How to stop dog from going mental at strangers who knock/come into house?

[Waggies]

I have a 2yo crossbreed that barks like crazy at anyone who knocks or (on the rare occasion) comes into our house. She is fine with people she meets without, prefers to be left alone by humans unless she gets chance to warm up to them like the locals in the park. In short she's unsure of strangers. I really need to stop this as I need to hire a dog sitter due to her seperation anxiety. (Fine if i leave but can't be left completely alone).

 

[DixD]

You might be lucky and find a dog sitter who’s used to dealing with all sorts of dogs (you’d hope this would be the case anyway), who’ll exude the type of calm confidence that puts your dog at ease.

 

[Waggies]

You might be lucky and find a dog sitter who’s used to dealing with all sorts of dogs (you’d hope this would be the case anyway), who’ll exude the type of calm confidence that puts your dog at ease.

Honestly I doubt it. I've messaged a few in the past month or so and not heard back from any. Originally I asked if we could have the initial meet outside of the house, perhaps on a walk, and for them to come back to the house with us after explaining she's nervous due to bad experiences with strangers in the past.

 

[JoanneF]

Is it only for getting a dog walker to come to the house? If so, I'm wondering if rather than looking for a dog walker, it might be worth asking a good trainer to come in and do some sessions instead.

 

[JudyN]

Get a doorbell

Sorry, that sounds flippant, but could be part of the answer, as she now probably has an automatic reaction to a knock on the door. So get your new doorbell, ring it and give her a treat. Rinse & repeat. Put it outside the house, and with the door open so she can see you, ring it and give her a treat. Repeat till she LOVES the sound of the doorbell. Then, whenever someone she knows and loves comes to the house, including you and anyone else who lives there, get them to ring the doorbell before coming in... and give her a treat.

You could also ask other visitors to to text you when they arrive. I'm wondering about putting a sign up asking delivery people to knock rather than ring, but maybe them ringing is fine if they're not actually coming in and being scary.

This can also work still work if a new 'sound' isn't an option - it will probably just take longer.

I would also make her a 'safe' place to go when people come into the house, e.g. her crate if she has one and loves it, a bed in a quiet place where she can be safely behind a stairgate or similar while they're in the house. You might find that once the person is settled down, your dog is OK with coming in to check them out as long as they don't try to make a fuss of her (she might kick off again when they get up to go so you might need to preempt that by getting her to go back in her safe place).

You can also train her to go to her safe place for her treat whenever the doorbell goes, including when it's just you ringing it - ring doorbell = treat in safe place. Then she'll go to her safe place rather than you needing to put her there.

 

[Waggies]

Is it only for getting a dog walker to come to the house? If so, I'm wondering if rather than looking for a dog walker, it might be worth asking a good trainer to come in and do some sessions instead.

Ideally I'd need someone who could do the odd day/night boarding. I work shifts and so far been able to make it work with other family members to watch her and race home if there's any overlap in schedules. If she's ever been left we've given a Kong or something similar but she just gets too distressed. She's always been the same and I've had her from 10 weeks old. At first it was with me leaving but she's fine with that now. Think the longest I've been able to leave her completely alone is around 10-15mins while I ran to the shop.

 

[DixD]

Honestly I doubt it. I've messaged a few in the past month or so and not heard back from any. Originally I asked if we could have the initial meet outside of the house, perhaps on a walk, and for them to come back to the house with us after explaining she's nervous due to bad experiences with strangers in the past.

P

Maybe there’s someone on the forum in your neck of the woods, who knows of reliable dog sitters. Sometimes, the really good ones get all their work by word of mouth.

 

[Waggies]

Get a doorbell

Sorry, that sounds flippant, but could be part of the answer, as she now probably has an automatic reaction to a knock on the door. So get your new doorbell, ring it and give her a treat. Rinse & repeat. Put it outside the house, and with the door open so she can see you, ring it and give her a treat. Repeat till she LOVES the sound of the doorbell. Then, whenever someone she knows and loves comes to the house, including you and anyone else who lives there, get them to ring the doorbell before coming in... and give her a treat.

You could also ask other visitors to to text you when they arrive. I'm wondering about putting a sign up asking delivery people to knock rather than ring, but maybe them ringing is fine if they're not actually coming in and being scary.

This can also work still work if a new 'sound' isn't an option - it will probably just take longer.

I would also make her a 'safe' place to go when people come into the house, e.g. her crate if she has one and loves it, a bed in a quiet place where she can be safely behind a stairgate or similar while they're in the house. You might find that once the person is settled down, your dog is OK with coming in to check them out as long as they don't try to make a fuss of her (she might kick off again when they get up to go so you might need to preempt that by getting her to go back in her safe place).

You can also train her to go to her safe place for her treat whenever the doorbell goes, including when it's just you ringing it - ring doorbell = treat in safe place. Then she'll go to her safe place rather than you needing to put her there.

Thank you for this. When people have come in I've directed her to the kitchen or her crate and she's calms down if she can't see/hear them. I've given distractions and treats for lying down and being quiet but she always starts up again. I don't have people over because of it, the only people she won't go mad at excluding family is my younger brothers friends. Kids she sees no threat.

Should probably also mention that she has a thing with the front door. If family come over and she knows she will scream at the door until their inside the house. When it's time for walks she will press up against the door and cry. Not sure if that's got anything to do with it but it's all door orientated.

 

[Finsky]

I have a 2yo crossbreed that barks like crazy at anyone who knocks or (on the rare occasion) comes into our house. She is fine with people she meets without, prefers to be left alone by humans unless she gets chance to warm up to them like the locals in the park. In short she's unsure of strangers. I really need to stop this as I need to hire a dog sitter due to her seperation anxiety. (Fine if i leave but can't be left completely alone).

Have you had any visitors coming into house with a dog? If so, is she behaving any different? Is she confident meeting other dogs?

 

[Waggies]

Have you had any visitors coming into house with a dog? If so, is she behaving any different? Is she confident meeting other dogs?

Nobody's come round with a dog but she's very dog orientated outside the house and always wants to greet them. If we were to see a stranger with a dog she would most likely wag her tail at them and accept a stroke from owner versus someone without a dog she would avoid/duck away from them.

 

[Finsky]

Nobody's come round with a dog but she's very dog orientated outside the house and always wants to greet them. If we were to see a stranger with a dog she would most likely wag her tail at them and accept a stroke from owner versus someone without a dog she would avoid/duck away from them.

Hmm...I wonder if it would be worth it doing a trial run and see if a dog visitor would distract your dog and she would not even notice that there is human coming in as well. If that would work, it could be good starting point getting her used to people coming in.