Why does my dog bark at visitors?

My dog barks at people who come to the house, he rushes towards them and I am worried he is going to bite them. What can I do?

One of the most frequently asked questions I am asked and people will have lots of theories and ideas but the behaviour is usually created by people, as is so often the case, usually, I will add, without realising what they are doing and the consequences of that based on how the dog interprets the interaction.

Not every dog is social and not every dog copes with people yet people seem to interact with dogs in a predictable way, it seems typical that people believe the dog must be given excitable praise and interaction whenever they meet a dog, we are brainwashed into thinking that our dog must meet people and other dogs in order to be socialised, yet this is not always the case as some dogs just don’t like it and don’t cope with the enforced repetition.

Many behaviours can find their origin in puppyhood, some are established at the breeders, even before you bring your puppy home, behaviours can already be established!

People find it very difficult to give a new puppy space and time to learn, it is more often the case they overwhelm the puppy with attention and stimulation.

as the dog grows older and is able to communicate, this may turn into the barking described because no one has ever considered the dog does not want all that attention and stimulation from everyone who enters the house. Because no one stops the visitors interacting with the dog, the dog takes on the responsibility and makes sure the visitor can no longer get close enough to interact.

This behaviour is then reinforced by the owner telling the dog off, which is giving attention which the dog can interpret as praise so they do more of it.

No one addresses the problem of educating or controlling the visitors so they behave in a manner the dog can cope with, because they think they have been and are dong the right thing, despite the dog telling them otherwise.

Dogs are very good communicators, we are very bad at spotting the communication until it is forced to be verbal or physical, if we can spot it earlier and doing something pro active, that reduces the pressure of responsibility on the dog which will make sure the dog is less stressed and worried by visitors because they are being asked to leave the dog alone when they first arrive at your house.