Many people seem to think that when their dog is jumping or barking at company, they feel the need to scream at the dog. A much more affective method would be to give your dog something more productive to do. A good start is to teach him to “lay down” or “stay”. Then once the dog understands these simple commands, then work towards having someone ring the doorbell or knock. Try keeping your dog on a leash and collar when practicing. When approaching the door, have the dog do their ‘lay down’ and if they are too excited, give them a small tug as a little bit of motivation to ‘lie down’ and ‘stay’. Then try opening the door. It’s often too much to ask expecting the dog to know what to do right away. You will need to guide your dog and show him what is more appropriate then just barking.

As for when to take the leash off, try to do this in stages. The first couple of times you will go through this, the dog is on leash. Once the dog gets used to the idea that this is what we do instead of jumping on friends or family, we drop the leash but he is still wearing it. If the dog decides not to obey these commands, you are still able to give him another small tug on the leash. Once you are convinced that your dog is starting to listen well, you may continue your practice without the use of the leash.

When giving the “lay down” or “stay” commands, try attaching something physical to the dog such as the leash and giving a small tug now and then. This way you are attaching something physical to the words you’re using and puts you in a position where you don’t have to yell, you don’t have to scream, you can simply get your dog to just simply lay down. Easier said then done, it does take constant repetition and does take a lot of work but doing it in those stages you can work your way to having your dog off the use of the leash. Now you have accomplished reversing the unacceptable response to when the doorbell rings, the dog lays down. That becomes the natural behavior instead of your dog going insane, barking, and jumping.