Preparing Your Dog For Halloween

[PeterAlphaPaws]

One of the most common things I find that owners do with their dogs on Halloween is to put them in a crate in the basement out of the way in order to avoid excessive barking at the Trick or Treaters. I don't know about you but this is NOT where I'd want to be if it was me.
Halloween gives us as dog owners, the opportunity to teach them to be good at the front door when people come calling. If you start working on this now, before October 31st and prepping your dog for frequent visitors by Halloween night both you and your dog will enjoy the evening much more and your dog will have learned a valuable lesson about manners at the front door that will be useful all year round!

So, how do you prep your dog for Halloween? I start with what I call the 3 D's(distractions) of training. You will need 3 people for this exercise. One to ring the doorbell, one to handle the dog and the other to answer the door. Here is the scenario:

The doorbell rings and the dog goes directly to the door barking. The dog handler approaches the dog and attaches the leash if it's not already on and turns with the dog leading it away from the door towards its mat, which should be laying at least 6 feet away from the door. The dog is commanded to 'lay down' on the mat. Then, the person on the door opens it and proceeds to greet the 'visitor' loudly with much enthusiasm. (Remember, the kids won't be quiet coming to your door on Halloween!) If the dog gets up before instructed to do so the door is immediately shut on the guest and the dog is returned to the down position on the mat with a firm , "NO....DOWN". This is repeated until the dog no longer is barking or lunging at the guest at the door.
Practice this every time someone comes to the door and your dog will have a much more enjoyable Halloween night!!

Happy Halloween and good luck!