have a lot of fur flying about here when the door opens. (The unactivated alarm system goes 'beep' everytime the door opens) Territorial Kirby needs his say in what comes through the door, and he sometimes feels the need to explode into shins when he flies down the stairs.

My plan is to tell him "It's not always exciting when the door opens". I figure I'll have him sit just out of view of the front door (top of the stairs) in a down stay, and have somebody ring the doorbell and open and close the door a bunch of times, periodically. Though, he is one heck of a handful to keep still, I may have to shut him in a room and start opening the door.

Somebody please tell me that it might work...

[Dax]

Moo, when people come in do they pay attention to Kirby right away? If yes, that might be what he is reacting to.

How about doing it so often that it no longer holds any excitement. If you ask people when they come in not to pay any attention to him for at least 5 minutes that might be very helpful too.

[weimlover0816]

My girls do the same thing, it's SO frustrating and sometimes embarassing if it's new people who aren't used to it. If they are ignored, they keep barking and being obnoxious. Once everyone says "Hi Roslynd, Hi Hera, Hi Summit" and addresses each of them BY NAME, then they go back to the couch and lay down. Until then, it's LOUD in here!!!!

So, HELP for me, too!!!!! Thanks for starting this thread, Moo!!!!

[Moo]

Yeah Dax, I was hoping that he;d figure out that the doorbell/door beep doesn't necessarily mean people are coming in, so no reason to get up.

We've been doing that from day one. Nobody talks to him or says anything to him far some time, I think he just likes alot of human company. I figure after almost 2 years, it's not going to happen that way. lol, just a guess. He follows everybody up the stairs, ramming into the backs of calves, acting like his clowning self...

And in the last couple of months he's gotten much worse about protecting his house. The FedEx guy, the furnace repairman, girl scouts.... oh and the mail coming through the slot sure get an earful lol.

Brainstorming here.

[Dax]

You could try teaching him another behavior close to the barking (ie MY TERRITORY) but one easier on the ears. How about showing teeth. Nothing like a quiet toothy grin that says this is my place. This isn't anything I'd teach a dobbie or GSD.

[Dax]

How about "going to get a toy" or a "sit up" a "wave hi"

[BabyElephant]

I read about this in a dog book recently by Jan Fennell. What she advised them to do was to get a bunch of people that can help you do this. One of them rings the doorbell, you put your dog in a sit/stay, they come in, you tell your dog to continue to sit/stay, if they manage that they get loads of praise/treat from the perons coming through the door or whatever motivates them. If they do not then they don't get any attention and the person walks out of the back door. Same thing again with the next person, and the next person and then back to the first person. Vary the amount of time that your dog has to sit/stay before they get the praise. Apparently it can take a while for your dog to grasp this but if you get 5 people and do it 5 times each then that's 25 times they've had to practise.

[Moo]

BabyE - Sounds effective (though consuming of multiple people's time), and that would fix the happy syndrome...

Anybody heard anything about preventing doggy intruder alert from going off?

[smehta1]

Can you figure out who is at the door before Kirby figures it out? If you can - maybe this would work:
If its not an intruder (family), get Kirby used to a statement like "A is home" in a happy tone
If its an intruder (non-family) say nothing.
Thats what I did with Chloe..so when hubby comes home - I say "Daddy's home" in a happy tone and she runs to the door tail wagging - otherwise she stalks the door. This would work only if you don't have too many people in and out of the house. If you have too many people in and out- Baby's desensitizing method might work better.

[Moo]

Originally Posted by smehta1

and she runs to the door tail wagging

That's what I don't want. When Kirby runs at the door, he REALLY runs, and doesn't stop, until he smack dab hits my shin. LOL Sometimes he runs around in huge circles around guests, making complete foolery of us. I'm looking to have him shut up and mind his own business.

Going to have to do alot of ding donging.