Dear John, sorry to hear about your problem. There is a fantastic new product you might try though, it is called: “Train your freaking dog then.” It works on a principal called: “dogs are living creatures, members of a family, and require an intense commitment like a human child, that if a person cannot make- they should consider wether a dog is right for them.” Lots of literature and even professional help to get you there. But sadly- I do not think doorbells are going anywhere any time soon, and if your dog pissed on the floor you probably wouldn’t solve that with a petition to remove floors from buildings would you? Spend more time training your dog, less time writing online petitions and watching tv, or... adopt your dog to someone who can take care of it. Or heck- live with the behavioral issues stemming from the lack of discipline in your dogs life.
@guest_ I’m gonna have to stop you right there.
Yes, you can train a dog.
However, you cannot train a dog out of being a dog. That is, protecting one’s property from strangers. Teaching a dog not to bark is like teaching a child not to walk, AFTER they’ve learnt to walk.
We must agree to disagree. I am not questioning your experience or expertise- just stating for the record that my family bred dogs (legitimately- not a “puppy mill” and I spent my entire life in homes full of them. We’d also adopt dogs and rescue dogs- some to re home and some to keep. Some dogs, sometimes, won’t change certain behaviors and some can’t be completely eliminated. But most of the time- you can train a dog not to bark at certain cues wether they are 1 month or 10 years old.
It can take weeks or even years of consistent training- and they’ll still possibly bark from time to time until you correct them and then they’ll stop (if trained to stop on command.) Many dogs aren’t barking at door bells or knocks because of territorial issues- much of the time they are excited. They know that cue usually means a visitor. Watching their behavior can help tell which.
That does have some bearing on it- and a dog is always a dog- it isn’t an adult human- breed matters too sure, but in general if you couldn’t train a dog to a point of near reliability they wouldn’t be very useful in their time honored roles in military and other high stakes duties. Dogs aren’t people but they live with people. Behavioral issues are quite often a case where the dog, for its personality and breed instincts etc- just isn’t being given the environment it needs. So if you can’t adjust the dog- you have to adjust your environment. If you can’t adjust your environment- why’d you make a commitment to care for an animal that would likely require some level of adjustment?
My dog chewed my shoes once so I looked him straight in the face "I'm a Vietnamese you motherfucker and if you eat my shoes again, I'll EAT you for dinner."
He hates shoes now.
Yes, you can train a dog.
However, you cannot train a dog out of being a dog. That is, protecting one’s property from strangers. Teaching a dog not to bark is like teaching a child not to walk, AFTER they’ve learnt to walk.
He hates shoes now.