Guard dog behaviour - barking at every guest

[DANISH ASLAM]

Hi

We have an indie rescue (the Indian pariah dog) who's about 1 1/2 years old (we adopted him when he was about 2 months old). The problem is that he has become a guard dog. He barks the moment the doorbell rings. he then goes to the door and tries to get outside, barking the whole time. So we can only open the door marginally to prevent him from getting out. He barks at most of the people who come inside (guests, workers, delivery agents, etc). There is no common thread that we've been able to discern - he seems to be ok with about 40% of the guests. But if he doesn't like someone, he barks the entire time they're home. Which has lasted up to 2-3 hours on some occasions. 

We've tried telling them to ignore him, letting him out on a leash near them, let them meet him at the door so he can sniff them, giving him a treat to keep him occupied, but nothing seems to work. Now we generally put him in his cage in the living room (where he sleeps at night), but that doesn't stop the barking. We have also installed a baby gate at the entrance to one of the rooms and kept him inside so that he'd have more space but that doesn't have any effect. In fact, on one occassion, he lunged on the nbaby gate so hard that it come off the suction hinges.          

If we keep him in a room and shut the door so he can't see the person, he settles down but he's still alert and doesn't go back to the normal till he's been let out and he can go around sniffing the whole house and make sure nobody else is at home. Similarly, if the guest goes inside a room and out of his line of sight, he settles down but the moment he spots them, he starts barking again. A third option is that sometimes he settles down with the guest in the living room (same room as his cage), but only if they're sitting and still. The moment they get up or move, he's up with his hackles raised.     

It doesn't matter if the person is completely new or someone he's met before but hasn't reacted well to. He will bark nonstop.  

We would like to know what procedure to follow to make him less reactive to guests and/or stop barking every time someone comes into the house. Barking when the bell rings is something we can live with, but not being able to have people over is a problem.

 

Thanks

Danish 

 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there, welcome to the forums,

The age of 1 year and a half, is the age when dogs reach social maturity. It is during late adolescence and early social maturity when territorial/protective instincts kick in fuller gear. While dogs may appear tough and angry when they act territorial, the behavior is for a great extent carried out of fear. 

Problems involving barking when guests come can be tackled through behavior modification. To achieve results, it's critical to reduce these dogs' stress levels through very low intensity exposures, even before letting guests insides. Keeping these dogs under threshold as much as possible is paramount. Consider that every time your dog gets to rehearse barking behaviors, stress builds up and the behavior puts roots and becomes more and more established. If your dog has been acting this way for some time, the behavior has allowed to become more and more entrenched. 

You will therefore need to take several steps back before allowing people in your home until he's less over threshold.

 I would suggest reading about threshold levels so that you can take a proactive approach to prevent him from getting into this overly aroused state: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

When a dog is over threshold too often, this leads to trigger stacking which can cause dogs to start reacting to more and more and may even lower a dog's bite threshold (making them more likely to lash out): https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/how-trigger-stacking-impacts-your-dog/

You will therefore need to take several steps back and find ways to make him less likely to react through very low intensity exposures. This can start by simply watching people from a window without reacting: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

At the core of behavior modification is desensitization and counterconditioning.

In simple terms, desensitization involves very low stimulation exposures that don't cause him to react. Here is a detailed write-up of the process:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

Counterconditioning involves creating positive associations with whatever the dog struggles with. This is accomplished by pairing something the dog loves (in most cases high-value foods) with the guests while maintaining low level exposures: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

The goal is to obtain a positive conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/

Here is an example on how I worked with a dog who barked when somebody entered a room:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/

It's important to start systematic exposures with guests the dog seems to do a little better with. Disabling the doorbell and asking volunteers to bypass knocking is important in the initial stages, at least until the dog learns to cope better.  Afterward, the dog can be desensitized and counter conditioned as well to the noise of doorbells, firstly introduced without guests. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/barking/doorbells-knocks-on-doors/

When not working on the problem, it's important to use management to prevent rehearsal of the problematic behavior. This may entail keeping him in the farthest room of the house (with a long-lasting and safe chew for him to enjoy-ask your vet for specific recommendations) or having a family member walk him/take him on a car ride when guests are over. When let out to go sniffing after the guests have left, I would let him find treats in the areas the guests have walked on or sat on/left their scent so as to keep building positive associations with them and their scent. 

Management also helps lower a dog's stress, considering that dogs who are worried about visitors are hypervigilant and feel somewhat threatened by anybody moving/getting up, laughing/ talking animated or using hand gestures. 

If it's difficult to keep him under threshold or it's difficult to identify what triggers him, he may benefit from calming supplements/prescription meds from a vet so as to lower his threshold enough to allow learning to sink in. 

Due to the intensity of the behavior displayed, it would be important working along with a behavior professional for safety and the correct implementation of behavior modification. Muzzle training may be necessary if the professional feels there are risks for bites. Basket muzzles that are bite-proof, allow dogs to breath and even take treats. 

On top of changing your dog's emotional response towards visitors, it's also important training your dog to develop a steady-fast response to certain training cues that can come handy when around visitors. 

Important cues to train include the following: "sit," "down," "stay," "come,"  "hand target" and "leave it," which can turn useful when you'll need to quickly redirect your dog's attention to you and maintain control in situations involving visitors once his emotions are better under control. 

You may also find it helpful training your dog to go to a mat:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

***Remember: If your dog is in an unresponsive state, he is too over threshold. Behavior modification should pave the path towards a calmer emotional state that allows a dog to better cognitively function. 

It goes without saying that changing a dog's behavior takes time and no guarantees can be made over the outcome of behavior modification. Any progress will be gradual and you may witness setbacks, but with consistent effort and professional guidance, you should be likely to notice improvements over time.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions!

Happy training!

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.