Doorbells ringing and people coming and going, amid the excitement, can cause dogs a lot of distress. Not to mention the distress their dog’s behaviour can cause pet owners, who are trying to welcome guests while wrangling canine greeters.

There’s no time like Christmas and holiday celebrations to really test any control you thought you had over door and greetings goings-on!

Safety First!

While most people believe that their dog’s behaviour at the door is motivated by excitement, that’s not always the case. And it’s more than likely that most dogs experience a range of expectations when they hear the door.

Dogs can’t be expected to differentiate between intruders and welcome guests, but yet we want them to welcome visitors with calm and friendly behaviour, while scaring away gurriers up to no good.

For the most part, door action will cause arousal for dogs. This makes them more likely to become excitable, to bark, and even to aggress or have other strong responses.

Dogs who approach the door with a wiggly body, they may or may not be barking, and generally calm and quieten once the guests enter are probably ok. The exercises described here will help.

But if a dog barks and continues to bark at the person coming in, jumps repeatedly, lunges or moves forward directly toward the guest or slinks away and attempts to avoid interaction, get some help before putting advice into play.
Management that includes confinement away from doors and incoming guests may be best, at the very least.

Dogs barking at boundaries, when people are approaching or passing, is related to distance increasing behaviour and the inner conflict they experience. Of course, most of the time, people pass on or leave shortly after arriving, and your dog’s behaviour functions for them in achieving that relief and distance.
Dogs do behaviour that works, so they bark each time.

You can imagine then, that when a stranger doesn’t leave, the dog may feel they have no choice but to try harder to scare them away. So, for some dogs, it’s safer for them to be confined away from the action altogether.

Even if you think your dog is excited to greet guests coming into the house, it’s important that we keep greetings low key. There’s a lot going on, with lots of excitement, so your dog’s normal tolerances may be stretched thinly.

Enthusiastic greetings, with lots of touching, petting and hugging, is not going to help you or your dog remain even a little calm as people enter or move about. Helping your dog learning to like being out of the way a little during the festivities is probably going to be better in the long run.

An ounce of prevention

Use leashes, baby gates and other management strategies to keep the peace at doors and greetings.

• confine and secure your dog in another room, with a tempting treat, chew or toy to work on before guests arrive (More on preparing your dog for confinement here.)
  Have your guests call or text, rather than ringing the doorbell or knocking.

• let your guests come in the door and settle before introducing your dog
• bring your dog in on lead to prevent jumping
  Guests will probably be wearing nice clothes, specially for the occasion, so even a friendly dog jumping up or getting too close may be uncomfortable.

• you (don’t have guests feed your dog) have high value food rewards for the dog and drop them every couple of seconds, or scatter a handful – this HIGH rate of reinforcement will help your dog to focus on this game, rather than losing control in excitement
  Guests don’t need to pet or greet your dog too emphatically – let things settle before you think about letting your dog choose to interact, or not.

• some dogs like to hold something in their mouth when excited; have a favourite toy type available at various spots around the door and areas where guests will be welcomed. Give this to your dog to carry before they greet guests.
• don’t yell at your dog for barking – scatter treats, ask him for behaviours or tricks, hold a stuffable toy for them to lap, or remove them from the room

If your dog is more cautious meeting guests, try a new guest greeting routine to see if that helps them settle. Practice NOW with familiar people so your dog learns the pattern, without all the excitement of greetings at Christmas.
Many dogs are more comfortable greeting new people outside in more open spaces:

• have your guests call or text when they arrive
• they wait outside on the street, away from the house
• bring your dog, on lead, out and walk in a wide loop around your waiting guests
• your guests move into the house and ahead of you and settle
• keep your dog back far enough that they are not reacting, barking, staring or straining on the lead to get them
• once your guests are settled, enter with the dog on lead and feed him really high value food rewards really regularly
• remove the dog after a couple of minutes and confine in a safe room with plenty of things to keep him entertained

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A dog this uncomfortable with guests may not settle enough to be truly comfortable and may be better off confined away safely, with regular visits and outings on lead, or may do better with a pet sitter or with familiar people having quieter celebrations.

If a dog is unable to settle and can’t largely ignore guests after a few minutes, remove the dog and give them a break in another room.

Please be aware that sometimes, a dog appears to have settled because he has stopped barking and is ignoring the guests. The absence of barking or growling does not indicate comfort or happiness.
If your guests move, laugh or talk loudly, get up or come back into the room, your dog will start to bark or become unsettled again. This is a good indication that your dog has not been comfortable, and can’t cope with the extra stimulation and change to the guest.

Remove your dog and settle them in a safe confinement spot.

Sniffing & Snuffling for door management

One of the most effective ways to control your dog’s arousal related behaviour is to redirect them to an equally absorbing task, but something that gives them more appropriate outlets for their excitement.

Lapping (a lickimat, for example), sniffing and snuffling are the perfect alternative behaviours because they really encourage the dog to focus on the task at hand (finding food rewards), while helping them calm and preventing them practicing unwanted behaviour.

Start practicing today so that doors and greetings don’t cause drama at all this holiday season!

Calm entries

Practice this simple exercise each time you come into the house on the run up to Christmas.

Establish a Sniffing Station inside the door, or other appropriate greeting spot, at which you greet your dog. Use a snufflemat or similar snuffling puzzle, or just scatter treats onto the floor as soon as you enter.

Have treats in a tub in the car or your pocket so you are prepared as soon as you walk in, or just inside the door. Enter the house and excitedly bound to the Sniffing Station; scatter treats liberally for your dog to snuffle.

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This helps to change your dog’s expectations. Instead of anticipating this spike of arousal and great excitement when someone comes to the door, they will think sniffing is best instead.

If others practice this too, and you put this into place with guests entering, you will have a calmer door situation, with lots of snuffling and sniffing!

Doorbell = Snuffle Party

Teach your dog that the doorbell signals a snuffle party! Instead of your dog running to the door, they run to you and their Sniffing Station to snuffle for treats; then you can bring your guests in calmly and quietly.

Establish a Sniffing Station with a snufflemat, a snuffle puzzle, or simply scattering treats on the floor, on a blanket or towel, or in their bed.

Practice in short sessions of just a minute or so at a time.

Begin working close to the door so your dog can quickly check that there’s nobody actually there. But as their comfort increases, you can move your Sniffing Station to the spot you want your dog to go to when the door bell sounds, such as another room, a confinement area, a crate or their bed.

Be exciting as you bound to their Sniffing Station – it’s a snuffle party after all!

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Use a recording of your door bell or a similar sounding bell. The one I use can be found here.

You gotta practice door management games before you really need them but they are simple to work into your daily routine and require only 30-60 seconds practice per day.

If you want a FULL program of teaching, fun and entertainment, check out our #100daysofenrichment project.

Festive Entertainment

In general, during social gatherings, parties and meals, you likely need your dog to be pretty low key and out of the way.

The easiest way to manage their behaviour is to provide them with appropriate behaviours to keep them busy and entertained. Instead of thinking how to stop them doing things you don’t like, think what you would prefer them to do instead!

Get your dog hooked on entertainment!

Start practicing now with simple activities that your dog can work on themselves, without too much input required from you.

Pacifying Activities: 

This category is great for confinement, for calming and when you want your dog to take themselves away and stay busy.

Introduce these now:

Day 1 Stuffables

Day 11 Chewing

Day 37 Lickables and Lappables

Get practicing now so you can find the best approach for your pet – it’s too late to discover they don’t like a certain thing or can’t work a toy on the day, when you really need it.

Activating Entertainment:

Before it all kicks off, provide your dog with plenty of appropriate mental and physical exercise so that they are relaxed and satisfied before the celebrations begin.

Always think in Rollercoasters: if you bring your dog up, they need help coming down again. This is why, it’s not necessarily a great idea to provide exerting exercise right before your guests arrive; your dog will still be wound up and now, with the extra excitement, will find it even harder to come down again.

Introduce some of these activities, and always follow with some down time and something from the pacifying category above.

Day 2 Play: Release the toy, release the joy

Day 6: Sniffing Saturday – Sniffathon!

Day 13: Sniffing Saturday – Scatter Feeding & Snuffling

Day 27 Sniffing Saturday: Adventure Time

Day 32 Play: Fun with Food

Day 55 Sniffing Saturday – Sniffing Courses

Day 57 Rollercoaster Games

Day 62 Sniffing Saturday: Searches & Scavenger Hunts

Day 69 Sniffing Saturday: Drag Hunts

Day 71 Chasing!

Day 76 Sniffing Saturday – SNIFFARI

Day 93 Watersports

Put these in place on the morning of your party, and even in the days leading up to celebration.

Puzzles!

Puzzles can be a great way of providing vital mental exercise and putting them together can be a great to get kids involved. When creating puzzles, think safety first!

Day 9: Busy Boxes

Day 16 Tubs

Day 18 Eggboxes

Day 23 Pulleys

Day 25 Dissection & Destruction

Day 29 Blankets

Day 31 Foraging Boxes

Day 39 Bottles

Day 44 Puzzle Chains

Day 46 Teasers

Day 51 Compound Puzzles

Day 53 Suspended Puzzles Pt1

Day 58 Paper

Day 67 Suspended Puzzles Pt. 2

Day 72 Food Dispensers

Day 74 Snuffle Roll Ups

Day 79 Box o’ Stuffables

Day 85 Tubes!

Day 87 Stacked Puzzles

Day 88 Suspended Teasers

Day 92 Winebox Puzzles Pt. 1

Day 94 Winebox Puzzles Pt.2

Day 99 Pockets

Day 100 Pockets (again)

Puzzles are a great way to use up all that Christmas wrapping and packing!

With little time between now and the big day, and a busy time in general, elaborate training just isn’t going to be done or successful. When you can’t train, manage. Management means to prevent the dog practicing behaviour we don’t like, because the more they do it, the better at it they become!

Don’t worry too much about teaching new behaviours, and instead, make it easy on you and your pet, and plan to manage.

Does my pet really need to participate in this?

Parties and celebrations can be a bit much for pets and they will often benefit from a break.
This may be just as beneficial for you too, as the festivities might stress you too causing you to feel frustrated with your pet’s behaviour.

Set up a safe space!

Set up a safe space for your pet to retreat to, that’s out of the way, and easy for them to access. It might be their bed, a mat, their crate, or a corner of a room.

Think about where will be best given the plans you have for the celebrations; where your pet can be away from the action safely.

Start practicing now!

•  set up your pet’s safe space now
• make sure everyone is aware of the rules – nobody approaches or  interacts with your pet while they are there
• every day, give them at least one tantalising stuffable or similar there

Make confinement a winner!

Having a safe space is great, but you might need to confine your dog to provide relief for all and to safely manage their behaviour.
Having your dog behind a closed door, baby gate or in a crate can help ease your mind from worrying about your dog getting into mischief.

Start practicing today!

• pick your safe confinement area
• every day, and I do mean every day, even if only for a few minutes, confine your dog with absolutely the best, most tempting, tantalising stuffable, chew or treat
• release your dog before they become distressed and go back to normal

Consider letting your dog retreat or putting them away regularly during the festivities to give them a break, before they become over-excited or stressed.
It’s also a good idea to confine your dog just before gusts arrive so you can get everyone in calmly and safely, and then bring your dog out to greet.

Keep away!

Presents, toys, decorations, Christmas trees, forbidden foods and tasty, tantalising treats everywhere makes it tough for dogs to resist.

Think prevention first!

• Confine your dog from areas where decorations are within reach.
  If you have a puppy or a particularly interested dog, decorating elaborately in just one room makes it easier to keep an eye on all the bits and pieces.
• Keep foods up and out of reach, so that your dog doesn’t get to practice even considering trying to counter-surf.
• Confine your dog during particularly active times, when children are on the floor, when toys are ramping up the excitement, when food is flowing.

Start practicing today!

• think of the situations in which your dog gets into mischief…
• give your dog an alternative activity before these situations start
• for example, before starting to cook or prepare food, or before sitting down to eat, give your dog a puzzle, a stuffable, a chew or something tempting to keep him busy in his safe zone
• for practice, you can time confinement and safe zone work with these situations so that you are getting more bang for your buck!

Some excellent ideas from around the web (please let me know if you own one of these pictures or know who does for credit) and in this clip here:

Baby-gates and leashes solve problems

Management is simple with just three tools: stuffables or similar, your dog’s lead, and a baby gate here and there.

Baby-gates: 

• prevent access to the tree and decorations
• prevent access to the kitchen and food prep areas
• prevent access to rooms where foods and toys are within reach
• stops dogs getting up stairs, where they might knock someone over
• keeps dogs safe in a confinement area
• prevents dogs getting to the hallway or doors to stop escapes or over-the-top greetings

Leashes: 

• tether your dog in their safe zone so that they are safely confined but not shut away from the action
• bring your dog to greet guests on leash to prevent jumping up
• sit with your dog’s leash under your foot so you can eat or relax in peace
• allow your dog to drag their leash so that you can easily and safely restrain them should things get tense, when the door is opening, and when things get exciting

Start practicing today!

• erect baby gates now so that your dog has time to get used to them before they are really needed
• practice confining your dog, behind a baby gate, with a yummy stuffable to work on while you cook, prep, eat and relax
• Park your Pup every day, while you relax or eat a meal:

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Kids & K9s

With excitement ramping up, the mix of children and dogs will take extra care. Neither dogs nor children are doing anything wrong – seasonal excitement might just cause everyone to lose a little control, be a little less tolerant and decrease attentiveness.

• more active and direct supervision is needed
• more separation will be required
• dogs don’t need to be involved when things get exciting so that they don’t associate such excitement with children and also to prevent jumping up, mouthing, knocking over or the development of discomfort in association with children
• give children dog-care activities to keep them busy, rather than allowing them to hug, lean on, or lift pets
• don’t allow children to take stuff from dogs and make sure to provide guidance about leaving the dog alone while he is in his safe zone or when he has possessions

Take care taking seasonal photos. Have an adult sitting between dogs and children and give children something to hold so they are not tempted to grab at or hug dogs, things that most dogs will find uncomfortable.

We often exert a lot of social pressure on dogs when taking photos – encouraging, luring and telling them to “stay!” and this can really cause dogs discomfort. Ease up, have an adult hold a chew or toy for the dog to work on during the photo shoot so that they stay put, without too much pressure.

Here’s an excellent webinar from Family Paws founder, Jennifer Shryock and it’s free! Check it out:

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Start practicing and establishing management practices that you might come to rely on during the celebrations.

Everything is in flux around your pet in the run-up to the holidays so putting this in place now, will help to set up some stability for them.

This practice helps you develop confidence in these routines too, making it easier for you to implement them sensibly when everything is exciting and feels a little out of control.

Plan ahead

Well, if you’re here, that’s likely what you are considering. We know that celebrations and festivities can be a bit hectic; add in some over-excited pets and it’s chaos-to-the-max!

Getting ahead of it and making it a normal part of your Christmas planning and preparation will help things run more smoothly on the day.

Holiday Hazards

Lack of routine and lots of potentially harmful food available can lead to ingestion of toxic and harmful substances, sometimes requiring urgent veterinary care.

• chocolate, ‘sugar free’ treats, sweets and wrappers/packaging
• grapes, raisins, Christmas puddings, mince pies
• alcohol, caffeine, pain killers and medications (even those for pets)
• cooked bones, high fat foods
• decorations, Christmas trees, poinsettia, holly, mistletoe…yes, pets often eat these…
• garlic, onions (and similar), some nuts like macadamia nuts

• bins, rubbish and recycling – there’s lots of it about so make sure it’s out of pets’ reach
• lots of dog treats and toys, and many other general products, come with little silicon or silica packets in the packaging, bag or box; if eaten by pets, they can cause serious problems and these packets in dog treats will smell of food making them more tempting – dispose of them before you give your pet their present and make sure that you put them well out of your pet’s reach, for example, in the wheelie bin outside or other inaccessible area
• doors opening, comings and goings – make sure your pet is secured, one person is responsible for the, they are wearing a collar and ID, microchip is up to date
• candles and extra electricals may lead to burns, singing of coat, chewing of electrical wires, hazards associated with oils and similar for burning
• it’s best not to put wrapped foods under the tree or in reach – the dog’s nose knows and they may break through wrapping paper and packaging to access tasty treats, some of which may be harmful to them

Have your pet’s emergency OOH vet details ready, just in case!

Holiday Stress

I am sure most humans will agree that holiday celebrations bring about all sorts of stress. Your dog is no different. But the things that bring your joy, might be the very things that cause your pet stress.

• changes to the house, garden and world around them

With decorations becoming more and more elaborate each year, pets may become overwhelmed by the transformations in their own house and garden, as well as in their neighbourhood.
Extra cleaning and re-configuring furniture, including things relevant to the dog such as his bed, feeding areas and so on, may cause them confusion and concern.

Some decorations, particularly outdoor ornaments, can really spook dogs such as life-size figures, moving or noisy displays, and hanging things, especially as they seem to suddenly appear. If you notice this, bring your dog away calmly and choose another walking route.

Some dogs show extra interest in projected lights (often projected onto the exterior of houses) and reflections caused by twinkling lights. Bring your dog away, try to reduce their exposure by removing the dog or removing the decorations and contact us or another suitably qualified behaviour pro.

• routine changes and lack of routine

Dogs find holidays hard – they don’t know what day of the week it is, after all. With the hustle and bustle during holiday periods, dogs may get less exercise, entertainment and attention, putting them out of sorts.
These changes can lead to disruption to toileting behaviour, sleeping and nighttime behaviour, eating behaviour, and may see the resurgence of destructive behaviour, over-excited behaviour, barking, jumping up and other unwanted behaviours.

If you’re off work and home for a period of time, it’s important to attempt some level of routine in terms of alone-time for your dog throughout. This helps prevent the dog becoming upset when you go back to work and leave them alone again.

• lots of comings and goings

Social gatherings, energetic children, shopping outings, deliveries and guests leads to more doorbells and knocking, which most dogs, at the very least, will find arousing.
This can lead to susceptible dogs becoming sensitised to door-activity, making their behaviour more difficult to manage and possibly even dangerous.

Know your dog!
A dog who barks at the doorbell and then recovers once visitors enter, is probably doing ok. But, dogs who continue to bark when guests come in, dogs who move forward in a direct manner, or dogs who move away and attempt to avoid interaction, will require closer management and care.

• resource guarding

With the availability of lots of high value food, new possessions and toys, items left lying around, most dogs will be very tempted. So-called ‘stealing’ behaviour may increase, leading to inappropriate interactions between pets and their people.

This can lead to resource guarding related behaviour where dogs will take items, cache them, show aggressive responding (e.g. whale eye, freezing, growling, snarling, snapping and even biting) and may attempt to ingest items to prevent anyone else getting them.

• children, vulnerable guests and general increases in activity within the house

Celebration means everything is go-go-go, children are hyped, new gifts and toys must be explored and tried out, elderly guests may be present, and everything is up a notch on normality.

Children, and their activity, may be particularly worrisome for dogs, and with holidays from school, dogs may not get their usual relief from this sort of activity.
Kids will often have costumes, new noisy and moving toys, and will be excited – this can increase the risk of dog bites, so extra supervision and separation will be required.

Elderly or vulnerable individuals may be bowled over by an exuberant dog, be jumped on or knocked on the stairs.

It’s a great idea to assign one sensible adult responsibility for the dog throughout the gathering so there is someone consistently monitoring the dog, supporting them and keeping them safe.
Get the entire family on board with planning and preparation so everyone is on the same page.

• great expectations

We expect our dogs to deal with whatever we present, regardless of how well, or not, we have prepared them. Dogs need support during holidays and it’s up to you to help them. Planning and preparation goes a long way, but a sensible approach to managing your pet during celebrations is really the key.

Start by lowering your expectations and re-aligning them with reality, understand that all this will be overwhelming for your pet and that they will respond accordingly.

Feeling under pressure about our pet’s behaviour may lead us to exert more pressure on them, resort to scolding and reprimanding, and letting your frustration get the better of you. If you feel that frustration bubbling, remove your pet to another room with an irresistible stuffable or chew to work on in peace – everyone can get a minute to take a breath and gather themselves.

Ask, “does my pet need to be part of this?”. Their behaviour is information telling you how well they are coping, or not, so removing them from the action may be best for everyone.

During holiday seasons, dressing our pets up and posing them for photos can add to the pressure they feel.
Dogs who show reluctance to have costumes fitted or freeze when wearing silly jumpers or props are experiencing a high degree of distress.
You don’t need to put yourself or your pet through it – there are countless apps that allow you to add emojis and animations to photos and videos, without your pet every knowing about it.

• stress related behaviour

‘Crazy’ & excitable behaviour is often interpreted as happiness, but more often than not, it’s the first tier of stress-related behaviours indicating that the dog is losing control and not coping well.

This means your dog can’t listen or respond normally, is more likely to have a more demonstrative response, and his behaviour may appear less predictable.

All this excitement may be associated with trigger stacking. Just this list of stressors, one on top of another, will cause your pet’s behaviour to intensify, even though one or a small number of stressors may normally cause your pet no concern at all.

Join us for Christmas Bites to help you prepare your pet for festive fun!