April 19, 2011

I think my young dog has weak nerves, when the door bell rings he runs to the door barking with his hair up. Should I correct this behavior with a prong collar correction?

Full Question:
Dear Ed,

I'm using your basic dog obedience DVD for our five month old GSD. I love your training methods.

Here's the problem. He is running and barking at the door whenever he hears the key or doorbell. I think he has weak nerves because his bark is fast and sometimes the hair stands up on his back. I have a prong collar that he wears on walks. I want this behavior to stop. Please let me know the proper way to handle this.

Thank You,
Patti
Ed
Ed Ed's Answer:
That may be premature to declare weak nerves over.

Teach the dog that he gets a great piece of food when he goes to the crate – when you have this down pat with a voice command I.E. CRATE – then give that command and ring the door bell at the same time. Then the door bell becomes a command to go to your crate. Once the dog understands this 100% you can correct him for not doing it. To correct him before that would be counter productive.

Remember the RULE OF 30 that I talk about in my Basic Dog Obedience DVD

Good Luck

100% (8 out of 8)
respondents found this answer helpful
Did you find this Q&A helpful?
Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
100% (8 out of 8)
respondents found this answer helpful

Did you find this Q&A helpful?

Recommended Products
Scroll to Top