Trainer Shows Effective Way To Teach Dogs Manners at the Door

My dog is nearly seven years old, but she's still just as excitable as she was when she was a brand new puppy. If she finds out we're going on a walk, she's pumped. If it's meal time and she's about to eat, she's pumped. If I run an errand, she's pumped when I get home. But none of those times ever really top the level of excitement she has when someone comes over, especially if it's a friend or family member she really loves. It can be so hard to keep her from jumping all over the visitor, and sometimes, it takes a long time before she settles in and lets them breathe.

After watching this video, though, I feel more equipped to try to train her out of doing this. And if your dog also gets too excited when guests arrive at the door, you might want to watch this video, too.

This advice comes to us from dog trainer Morgan Track at The Good Dog Yorktown, who shared this video on Instagram to show how to effectively teach your dog manners at the front door — no easy task, in my experience!

According to the video, the first thing you have to remember is that if you give your dog any kind of attention for jumping and barking at the front door, you've already made a mistake, since attention is what they want.

Instead, they advise having someone who isn't answering the dog hold them on a leash, or if you don't, tethering your dog close enough to be part of the action, but not so close they'll be able to jump on whoever comes through the door.

"You want to reinforce CALMNESS instead - so don’t let them to greet your guest until they are much calmer! You’ll notice over time that you don’t have to use the leash nearly as much, 'til you can do away with it completely," they wrote.

Keeping Dogs From Jumping on People at the Door

There are so many tips about different training methods and ideas to try to help your dog find their chill when guests come over, so if this one doesn't work for you, you're not out of luck!

One of the methods shared by Wag! is training your dog to sit and stay on a mat near the door when people come over, moving the mat closer and closer over time until they're mastered the command.

You can also try teaching them to replace the jumping behavior with barking, offering positive reinforcement (like treats) when they bark instead of jump when someone is at the door.

If all else fails, you can always remove your dog from the situation by putting them into their crate or in a room with a door that closes when people first arrive at your house. Any of these methods will take time, but it will be worth it!