Lifestyle

Holiday Season Incoming- Here’s How To Train Your Dog For Guests

Now that the holiday season is right around the corner, you might be expecting some guests at your house. 

Imagine hosting a Christmas party, and your excited dog is making everyone feel annoyed or uncomfortable by barking or jumping continuously. There’s no fun in that. Right?

Reality check: No one likes to be welcomed with an excited or barking dog unless it’s your own dog. 

Why do dogs start jumping or barking when guests arrive?

Dogs are natural protectors. They feel intimidated when a stranger enters their home. As soon as someone unfamiliar comes to the doorstep, your dog’s protective instincts kick in, and they start barking or jumping. 

That’s why many dog parents would understand the fact that it is certainly not easy to keep dogs calm during the arrival of the guests.

To your surprise, with proper training, you can limit your dog’s barking and excitement. Here are some tips for you to train your dog to welcome guests calmly. 

  • Teach some cues

Being a dog owner, you should know that your dog is continuously learning from you. And you can use that to your advantage. This way, you can easily teach your dog how to be well-behaved. 

For this, it would be best if your dog learns to obey and master the basic commands such as “sit,” or“leave the room,” or “stay.” They can come in handy for you upon the guest’s arrival. 

  • Bring in the treats

Once you are done teaching some cues and commands to your dog, it is now time to find the appropriate reward. 

When your dog follows your commands and cues when your guests arrive, it would be best to reward the behavior with treats such as bully sticks or beef jerky. This would ensure that your dog would repeat his good behavior in the future as well. 

For instance, suppose your dog starts barking when there’s a knock at the door, and you say “go to your place.” Once your dog follows your command, you can reward the behavior with a delicious treat. 

  • Provide distractions

If you have an unannounced visitor, then you might not have enough time to train your dog. And putting him on a leash can make things worse. 

In such cases, it would be best to use toys or treats as a distraction. This way, you’ll be able to shift your dog’s focus by diverting the attention. 

  • Stay calm

See, your dog isn’t going to learn to behave in seconds. He needs time, and you need to acknowledge that. 

Refrain from yelling at your dog as it could cause damage to his mental health. 

Stay calm but persistent with your training. Eventually, your dog will learn how to behave around guests. 

To sum it all up, 

Since the holiday season is the time when you might host some get-togethers for your near and dear ones, it is certainly the best time to teach your dog how to greet the visitors. And the tips mentioned above can definitely help you with that. 

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