Over excited when doorbell rings!

[lizasarinsky]

My Shih Tzu loves everyone, which is great. However, when the doorbell rings, she barks excitedly and when the guests come in the house, she jumps up on them, then gets a toy for them to play with her. How can I calm her down when the doorbell rings and get her to greet our guests calmly?

[KOPcaroline]

Hi Liza,

I think the best way to get her used to the doorbell is to keep exposing her to it.

When home, try and go outside and ring the bell with her inside. Or have your neighbors/friends/family ring it, but not actually come in for a visit. If she keeps hearing the doorbell, but nothing exciting happens after, she'll stop getting excited over it. Once she's used to the sound of the bell, start having people come in.

Guests should ignore her - don't pet her, dont acknowledge her verbally, nothing. Not until she's calm. Only then does she get any kind of attention, from you or guests.

If ignoring her doesn't work you can try removing her from the room, putting her alone in a quiet area, and waiting til she's calm to let her out again. If she comes out excited, immediately put her back in time out.

Hope this helps, give it a go and let us know how it progresses, we can always brainstorm again if it doesn't work!