# foster dog barks everytime a door closes...



## kimhollywood (Nov 17, 2007)

Hi. We just brought home a foster dog two days ago. He is awesome - but every time a door closes he freaks. he jumps up from whatever he was doing and starts barking like someone is attacking him. We try saying his name, whistling, anything we can- but he is in some kind of trance and doesn't stop barking. It isn't just our front door and back door either. We live in a twin house, and if he hears the neighbors close a door, he freaks out just the same. If he hears a car door outside, same thing. Even if he hears it on the tv, he barks. Sometimes he will just start growling at nothing. 

The dog is a 5 year old male, neutered, boxer/lab mix. He is a great dog except for the barking thing. The spca says its because he is in a new home - but his barking doesn't seem to be slowing at all, it seems to be getting more forceful each time. He doesn't jump on anything, he just runs to the door and starts barking. I know he is protective but this is a little ridiculous.

Any ideas on what we can do to get him to relax and not freak out? I just wish it was easier to get him out of the barking state. If we could get him to calm down, I am sure it would be easier for him to start barking less. Maybe something happened in his other home, but its really starting to bother us because he will do it all hours of the day.


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

The first thing I'd do is get a lot of background noise, be it leaving the TV on or a radio, or both. The hard part about this kind of behavior is, what can be done when you're not around? This is where the difficulty lies, and will point to how hard you need to work on reducing the stimulus (if possible) and slowly desensitizing the dog to the noise. Are there times when doors do close but it's quiet enough for him not to bark? Have you used a clicker before?


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## kimhollywood (Nov 17, 2007)

We just got him a few days ago. We have the tv on, but he can still hear and barks just the same. Once he starts for the first time, it keeps up more on edge and he will growl at noises that sound similiar to a door closing. We tried closing doors slowly, and he doesn't do it then.

Its when its a bang noise. If its a car slamming, even if its across the street, I guess its because its a loud noise. Or people knocking on the door next door, or us closing the bathroom door regularly. We don't really know what to do. We did try a clicker but nothing seems to stop him. He calms down himself. Since we only had him a few days we don't want to go up to him and interrupt because he seems very angry at the situation. We don't want to make it worse or have him be mad at us.

He has a loud bark too, so its not just a soft noise. He seems very overprotective.


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

Well, it's not overprotection. The dog is in a new environment, and all dogs by nature have fear of novelty. It's certainly understandable that a new dog would fear loud noises, and even more understandable that you don't want to inadvertently reinforce the behavior. 

May I ask how you were using the clicker? From the way you phrased your statement it almost sounds like you were using it as a distraction, was that a correct interpretation?

What I would do with the clicker is use it as a secondary reinforcer for all correct behaviors upon your request. Sit-dog sits-click-dog gets a reward. You can change the door slamming into a cue as well, so long as he doesn't bark to the sound of a door closing. Close door-lure dog into a sit(or ask for a sit)-click-dog gets the reward. 

You'll have to practice this a few sessions during the day starting with a very soft door closing, and louder and louder door closings as the weeks go by. You may want to enlist the services of a friend. If done correctly, the slamming door sound becomes the cue for the dog to sit versus barking. All you're doing is conditioning his emotional response to the sound and offering him an alternate behavior that earns him a reward. You'll know when you can move on to the next higher level of noise when the dog offers the sit at the sound of the door closing, and before your request for sit.

What you do not want to do is reward barking, even if he sits. Either the noise was too loud, which means you have to go back to a lower level, and/or you withhold the reward until you get the desired behavior, and perhaps evacuate the room he's in to punish the barking.

It's hard to describe in words, but you may want to ask the rescue or shelter if they have a trainer or behaviorist who can illustrate the timing for you. 

Are you fostering the dog? Or did you adopt this dog?


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## kimhollywood (Nov 17, 2007)

We are fostering him for now. We wanted to see if he would work out in our house. We have two kittens that have to get used to him but thats another story 

I was thinking about trying different levels of doors closing to see what he would do. But I wasn't exactly sure what to do after I did that. I could try with the clicker. I didn't try as a distraction, but I called his name and used it. 

I will talk to the shelter and see if they have any advice on how to act. I just never saw this before in any dog. Usually a dog will bark or do something bad, but the dog usually notices how you are reacting. This dog doesn't even give any notice when he is in the "zone".

Thank you for your help.


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