Dog Biting Help Needed!

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CharChar

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We have two border collies, one which we have had from a puppy (poppy), shes now four and the other one (panda) is a two year old but we've only had her since she was nine months old. Panda had very little obedience when we got her so we had to teach her the basics, she had previously lived outside with a lot of other dogs and was most probably towards the bottom of the pack.

Anyway, her behaviour was not acceptable when we first got her as the previous owners had let her get away from biting hands and they believed she was 'holding their hand'. We have tried discipling her and she has learnt not to bite but instead tries to lick, which we can handle. However, the behaviour had now escalated so she barks and barks at people who are at the door and will try and bite them. Once inside the house she will be the most loving dog you will ever meet. Is there any way to stop this behaviour or will it just be something we have to live with and just shut her in another room whilst people are at the door? Bearing in mind panda doesn't understand being told off or that she can do any wrong.

Chocolate cake for whoever got this far! :p
 
Just shut her in another room.

Doorways are often a source of conflict for dogs. It's the entrance to their territory and there is a strange person there. This is stressful for the dog.
Then she may get told off for trying to protect her home, more conflict.

It's also a self-rewarding thing - (delivery) person comes to door, dog barks, person goes away. Win. Then they may even have the temerity to ignore this warning and come inside!

I would just remove the source of stress for both the dog and you by removing her until the person is in the house.
Does she need to be anywhere near the front door when people arrive/enter the house anyway, when you know this is a problem area for her?
 
Mine used to bark when the doorbell went and race to the front door. I trained them to go into their cage when the door bell went (the doorbell alarm tone on my iphone is exactly the same as my actual doorbell so i just kept setting my alarm every 15mins and kept a pot of treats on top of the cage).

Now they bark from their cage which is slightly less scary for visitors :rolleyes:
 
CaveCanem - the room we put her in is right next to the front door so she can still see visitors and continues to bark and growl

moppett - that's a really good idea as their cages are relatively far away from the door and cannot see anyone at the door. Thank you, will defiantly be trying that :-)
 
Ah right...then I second Moppett's idea. I keep mine loose until I see who is at the door (I can see from the living room window) then I put him in a crate also if it is someone I don't particularly want him to grumble at :p Or you could close the curtains :p
 
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