window cleaner scare

[karenl]

every time i think we are getting somewhere with our puppy , now 10 months she does something else that bothers me.today although understandable in some ways, the window cleaner knocked on the back door and then opened it ,Amber went mad barking and tried to get out of the door and in the commotion she bit my hand. the worrying thing is that it could have been the window cleaner she bit ! she didn't draw blood but she definitely meant it and yet again i worry about aggression issues. will she ever get to the point where i can trust her when she gets worked up every time she is botherd by something. we have two baby grandchildren who she doesn't seem to take a lot of notice of just now but as they grow i need to feel i can trust our dog when they come and visit any advise as to calm Amber down in these situations would be appreciated

[Top Barks]

how often do folks knock on your door? how often does this happen?

[johndoran]

Do you think that the problem was made worse by the window cleaner Knocking and then opening the door?. Bonnie Boo doesn't seem to have an aggressive bone in her body but will bark if the doorbell rings or somebody knocks. At least I get the opportunity to get her away from the door,I'm sure if someone knocked then opened the door she would be flying out.

[MegandMolly]

Can you arrange some 'treat bearing' visitors? So that knock on door means, sit and get a treat? (sort of like clicker training IYSWIM)

[JeffandAnnie]

will bark if the doorbell rings or somebody knocks.

That's what dogs are supposed to do! 

I would decide a strategy for where to put Amber if someone comes to the door (in a crate/shut in another room etc) so you're prepared in future, and as you consistently put her in the same place every time she'll eventually get used to it.

Saying that, I think she behaved prefectly normally in becoming protective of your home when a stranger opened the door; I'd be horrified if my window cleaner opened my door and he wouldn't dream of doing so! If he had been bitten, there is no way you would have been liable and imo he would have deserved it  I'd be changing window cleaners, not worrying about your dog, if I were you.   

[karenl]

thankyou for your response, you have put my mind at rest, it was the first time anyone had knocked at the back door let alone opened it ! amber is not too bad if people come to the front door so even though she bit me i can understand why.we have several stair gates around the house if we need to stop her getting to places when we don't want her too,today was an unusual thing to have happend. but when she gets into these frenzies she seems to just snap !

[Sarah1985]

This sounds to me that she acted out following a very specific set of circumstances. Might be worth getting a few stouge door knockers round to make sure she does have any problems with the normal way that vistors arrive. You cant prepare for every single strange going on so Id write this off as a one off and make sure that she doesnt react to the usual vistor routine

[Top Barks]

The problem is a few stooge knockers probably won't work, this sort of thing needs lots of repitition to countercondition an alternate behaviour.
management as suggested in an earlier post is a far more workable short term solution and then as many stooge visitors under controlled circumstances as possible will be needed.