Every time the door bell rings my Jack Russell barks like crazy and lunges for the door. It makes it virtually impossible for me to get to the door to answer without picking him up. People fear him.....all 13 lbs of him! He is a ball of crazy barking jumping energy and excitment! I've tried "stay", treats, "no bark " spray................WAAAAAAAAAH!
My last dog barked at the doorbell (funny thing, we didn't have a doorbell... but doorbell sounds on the TV would set him off). I did a few sessions of desensitization training by finding a youtube clip of the doorbell sound that seemed to elicit the greatest response. By playing the sound repeatedly, ignoring his barking, and waiting for him to settle between each repetition, the behavior extinguished in just a couple days. For him, it removed the pairing of the doorbell sound from the excitement of someone coming to the door. The doorbell sound used to mean excitement, but after the training it meant absolutely nothing would happen, and he started ignoring it like any other common household sound. Then once he was responding quietly, I could reward him for remaining calm and not barking, which taught him a new response to the sound, so that if it was again associated with people coming over, he had a new script for what I wanted him to do.
LOL! I love dogs! The association for my Henry is pretty complex. It's door bell, delivery, box, possible TOY! It's crazy.......I set him up very unwittingly. It was cute initially. I sent away for some KONG toys from AMAZON. Since he loves his toys, he very quickly made the association that every time the doorbell rings it must be a delivery (it usually is) it must be a BOX (it usually is) and it must be a TOY! ..............I admit, if sometimes is.
This method may take a bit longer for you than it did for me, since you actually have a doorbell, but the desensitization should still work. My Elliott was a rescue and must have had a doorbell at his previous residence, because he startled the crap out of me the first time a TV doorbell set him off--it was a commercial I wasn't even paying attention to and he suddenly went nuts. Once Henry realizes that the sound means no reward is going to happen, you can start to teach him what you want him to do when he hears it, like going to his bed, and start phasing back in things happening when the doorbell rings, like someone who already lives there calmly stepping inside and upping the ante until he can be calm when the UPS driver stops by.
Positive reinforcement is a great method of your dog reacts well to it. My mini schnauzer barks at everything and positive reinforcement training did not work for him. I invested in a citronella bark collar that sprays them with citronella when they bark ( it does not shock them), and has a calming effect on them. It has worked very well with my mini schnauzer.
Using treats is very effective if you do training sessions. Their regular food is great to use for training if your dog likes eating (food oriented) some dogs like toys better than food.
The trick is to distract them with a pleasant activity then ring the bell while they are distracted so that they relate the food/playing to the sound of the doorbell, then praise them for ignoring the bell. I like to do it away from the door to give them room to mess up at first, toss some food in the floor then rush towards the front door, he might look up at you or even follow you, ignore him, ring the bell and then correct him by telling him to go back. Place him back away from the door give him some food and try again. Praise him at the sigh of improvement after each exercise. Do sessions of 4 or 5.
Modify slightly as needed depending on the reaction. Training also works with knocking.
Whenever you are trying to change a behavior it will take time and perseverance. All dogs are different in the way they learn and not all training techniques work for all trainers/owners.
Also remember that most times the more time you spend correcting him when someone is at the door the more he will get riled up. If the above training worked for you keep a small bowl of food in an easy access location to toss in the floor on your way to getting the door. Stay happy and pleasant.
Doing other training like making sure your dog is in their bed when you leave the house helps with correction the barking too since it enforces that the human does not intend for the dog to protect the house.
Thanks! I've tried the positive reinforcement....guess I really need to stick with it. Also, he is not a foodie! Does love his toys. Never thought to try that. Thanks for your input!