# Ep 95 How to Stop Your Dog’s Doorbell Drama

An episode of [Help! My Dog: The Podcast. Dog Behaviour & Training Strategies that Work!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1721245241), 24 Sep 2025, 17 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2287608/episodes/17821787-ep-95-how-to-stop-your-dog-s-doorbell-drama.mp3

Does your dog bark, panic or lose their cool every time the doorbell rings? This is one of the most common struggles dog owners face. In this episode, we’re discovering the “why” behind those big reactions and how the doorbell can affect your dog’s stress levels far beyond just that one moment. You’ll hear simple, realistic strategies that can make a huge difference to your dog’s wellbeing and your own peace of mind. Whether you’ve got delivery drivers showing up daily, neighbours popping in, or just the occasional visitor, these ideas can help stop your dog’s explosive barking, setting both you and your dog up for long-term success. Tune in and find out how a few easy changes can transform your dog’s response to the doorbell. ................ Whether your dog is unpredictable with other dogs or predictably bad… Whether it looks like freezing, barking, lunging or running away… Whether you are just starting out on your dog-owning journey or your dog has been labelled as having a “behaviour problem”… … this episode is for you and is going to give you huge insights! Want to join the Help! My Dog Online HUB? Here's the link: www.helpmydog.com/hub Dr Tom Mitchell is a world-renowned veterinarian, behaviourist and dog trainer and director of the Behavet behaviour clinic (rated Excellent on Trustpilot), which sees over 400 pet behaviour consultations each and every month no matter where you are in the world. In 2023, he founded Help! My Dog, an online dog behaviour learning platform to help even more owners all over the world and show that dog behaviour transformation is not only possible but it's FUN, with the right know-how! Make sure to subscribe/follow the podcast for the free weekly episodes! Useful Links: Follow Help! My Dog on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helpmydogofficial/ Schedule a Consultation with Behavet: https://www.beha.vet/ Follow Behavet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/behavet

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: But anything that happens on like a daily basis or more frequently, it's probably something that is having repercussions not just for our mental health, but our dogs' mental health as well, right?
[0:11] SPEAKER_00: Before we dive in, a warning.
[0:14] SPEAKER_00: The content of this podcast may not be appropriate for some young listeners.
[0:19] SPEAKER_00: This is real life, and that means that sometimes it can be a little bit graphic.
[0:24] SPEAKER_00: So listen on at your own peril.
[0:27] SPEAKER_00: As a veterinarian, dog behaviourist, best-selling author and trainer, over the past decade, I've had an obsession with transforming the behaviour of dogs.
[0:36] SPEAKER_00: Understanding their brains and creating practical strategies that you can implement easily at home.
[0:42] SPEAKER_00: I know all too well when the dream you imagined when you first got your dog is far from your daily reality.
[0:48] SPEAKER_00: In fact, out of the blue, a few months ago, my little dog Gorse was bitten by a dog 20 times her size.
[0:55] SPEAKER_00: And suddenly our life of stress-free walks, a calm and cuddly household and being teammates was replaced with reactivity, anxiety, and worrying about what's around the next corner.
[1:06] SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
[1:07] SPEAKER_00: Tom.
[1:07] SPEAKER_00: This is the Help My Dog Podcast, and this is me documenting that journey of transformation, sharing my knowledge and experience with you and having a few laughs along the way.
[1:18] SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to this episode of the Help My Dog Podcast.
[1:23] SPEAKER_00: The podcast that unlocks those results that have been evading you with your dog.
[1:30] SPEAKER_00: Now, guys, um this one is a listener question, and um I think it's one that is really common.
[1:36] SPEAKER_00: It's one that can be really it on one hand, it can be really frustrating, on the other hand, it can be one that we just kind of slip into like surviving or just firefighting rather than wanting to resolve it or help it or improve it.
[1:52] SPEAKER_00: And that is our dog's responses to the doorbell, and our dog's responses to deliveries arriving, and our dog's responses to the neighbor popping round with a lasagna.
[2:04] SPEAKER_00: I don't know, um, that would be nice, wouldn't it?
[2:06] SPEAKER_00: My neighbour's never done that.
[2:08] SPEAKER_00: Anyway, um, so that's what we need to be uh that's what we're gonna be chatting on, and um I've got kind of four tips for you, or four considerations, or four strategies.
[2:20] SPEAKER_00: Um I want you to be open-minded with them.
[2:24] SPEAKER_00: Um, and again, I want us to just think about, yeah, it doesn't happen frequently, but anything that happens on like a daily basis or more frequently, it's probably something that is having repercussions not just for our mental health, but our dogs' mental health as well, right?
[2:42] SPEAKER_00: It's probably something that's contributing to their stress bucket and not allowing them to access calmness as much or not allow or bringing them closer to threshold on walks or um in the garden or just in the house, right?
[2:56] SPEAKER_00: And so while it's a fairly like it's fairly inconveniencing to have a dog that erupts and explodes at the sound of a doorbell, it does, it does kind of leak into other areas as well.
[3:08] SPEAKER_00: And so maybe it's something that'd be a fun, like, you know, four-week challenge for us to to improve, yeah?
[3:14] SPEAKER_00: So first things first, and improving this, uh, and certainly while improving it, but sometimes this is a longer term consideration as well.
[3:24] SPEAKER_00: Do you need a doorbell?
[3:26] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[3:27] SPEAKER_00: If you think about it, doorbells are quite it that it's quite a funny thing, isn't it?
[3:32] SPEAKER_00: Because doorbells are something that have persisted into mod modern life, but they were actually used at a time when we didn't have cell phones.
[3:44] SPEAKER_00: Um, and their purpose was to alert somebody in the house that that somebody's at the door.
[3:51] SPEAKER_00: Um, but the reality is that nowadays, you know, most of the time you're you've got your phone right next to you, it's pinging all the time, and maybe we do away with the doorbell.
[4:03] SPEAKER_00: Um, or you can even get silent doorbells that alert you by um alert your phone, right?
[4:09] SPEAKER_00: Or a link to your phone and ring your phone.
[4:12] SPEAKER_00: Um that's actually what we have.
[4:13] SPEAKER_00: Nobody ever uses our our doorbell, but um as in like our intercom thing, but um but when they do it rings our phone.
[4:22] SPEAKER_00: Um and so we we have a a few things in place actually.
[4:26] SPEAKER_00: One, we have a policy of everyone just kind of walks in basically, which is just how we like it.
[4:33] SPEAKER_00: Um and um and so people that know us don't don't aren't ringing the bell or knocking on the door.
[4:41] SPEAKER_00: Um the other thing that we have is that we have a delivery box.
[4:46] SPEAKER_00: So we it's nothing more fancy than a black box, right?
[4:51] SPEAKER_00: And um our delivery drivers in this area know that if it can go in the black box, it goes in the black box, right?
[4:58] SPEAKER_00: How do they know that?
[4:59] SPEAKER_00: Because they rang the intercom enough times and we said put it in the black box enough times that now they don't now they skip that step and they put it in the black box.
[5:08] SPEAKER_00: Third thing is that we have like an intercom thing that um that sounds way fancier than it than it is.
[5:15] SPEAKER_00: Um they it you press a button, it rings, and it rings, um, it rings our phones and it rings them in order.
[5:22] SPEAKER_00: So if one of us doesn't pick up, then the other one picks up, and if not, then it just nobody answers, which is what would happen if nobody was at home, right?
[5:29] SPEAKER_00: Um and so that's quite nice.
[5:32] SPEAKER_00: And and I also like that for I like that for a lot of people because think about it, what what happens when you're out the house and your dog's at home?
[5:41] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, people are still ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door, and um and and the your dog's still erupting.
[5:49] SPEAKER_00: Whereas with this method, it rings your phone and you can speak to the person and you your dog your dog kind of is none the wiser.
[5:58] SPEAKER_00: Um so that's the the the first thing to to consider and and it kind of highlights something that I think is that that kind of leads on to the that leads on to the next point, and that is isn't it interesting that our phone can ring and we can get a text and we can get a WhatsApp and we can get a Facebook message and it's pinging and dinging all the time, and our dogs are not erupting with barking, right?
[6:27] SPEAKER_00: And yet with the doorbell, they are, yeah, or they they they they might be in in in your case.
[6:35] SPEAKER_00: Um funnily enough, if we if we if I rang a doorbell in our house, the dogs would just we wouldn't even they'd be like, oh it's a noise.
[6:42] SPEAKER_00: That's non-the-none the they don't know what it means.
[6:44] SPEAKER_00: The reason why our dogs, your dogs are reacting to the doorbell and not your phone is is two reasons.
[6:51] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[6:52] SPEAKER_00: First is that um it has meaning, it has consequence.
[6:56] SPEAKER_00: If the doorbell's ringing, that has been linked to there's somebody at the door.
[7:03] SPEAKER_00: And somebody at the door is either very exciting because there's that social interaction option, or very scary, yeah, because I'm a bit worried about you quite novel, there wasn't somebody at the door a minute ago and now there is, right?
[7:16] SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that doorbell has has had meaning linked to it through the process of classical conditioning, um, and it is triggering an emotional response as a result of the things that it predicts.
[7:30] SPEAKER_00: Whereas with your phone, your phone predicts many things and no things at the same time.
[7:36] SPEAKER_00: It's not linked to one single event, yeah, and it's happening all the time, and often it's of it's happening to no consequence to your dog, and which leaves clues, yeah.
[7:46] SPEAKER_00: Success leaves clues.
[7:48] SPEAKER_00: Second thing is that it's your phone might be going off all the time, right?
[7:53] SPEAKER_00: Whereas the doorbell is incredibly novel when it goes off, okay?
[7:58] SPEAKER_00: So of course it's more significant because it's like silent than doorbell, whereas your phone's like ding ding ding all the time, right?
[8:05] SPEAKER_00: So you know it becomes meaningless, it becomes white noise to your dogs.
[8:09] SPEAKER_00: So bearing in mind that the success of the phone leaves clues that we might be able to apply to the doorbell.
[8:16] SPEAKER_00: My next tip is if you're working on this, really put in a policy of not giving your dog direct access to the door, okay?
[8:25] SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, I just want to take a moment to answer a question that has been coming in in literally 10 emails a day, and that is how can we help you with your dog's behavior struggle, whether that be reactivity, separation, anxiety, resource guarding, maybe you've got multi-dog household struggle right now, maybe your dog's just so over aroused on a walk that they just can't listen to you and they're chasing everything inside.
[8:49] SPEAKER_00: Like, can I get Tom's help?
[8:51] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the answer is that actually you can, and you can do that by booking a behavet behaviour consultation.
[8:58] SPEAKER_00: That's where literally my team give you the plan on how to transform your struggle and get you to that dream that that made you get a dog in the first place, right?
[9:09] SPEAKER_00: Your world's got smaller and smaller and smaller, and actually it doesn't need to be that way.
[9:13] SPEAKER_00: You just need to reach out for help.
[9:15] SPEAKER_00: Now, a couple of things to say on that.
[9:16] SPEAKER_00: First of all, if you're insured, if your dog's insured with Pet Plan, Kennel Club, AgriA, or many pets, we actually do direct claims with them, which means that that's covered by your insurance.
[9:27] SPEAKER_00: So you don't you don't pay out of your pocket, your insurance covers that.
[9:31] SPEAKER_00: And the second thing to say is that we have loads of options if you're insured with another provider, or if your dog's not insured at all, that's also totally fine.
[9:39] SPEAKER_00: We have loads of options that we've developed to make this so accessible for you.
[9:44] SPEAKER_00: Um, because we're aware that you've already invested a load of time and a load of money in getting your dog, looking after your dog, caring for your dog.
[9:50] SPEAKER_00: But the last thing we want is for you to have done all that and still not be living the life that you deserve with your dog.
[9:56] SPEAKER_00: And we know we can get you there.
[9:57] SPEAKER_00: So all you need to do is go to the Behave Vet website, and the way to do that is go B-E-H-A.V-E-T.
[10:07] SPEAKER_00: That's Behay.vet, and it will take you there.
[10:11] SPEAKER_00: Or just Google Behave Vet, right?
[10:13] SPEAKER_00: Um, and you can get scheduled in and we can literally get you booked in for a consultation as soon as possible.
[10:19] SPEAKER_00: We normally can accommodate it within a week, right?
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: So that you can be getting to your dream ASAP.
[10:25] SPEAKER_00: Really put in a policy of not giving your dog direct access to the door, okay?
[10:30] SPEAKER_00: In other words, that from now on, there should be no scenario, and I think it's true of safety, really, until your dog's got the skills.
[10:38] SPEAKER_00: There should be no scenario where you're opening the door and holding your dog back like manually.
[10:44] SPEAKER_00: They should be um behind another door or they should be behind a baby gate, right?
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: Um, because ultimately, when you when dogs have direct access to the door, that allows the meaning, the consequence to transfer to the doorbell.
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense, guys?
[11:02] SPEAKER_00: So it the doorbell has meaning because your dogs have direct access to the door, doorbell means there's someone behind the door and the door is opening and there they are.
[11:11] SPEAKER_00: Whereas if they didn't have access to that door when someone was behind it and they were behind a baby gate or a door or whatever else, um, then or in the garden, I don't know, I don't know your setup, then actually we start to neutralize that a little bit.
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: And also it's a safety thing.
[11:26] SPEAKER_00: Third tip that I've got for you, which again we can learn from the success of the phone, right, is that the reason why the doorbell is so significant is because it happens infrequently, and when it does happen, it's a big thing.
[11:40] SPEAKER_00: It's very, very novel.
[11:42] SPEAKER_00: And so, in a way, what you can play around with here is adding in little disturbances throughout the day that are doorbell-like, but not the doorbell, and that are below the threshold at which your dog's gonna respond.
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that are maybe little like, you know, actually, your phone's such a good example.
[12:04] SPEAKER_00: Your phone can do different kinds of ding, yeah?
[12:07] SPEAKER_00: And maybe it could do different kinds of ding.
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: Maybe you could get a doorbell that is a different doorbell that's just like an Amazon special, and you just occasionally like press it, and because it's a different sound to your doorbell, your dog's like, well, I don't think it's anybody's at the door, I'm aware, but I'm calming down again.
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: Um, we almost want to make this a little bit white noise, but you can only make it white noise by doing it at a level whereby your dog doesn't absolutely lose it, right?
[12:35] SPEAKER_00: They need to just be like, I'm aware, I'm disturbed, but I'm resettling.
[12:39] SPEAKER_00: Um, so that would be the third tip.
[12:41] SPEAKER_00: Of course, all of these are redundant if you've done my first tip, which actually is a very easy quick fix.
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the fourth and final tip that I have for you is how about we think about what we would like them to do when the doorbell, when they hear the doorbell, right?
[13:02] SPEAKER_00: What would we like them to do?
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: And so maybe what we would like them to do is get on their bed.
[13:09] SPEAKER_00: Now you might be thinking, well, I don't care if they get on their bed, I just don't want them to bark.
[13:12] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but if they if they're getting on their bed, you're giving them a way to navigate that experience, which in turn makes them feel better, which in turn makes them probably feel less scared or excited, and in turn makes them less likely to bark.
[13:24] SPEAKER_00: But also getting on your bed and being quiet is incompatible with barking.
[13:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can't do both.
[13:29] SPEAKER_00: You can't bark and be quiet.
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[13:31] SPEAKER_00: Equally, you can't be on your bed and clawing at the door at the same time, unless your dog's mastered time travel, right?
[13:40] SPEAKER_00: Um, and so effectively we're gonna pick a what do we want instead of thinking about the what don't we want.
[13:46] SPEAKER_00: And that what do we want is gonna be incompatible with the what don't we want, right?
[13:50] SPEAKER_00: And what we're gonna do is we're gonna start to build this behavior of get on your bed and get a piece of food, and then we're gonna use that fake little doorbell that we got from Amazon that sounds different from our doorbell.
[14:01] SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's not quite as difficult for our dogs to think in the presence of it, and the doorbell, ding, is going to be a cue for getting on your bed.
[14:10] SPEAKER_00: Ding, getting on your bed, ding, getting on your bed, right?
[14:14] SPEAKER_00: And then of course you're gonna build it up to the real thing eventually, and all of this while not having direct access to the door, and ideally all of this while having put in a management strategy that is the doorbell is not gonna ring in the meantime while you're working on this.
[14:27] SPEAKER_00: Because it's all well and good putting, you know, 50 50 pence pieces in the um in the the piggy bank that is get on your bed and and and when when you hear the doorbell.
[14:38] SPEAKER_00: But if there's a you know a 100-pound note going in the piggy bank that is scratch and claw at the door and bark like a lunatic when the actual doorbell goes off in the meantime, you're gonna be doing 50 pences for a really long time, right?
[14:52] SPEAKER_00: And so you've got to, you've got to manage it in the meantime, and you've got to stop that rehearsal of the actual doorbell.
[14:59] SPEAKER_00: And you know, what often happens when we're working on this, um, and there's a whole step-by-step that that we could do that, you know, I've I've taught on in the the help my dog hub that that would be um perfect for you guys to get involved in if you're not already involved in it, um, with that kind of step by step.
[15:16] SPEAKER_00: Um, but the um the the the big thing that I um that that I want you to be aware of is that most people, as they put in the management and realize, oh, doorbell-free life is actually more convenient for you, even, you might find that actually that's fine.
[15:31] SPEAKER_00: Sometimes this is one of those things where you're like, why am I, why do I have a doorbell?
[15:36] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in today's world, right?
[15:38] SPEAKER_00: Even just even without the in the absence of a of a an intercom system, what about just a sign that says, if it's a delivery, put it in the black box.
[15:49] SPEAKER_00: If you require a signature signature, call this number.
[15:52] SPEAKER_00: Like that that that supersedes the doorbell, yeah?
[15:57] SPEAKER_00: Um, and um, and in a way is more convenient.
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: Um because you can, you know, you can, if you're out the house, you're in the garden or whatever, you can speak to them.
[16:05] SPEAKER_00: Everyone has their phones on them all the time now.
[16:07] SPEAKER_00: So um get excited about the possibilities, quit the firefighting, let's get proactive, and let's turn this struggle into something that actually is a big win that you discover your mood is much lighter simply because your dog no longer barks at the doorbell.

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