Dachshunds are energetic, affectionate little dogs. They can be a perfect pet option for anyone who is passionate about having pets. They are also protective, and sometimes their protective nature can be a problem. When guests arrive at our home in this situation, they bark a lot and sometimes get aggressive. As a dachshund owner, I face this issue many times when strangers come into my home, my Toby barks excessively. In this blog, I will share some practical and effective tips on how to calm a dachshund.
After reading this blog about how to calm a dachshund, you don’t need to read any types of other materials related to this topic.
So, without further ado, let’s dive deep into an article
Why does a dachshund react in this way to a visitor?
Dachshunds react and bark at strangers because of their protective nature. They are especially bred for a hunting dog; they are naturally suspicious of unfamiliar people and noises. Barking is a way of showing a warning to a stranger.
While dachshunds don’t always bark to show their territorial nature. Their barking can have various meanings. Dachshunds can also bark when they are anxious and unsure about a stranger; sometimes, they just bark to seek attention from their owner or other people. We need to understand the real reason behind why your dachshund before taking action to make them calm.
Once you identify the right reason for your dachshund barking, whether it’s coming from territorial nature, fear, excitement, or just seeking attention from a stranger, then you can settle this issue based on the reason for barking.
For example, if your dog barks at strangers to show their territorial nature, it may mean you didn’t socialise your dog well. And you need to train your dog by exposing it to more strangers and other animals.
How to train your dog to stay calm around visitors
Teach Basic Commands
Start your training with basic commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’. This helps your dachshund calm down when someone stranger comes into your home.
Practice in a Controlled Setting
You can start your dog training with practice in a controlled setting first. This is an effective technique for training your dog to stay calm around visitors. You can incorporate your friend or your family member for this training. You can follow these steps to do this.
Stay calm
If your dog barks or shows any unsteady behaviour during the practice, then tell your visitor not to pay attention to the dog’s behaviour. This helps your dog realise that nothing is going to happen when I bark at him/her. Also, tell your guest to stay calm and don’t give attention to the dogs ‘ behaviour.
Reward
When your dog remains calm, when someone enters, praise them or reward them with their favourite treat. This is very helpful for changing your dog’s habit because this activates their trigger their reward system. This positive reinforcement helps to associate being calm with receiving their favourite treat. This technique was also very helpful for me when I trained my dachshund to stay calm.
Make your dog less sensitive to the doorbell or knock
Most of the time, your dachshund starts to bark when the doorbell rings. The rings and knock sound work as a signal that something bad is happening. This triggers their territorial behaviour and barking.
Start by adjusting your doorbell sound to a low volume; a low volume sound is less sensitive for your dachshund. Then start ringing the doorbell when your dachshund is sitting relaxed in their own. In this, they can bark don’t respond to their barking if they do. If they don’t show any unsteady behaviour, reward them with their favourite treat, this triggers their reward system and encourages them to be calm when the doorbell rings.
You can increase your doorbell sound gradually as your dachshund gets used to it and does not respond at all. But remember, avoid increasing doorbell volume much at once this can trigger old behaviour. Reward them with a treat when they successfully stay calm when the doorbell rings.
In the next step, you can command your dog like ‘quiet’, ‘stop’ with the sound of a doorbell rings this help your dog to focus on you instead of the sound of doorbell. This is also useful when visitors come in your home, in this situation your dog focus on your command instead of visitors and doorbell.
Provide a comfortable and safe place
Provide them with their favourite toys, a comfortable bed and calming music. This helps to make your dog’s nervous system calm, and they are less likely to be overexcited. You can send them to this room when guests arrive.
Provide enough exercise and mental stimulation
When you fail to provide them enough exercise and mental stimulation, they are in a state of high energy and excitement. And when they are in a state of high energy, they are more likely to show their territorial nature. That’s why you need to provide them plenty of exercise and mental stimulation before exposure to a stranger visitor.
You can include various types of exercise for dachshunds to keep them tired when a visitor comes to your home. I am also using this for my dog to calm my dog when my guest visits my home.
Use Controlled Guest Introductions
For this, you can ask your family and friends to help you practice. Keep your dog on a leash and tell your family/ friends to ignore the dog at first. Once your dachshund is calm around the people, you can allow them to go to them and sniff. Lastly, reward them and praise them with their favourite treat.
Avoid Reinforcing Excitement
Don’t comfort and attention to your dog when they are excited, barking, and jumping. Only give affection and reward when they are calm. If you pay attention even when they are barking excitedly and jumping, they think, “Oh! When I bark, the human gives me love and attention, so I should keep doing this.” Even if you are trying to calm them, your attention encourages them to do the same activity repetitively. That’s why you must avoid giving attention when they show behaviour like barking, jumping.
Stay Consistent
Consistency is key in any type of dog training. Practice often, not just when a guest comes, and keep your training session short and positive. Dachshunds are a little hard to train; they only learn from repetition. When you encourage them repeatedly to do good things, they automatically start doing the right things.
For example, your dog barks loudly when a visitor comes into your home, even after many days of training. Ignore this and don’t be annoyed by this behaviour. They will eventually understand on their own that barking at guests has no meaning and won’t get them any attention.
Practice regularly, even if your dog doesn’t show any positive behaviour. After some time later you can definitely see a noticeable change in your dog’s behaviour, that’s why you shouldn’t quit, stay consistent.
Conclusion
Dachshunds are energetic, affectionate little dogs. They are a little hard to
train to stay calm, but with the right technique and lots of patience, you can make them stay calm around visitors. Throughout this blog, we have explored tips and tricks for how to calm a dachshund around visitors or strangers. The most important part of this training is consistency, which makes your dachshund’s training successful.
