Cats are good at training dogs not to bark when the doorbell rings

Martha, my bodyguard, barks when the doorbell rings. That is Martha, the dog, not Mrs. Hodges, my typist. Mrs. Hodges fortunately doesn’t bark every time the doorbell rings.

Charlie, my assistant, who is a cat, and I are training Martha not to bark when the doorbell rings.

Charlie and I sit beside Martha in the kitchen and we wait for someone to ring the doorbell. We had just asked Martha to sit when Mrs. Hodges took this photograph.

We said to Martha, “Martha, sit!” We only said it once. If you say, “Martha, sit! Martha, sit! Martha, sit! Martha, sit!” four times you have trained your dog to sit only after you have said the command four times.

Then we said, “Stay.”

After we told Marth to sit, we had Mrs. Hodges ring the front door bell.

Martha barked when she heard the doorbell ring. Then I said, “Martha! No bark!” And Martha stopped barking. I only gave the command once.

If your dog barks when someone comes to the door, never treat your dog like a baby and say in a baby voice. “Oh, it’s okay honey, Mommy is here. It is just the nice mailman delivering a parcel.”  And never pat you dog on the head when it barks, as you will be reinforcing the barking behavior.

This is how a dog thinks when you use a baby voice and pat it on the head. This is what Martha, the dog, told me. “Oh, wow! Mrs. Hodges loves it when I bark, I get the sweet baby voice. Oh, yeah and I love to be patted on the head. My human wants me to keep barking. Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark.”
I didn’t quite understand the last thing she said. It was something about wanting to go on longer walks in the morning and please let me eat the cats food.

The most important aspect of training a dog to not bark is: you are the boss. Say your command firmly and say it once. Expect to be obeyed.You are making a command not a request. 

You are making a command not a request. Expect to be obeyed.
—– Pooh Hodges, The cat who whispers at dogs

Does your dog bark when the doorbell rings? Please let me know. Maybe I can help you. I am the cat who whispers at dogs.
And I must have a talk with Mrs. Hodges, she apparently is training Martha to bark with her sweet baby voices.

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I wish you all the best.

xo
Love Pooh