Dogs bark at the doorbell (or door knocker) for many reasons, the most common being that your dog has associated the sound with a visitor and they’re either excited or worried by this. Many dogs are territorial and bark to let you know someone is around, while other dogs are simply sensitive to the sound or may see you jumping up to answer the door, and they think it’s fun to jump up to answer it too! 

If your dog barks a couple of times at the doorbell or knocker, and is happy to meet your visitor, then calms down quickly, it’s not an issue, but if they bark at every little sound, or struggle when they hear visitors coming in, you may want to call us for some advice. 

If your pet just reacts to the sound of the doorbell or knocker, you can teach them a different response. The current sound may be associated with excitement, a visitor! So, change the meaning of the sound to help your dog think, “do a different behaviour” by choosing a sound with no previous meaning, then pick a preferred behaviour that your dog knows well. Many people pick “go to your bed”. 

Make the new sound you’ve chosen, and then give the cue for their behaviour, repeating it until you don’t need to give your cue, so your dog heads straight to their bed when hearing the new sound. You can now start to increase the sound and eventually replace the sound of your doorbell / knocker.

Another tactic could be to teach a cue than means “quiet now”, or “enough”.

You can also try de-sensitising your dog to the sound of the doorbell / knocker. Teach them to un-learn that the sound is associated with excitement. Ring the doorbell multiple times with no outcome for your dog, no visitor!  The idea is they hear the sound so often that there is nothing for them to react to.

You’ll also need to manage your dog’s responses when someone rings the doorbell for real, wait for your dog to calm before answering the door. 

If your dog gets worried or scared when visitors ring the doorbell / knock on the door or enter the house, take them somewhere safe while you open the door or invite your visitor inside. Your dog will be happier and feel safe in a different room, especially if you give them a stuffed Kong or tasty chew to distract and entertain them!

It’s important to be consistent with all the training options above, so please do get in touch with us for more advice and help with your individual situation.

Link to additional resources:

- Settle – Our pet advice article on settle training will help calm your dog.
- Enrichment feeding – We have lots of advice on enrichment feeding including activity ideas and toys to keep your dog distracted and out of mischief! 
- Visitor webinar – Sign up to watch our webinar on how to help your dog cope with visitors to the home.