Postmen

[Sarah Hunt]

Merlin likes everybody EXCEPT POSTMEN. When they put post through our door he goes crazy. We are thinking of putting a postbox on our wall for the postman`s safety. I have been told its to do with territory. Dogs never meet the postman, they bark, postman goes away, they have done their job well. Next day it`s the same. Do you have this problem?

 

[tigerlily46514]

No doubt, the dog sees the postman leaving again, as a victory. In the dog's mind, the dog has just successfully defended his home, and caused the invader to go away.

Our mailbox is at end of the driveway, too far from the house to interest Buddy. But, no doubt, if our mailbox WAS attached to our home,
Buddy WOULD bark at the postman, or anyone, stepping onto our porch. I don't see it as a problem, really, i WANT my dog to announce all visitors and all trespassers.
I feel this is one of the main benefits to having a dog in my home, is the added security to our home, as well as being an "extra doorbell".

Actually, when i first got my dog,
he did NOT bark for visitors arriving.
and i specifically trained him to do so, to bark when anyone arrives on the porch, knocks on the door, or rings the doorbell. I trained my to bark for those cues.
It's his "job".

But, if you DO want your dog to NOT bark at the postman, that could be done. You'd have to consistently sit beside Merlin, for each time someone steps on the porch,
to give cue to "shhhh" and reward Merlin's brief moment of silence, and never allow Merlin to bark at your postman.

You could use volunteer pals, to arrive at your door, and use those moments to teach Merlin you no longer want him to announce visitors anymore, by giving cue to "shhhhh" or "silence", and rewarding the moment of silence.
He'll bark again, repeat cue, and reward the moment of silence. Praise dog, massage his back, speed-feed treats while he is not barking. Really reward that moment of silence, as this is reeeeeeally difficult for dogs to do.

Overtime, slowly extending the moments of silence from Merlin til he gets treats, slowly desensitizing Merlin to the sights or sounds of someone on his porch, teaching him you want silence for those moments.

Might be better ways, but, that is how i got my dog to stop barking at the neighbor's dog.

Every time Merlin IS allowed to bark away at ppl arriving on your porch---------- it is so self-rewarding , it UN-does all your efforts to get Merlin to stop barking for visitors arriving.

 

[tigerlily46514]

and lol, of course, yelling at barking dogs does not stop a dog from barking.
Some ppl say then the dog thinks you are barking along with him, in agreement!

You can also try this:

 

[Sarah Hunt]

No doubt, the dog sees the postman leaving again, as a victory. In the dog's mind, the dog has just successfully defended his home, and caused the invader to go away.

Our mailbox is at end of the driveway, too far from the house to interest Buddy. But, no doubt, if our mailbox WAS attached to our home,
Buddy WOULD bark at the postman, or anyone, stepping onto our porch. I don't see it as a problem, really, i WANT my dog to announce all visitors and all trespassers.
I feel this is one of the main benefits to having a dog in my home, is the added security to our home, as well as being an "extra doorbell".

Actually, when i first got my dog,
he did NOT bark for visitors arriving.
and i specifically trained him to do so, to bark when anyone arrives on the porch, knocks on the door, or rings the doorbell. I trained my to bark for those cues.
It's his "job".

But, if you DO want your dog to NOT bark at the postman, that could be done. You'd have to consistently sit beside Merlin, for each time someone steps on the porch,
to give cue to "shhhh" and reward Merlin's brief moment of silence, and never allow Merlin to bark at your postman.

You could use volunteer pals, to arrive at your door, and use those moments to teach Merlin you no longer want him to announce visitors anymore, by giving cue to "shhhhh" or "silence", and rewarding the moment of silence.
He'll bark again, repeat cue, and reward the moment of silence. Praise dog, massage his back, speed-feed treats while he is not barking. Really reward that moment of silence, as this is reeeeeeally difficult for dogs to do.

Overtime, slowly extending the moments of silence from Merlin til he gets treats, slowly desensitizing Merlin to the sights or sounds of someone on his porch, teaching him you want silence for those moments.

Might be better ways, but, that is how i got my dog to stop barking at the neighbor's dog.

Every time Merlin IS allowed to bark away at ppl arriving on your porch---------- it is so self-rewarding , it UN-does all your efforts to get Merlin to stop barking for visitors arriving.

Your reply made great sense. I think I will put a post box on our wall outside - as it is nice when he lets us know someone is outside. It reassures us . Thank you for your comments.

 

[Anneke]

My dogs don't bark(well Cooper doesn't, Jinx doesn't bark much) at anyone who comes at the door. They will stand there wagging their tails off!! All visitors are FUN!!

But about mailmen... My old dog, Shane, had a run in with a mailwoman...
He would always sleep in the hallway in front of the door. He didn't mind the mailmen, just the junk they tossed trough the mailbox!!! Most of my mail would get shredded!
One day I noticed he did not sleep in the hallway anymore. Didn't think much of it, untill I talked to our mailwoman. She asked how my dog was and if he got hurt. I had no idea what she was talking about! She explained: She knew Shane was always in front of the door. But one day she had to deliver a thick catalog. Usually she wouldn't push it all the way through, so it would not fall on him. But that day, someone talked to her, as she put the catalog through and pushed it all the way. She heard a thump and a yelp.... The catalog had hit my poor clueless Shane She felt sooo sorry for him! She would now push the mail halfway through, wait for Shane to get up, before she would push it al the way (We had glass in our front door, the kind that you can't really see through, you can just see shadows of movement)