Who Should Be Answering The Door?

In a pack, it's the leader's obligation to assess intruders to determine if they're friend or foe, safe or dangerous and determine when and what action is warranted. The rest of the pack waits to back up the leader's decision.

When your dog feels it's their job to answer the doorbell or knock, the sound triggers an instant shot of adrenaline that fuels a frenzied reaction even from a dead sleep - a jump start alert, barking to summon the rest of the pack's attention and race to the door. Often the barking, whining, jumping up, toy fetching, anxiety driven excitement doesn't end when you've completed your security check and decided it's safe to let whomever is at the door enter. It carries on until your dog decides it's safe to stop.

To a dog the doorbell can signal a life or death situation. Anyone approaching the pack has the potential to bring danger. So, every time the doorbell rings this scene repeats. Your dog's response will be the same whether it's the Avon Lady or the Axe Murderer at the door. Your dog can't tell the difference! In this human world, that little dog brain isn't the one that's best suited to decide whether an alert is warranted or not. Your brain is!

It's important for the human pack members to take on the responsibility of stranger assessment at the front door and to make sure the four-legged members understand they aren't needed for the job. Let them do what a dog does best - defend the leader, not be the leader!

Remember it's not just a simple bark at the doorbell. To your dog it means so much more. Do you want your dog burdened with that kind of responsibility?

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