The Chaos At The Door Begins!
Do you dread it when someone comes to the door? Are you embarrassed by your dog(s) behavior when someone comes to the door? Does he begin barking, jumping, and otherwise is out of control? If you have more than one the noise can be deafening! I know, I have three. Are you tired of it? Do you wish you could fix it? You can!
Why do you suppose doors are so fascinating and exciting to dogs, particularly Chihuahuas? Think about a door from your Chi’s point of view: As soon as they hear that magic sound (doorbell or knock) doors mean exciting things happen! People come in through the door. Some even bend down, pick them up or otherwise give them love and positive feelings. Or …
Chihuahuas are tiny guard dogs, and sometimes people that they don’t know come through that door. They need to be on guard and ready to attack should the need arise — or so they think!
Sometimes people leave through that door. Some he’s glad to be gone and some he doesn’t want to leave!
Then — then if the door is paired with a leash then yea! It’s walk time or time for a ride in the car time! What fun! How exciting!
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From their perspective, you can see why the door is so exciting! As soon as they hear that magic sound, they get excited, barking jumping, running back & forth and more barking, and everything that excited dogs do.
What NOT To Do To Change The Door Behavior
Old fashioned training methods taught you to punish your Chi for bad behavior. Pop them on the nose, use a choke collar, or put them in a crate (a crate should NEVER be used as punishment!).
This type of training is now — thankfully! — frowned upon by most trainers today. And for good reason. All that really does is to teach your dog to distrust and fear you. No one wants their dog to fear them.
Are You Tired of the Struggle And The Chaos?
The struggle is real. I get questions about this from readers every day. There are many ways to stop, curb, or manage the door struggle. I’m going to tell you about the two that I think are the easiest and most effective.
The best way to train your dog for good door behavior is to positively reinforce good behavior or the behavior you want from your dog. Ignore or give them negative reinforcement for bad behavior or behavior you don’t want. Not punishment — negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is not always a treat.
Think of it this way, good reinforcement is if your dog gets anything that they enjoy; praise, play, petting, or even smiles and happy talk for any behavior. Negative reinforcement is when anything they enjoy; as in the above is taken away for any behavior. Toys, praise, and petting or attention are also powerful reinforcement. Here’s how it works:
Prevent Behavior You Don’t Want
First, you need to prevent the behavior at the door that you don’t want. The more the behavior that you don’t want happens, the more it’s engrained in his little brain and the harder it is to stop.
- Put your dog on a leash (keep one by the door where you can immediately get to it when someone is at the door). Prevent him from jumping on your guest. Whenever he is calm, quiet, and exhibiting the behavior you want at the door, praise him or let your guest give him the attention he wants.
- Instruct family members to turn their back to your dog and ignore him until he is calm and quiet. Then only when calm and quiet give them the attention they are wanting.
- Ask your guest to wait a minute and give you time to put your dog in another room away from them. When your dog is calm and quiet, leash him and bring him in to meet the guest. If he begins to bark or jump, immediately turn him around back to the room. Repeat until he can greet your guest calmly.
Reinforce Good Behavior
While preventing the door behavior you don’t want, teach your dog to sit. Teaching your dog to sit is the building block for almost any good behavior you want from your Chihuahua. SEE: “How To Train Your Chihuahua To Sit”
Once your dog has learned the “sit” command. Make him sit patiently when guests arrive until you give him the signal that he can greet them. A simple “OK” or “now” will do, in a happy upbeat voice.
Prevent And Reinforce
You can prevent any behavior that you don’t want using these same methods for good behavior at the door. That is, prevent or ignore the behavior you don’t want and generously praise or reinforce the behavior that you do want.
You must be consistent and have patience. If you allow the behavior at the door that you don’t want one time and then you don’t allow it the next time you will just confuse your Chihuahua. You can’t be wishy-washy. Once your Chi has the learned and consistently does the “good” behavior or the behavior that you want you must continue reinforcing it throughout their lives.
