Hello. I have a 16 week old puppy and he has just started barking at people when they come to the door.  Its not the doorbell (he doesnt make a sound at that) it is just when you answer the door. He has only recently started doing this (in the past week or so) and i was wondering why. I dont think he is being agressive because he doesnt growl and the tail is going! :-) And if i crouch down beside him and tell him to sit, he will stop barking and let them stroke him. But when they stop and i get up again, he starts barking again! This is the only time he does bark (occasionally he will bark when playing) He doesnt do it however, if he is in the house and someone comes right in (vistors etc), its only if i answer the door. He also does it if he is in the car and someone comes over to see him. Or if he is in our drive and someone tries to come down the drive to speak to us. Is he just getting a bit brave and protecting his property? Or just being playful maybe? I was just wondering if i should ignore him when he does this or tell him to be quiet? Any thoughts welcome. Thanks :-)

Sounds like there is some sort of anxiety about people coming to the house (or car.)  He's not sure if people coming to the door is something to worry about or not.  Hence he is barking to alert you to a potential problem.  Tail wagging can signify agitation.  The times when you have already let people in, he doesn't need to bark because you have already dealt with the situation for him.

You need to increase his confidence around visitors and teach him that people coming to the house is a good thing.

There are several views on how to deal with this, perhaps someone on here with more direct experience of the problem can help.  I think options are to teach him to go behind a stair gate when the doorbell rings and only let him out when the person is in and he is behaving calmly or do some reward based training around the front door as someone recently suggested on another post - this is tricky if you actually have to deal with the visitors though, you might need to set up a few of your friends to visit on cue!

Hi Mackleback,

I agree with Lilith in that it sounds as though your puppy is lacking confidence a little - sometimes barking in the situations you describe is caused by over excitement also but it sounds more like a nervous reaction.  It is better that your puppy is not with you to greet people approaching the house or when you're answering the door.  If possible, leave him in another room (such as the kitchen) and when you have brought people indoors and they are already seated, then let him through.  If he shows apprehension, they should ignore him (not easy with puppies and visitors :P) the important thing is that he should be allowed to approach them at his own pace - not encouraged by you or them.  Your visitor(s) shouldn't even look at him.  If he becomes brave enough to approach them for a sniff, they could perhaps drop a treat onto the floor beside them - but still without either speaking to him or making eye contact with him.  You may have to set up some situations to speed up the process of him coping with these circumstances.  My own inclination is that he is a little bit unsure of *strangers* hence why he's OK with people just walking straight in, because he possibly regards them as part of the family :)  HTH a little, Teri :)

Thank you both for your advise. I have just been to pick up my 5 year old son from school and my puppy and i waited on the pavement opposite the school gates. He sat really nicely even when children were walking/running past him. But when any adults came past us he started jumping around and giving a few barks at them. What should i do in this situation?? I dont want to reinforce his nervousness if this is what it is, so do i just ignore him? The problem is that wherever we take him, loads of people always want to come and see him (you dont get many Mastiffs where i live! :-) ) So what should i do when out with him??
We live in a bungalow and the livingroom door (glass panels) is opposite the front door. The window cleaner was just at the door for payment, so i shut him (the puppy) in the lounge while i was dealing with the guest. He could see us through the glass and he was barking, jumping around and scratching the bottom of the door. Is this what you would advise i do when i answer the door, or should i put him in the kitchen where he cant see us at all??
Thanks again for all your help already! :-)

Hi again,

There are several more experienced on here than me in the behavioural department :P and hopefully some will be along later with more in depth advice covering all the situations you've referred to.  Have you been to training classes with him to help socialise him as much as anything else?  Also try and get hold of some of Gwen Bailey's books, The Perfect Puppy is often recommended on here but she does do several ones which may help- try this link  http://www.dogbehaviour.com/gwenbailey.htm   You've certainly got the right idea already about not reinforcing his nervousness - perhaps you could try a distraction technique with him, even just a simple command followed by a treat (but not a treat on it's own or he'll think the reward is for barking :) )

Re. the layout of your front room with glass panel - I'd make it a room to the back of the house (kitchen for eg?) so that he isn't able to watch anyone approaching ;)  I did this with one of mine at around the same age as your pup and although it took about 4 months (we don't get that many trade callers etc - mainly people our dogs know) it worked eventually.  If your dog has a favourite toy, try leaving that somewhere within easy reach for you (not him!) and if he goes to pre-empt someone's arrival before you've spotted it distract him with the toy as you put him away - he can't bark with his mouth full :P   Good luck, Teri

I don't think it would work to just ignore the jumping and barking in this situation, which is quite different from, say, jumping up at you which can be extinguished by ignoring and then rewarding four feet on the ground.  What I would suggest is, without children so that you are free to train, take him to a place where he will see people but they won't get so close that he starts barking.  Reward him for behaving well.  As he begins to become more comfortable, you can decrease the distance between you and the people but only at his pace.  If you suspect that someone is going to come too close, I know this sounds awful, but I would nonchalantly wander away before they breach the comfort zone - just for the moment, until he is more confident.  (You can explain the next day why you did it!)  Reward him well for good behaviour and build up his trust in you.

Do you go to any sort of group or class, by the way?  I was just thinking that there would be adults there -does he bark then?

Hopefully Teri will come back and advise on the kitchen vs lounge!

Oops beat me to it!

:D  I think you're more on the ball than me here Lillith - I forgot about the comfort zone.  Well done you ;)  I take mine into pedestrian precincts and sit on a bench and just let them watch the world go by - OK, some people will approach when you have a puppy but I'm quick to say (politely of course) would they just ignore the pup and say a few words to me or whatever depending on how much progress is being made.  If the pup is not upset at all, I permit them to stroke them but only under the chin or on the chest - never on top of the head.  Outside supermarkets or shopping centres are good places too - although perhaps too busy and too close up for a particularly nervous pup.

Regards, Teri :)

Thanks again. :-) I will try and get him used to strangers at a distance. He never jumps up at people, i have trained him not to as he is a giant breed and i know that it could be dangerous. I think that what you have both said makes a lot of sence and would explain his behaviour. I hope he will get better with some training and patience. Any more tips would be greatly appreciated as i dont want him to be nervous for ever!! Imagine a scared 18 stone Mastiff barking at you and jumping around!!! Thanks again! :-)

Oops forgot to say that he has not been to any training classes.

I would recommend training classes very strongly - even the most experienced trainers who could easily train their dogs to a high standard in the back garden take their dogs to classes as it helps socialise them around other dogs and get used to noisy environments - and of course other dog owners (which sometimes includes the whole family) are around too so lots of different people of all shapes and sizes etc.

In addition if there is something that you are possibly mis-reading about your own dog's behaviour (and we all can - sometimes we are too "close" to a problem), a fresh and unbiased eye is more likely to pick up on it and so better able to advise on how to overcome a problem (or even prevent one developing if early signs are evident ;) )

Regards, Teri

Thanks Teri, I'm blushing!!! (Don't worry, the dogs will bring me back down to earth with some appalling bit of behaviour before too long.)

Mackleback, I just remembered about a book that I bought called "The Cautious Canine - How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears " by Patricia McConnell.  If at some point you felt you wanted more detailed advice on how to help your mastiff over his fears and you like reading doggie books, this would be a good one to try.

Of course with a mastiff pup to train and care for, children to look after, not to mention training classes to fit in, you might feel you have all the occupation that you need!