Dog Barks at Housekeeper? Here’s How to Stop It!
They do such a wonderful job in your home that it makes you feel terrible when your dog barks at the housekeeper. Why does your dog have to do this? Why does your dog bark at the housekeeper? And if your dog barks at the cleaning lady, should you change services? How do you introduce your dog to the maid?
Today, we’re going to answer every single question you have about this frustrating problem. And obviously, we’ll cover what you really came here for: how to stop your dog from barking at the housekeepers. It won’t be long until this all behind you for good. Keep reading below for our article “Dog Barks at Housekeeper? Here’s How to Stop It!”
How to Stop Dog Barking at Housekeepers
To stop dog barking at housekeepers:
- To get your dog to be silent whenever they begin barking at the housekeeper, teach them the “quiet” command.
- For us to do that, you should take your dog somewhere you know they’ll probably bark such as the park with lots of small treats.
- Once your dog begins barking, say “quiet” in a positive and calm voice. If they listen and get silent while also giving you their focus give them a treat and praise right away.
- But if your dog continues to bark or quickly starts again, then hide a small treat in your fist.
- Put your hand right next to your dog’s nose. They’ll still be able to detect the scent even inside of your hand and should pause their barking to investigate it.
- Once they’ve quit barking and are paying you all their attention, again say “quiet,” and then open your hand to reward them with a small treat and praise.
- If they continue to be silent and are paying you their complete attention, continue rewarding them with treats and praise.
- But if they again start barking or are not giving you their attention, repeat the process of putting a treat inside of your fist, placing it by their nose, and waiting until they quit their barking and focus on you.
- Be sure to always wait until they’ve stopped barking and are giving you all their focus, and then say “quiet” before you reward them with any treats or praise.
- This forms a positive connection with your dog with the “quiet” command, and with staying quiet and giving you their focus.
- With practice, time, and patience, you will be able to get them to respond with solely the “quiet” command, and it will no longer be necessary to put your fist by their mouth.
- When your dog is responding well with just the command, then you should begin increasing the amount of time you pause before you give them any rewards.
- Start by waiting for about 1-2 seconds, then as they do well move that up to about 5 seconds, and so on.
- you won’t need to give your dog any praise and food, and they will become quiet and pay attention to you solely by you giving the command.
This will get your dog to stop barking at housekeepers, but you’ll still need to do something about their misbehavior which was rooted in their underlying issues with anxiety and territorial dominance. Not doing anything will just lead to your dog continuing to think that they are in charge and that they make the decisions, and things will only get worse for the both of you.
And for us to properly go over that, we must first discuss what makes dogs tick deep down. I’m sure you’ve heard before that dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.
But when your dog barks at the housekeeper, they are clearly telling you that they don’t trust you as the head of the family pack.
If they did, they wouldn’t bark at your housekeeper and ignore you when you tell them to stop. They wouldn’t display any other types of territorial dominance or anxiety-related disrespect. And they would obey your commands at all times — immediately — and they would do so happily.
Show your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but a capable and deserving one who they must respect, and you’ll make all of these terrific transformations a reality.
You’ll win for obvious reasons. But your dog will be the real winner here because you’ll have freed them from all of the confusion and worry that their anxiety and dominance problems are currently burdening them with every single second of every single day.
Sounds like a wonderful thing, does it not?
“Sure, absolutely, but how do I do this?”
You should watch an excellent free video series which is on this very subject — how to be your dog’s pack leader — by a renowned trainer named Dan. In the series, he explains all you’ll need to know in ways that are very simple to follow and teach to your own dog, and he gets right to the point so that you can start seeing these important changes in your dog in no time.
Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And no, you’re not going to have to be mean or yell at your dog. Dan never uses those types of methods. Not just because loving teaching techniques are the right thing to do, but also because they’re the fastest way to achieve permanent changes in your dog’s behavior.
Why Does My Dog Bark at the Housekeeper?
Your dog barks at the housekeeper because of anxiety and territorial dominance. This strange person working in your house stresses them out, and they see it as their duty to protect the home, themselves, and you. This causes them to respond by lashing out at your housekeeper and barking at them.
This isn’t an unusual response for dogs to have to someone new in the home, but it’s also not one that’s okay or one that you should accept. If your dog is barking at the housekeeper and then ignoring you when you tell them to stop, then it’s a clear sign that you have a very serious behavioral problem developing.
When your dog barks and then refuses your commands to stop, they are definitively telling you that they think that they’re in charge and that they make the decisions about who should be in the home. This leads to them feeling stressed over what they feel is their duty — and their duty alone — to protect the home and everyone within it.
You must address this misbehavior immediately or you give your dog tacit approval to continue with it. Their problem will then grow and escalate to the point that they’ll be barking at and getting aggressive with anyone that comes by the home, and probably even people that are simply doing things like jogging by.
You’ll soon see that your dog is barking at workmen, barking at window cleaners, and barking at house sitters. I’m sure you want these people to feel that they have a safe, pleasant environment to work in when they’re providing their services to you, so it’s very important to correct this behavior from your dog right away.
To learn how to stop your dog barking at the housekeeper while also getting them to treat you as their leader and decision-maker, go back to the first section now.
If My Dog Barks at the Cleaning Lady, Should I Change Services?
If your dog barks at the cleaning lady, you should not change services. The only exception would be if you have reason to believe that your cleaning lady is being unnecessarily cruel to your dog or someone in the home. But if your dog simply barks at them because they don’t like a stranger being around, then hiring someone new will not solve the issue.
You’ll need to address your dog’s issues with territorial dominance and anxiety, or they’ll just start barking at the next person you hire. That will obviously get expensive and time-consuming very quickly, so you should handle things the proper way by working on training your dog’s misbehavior away.
Go back to the first section now where we’ll teach you the “quiet” command, and how to regain your dog’s respect for your leadership.
How Do I Introduce My Dog to the Maid?
To introduce your dog to the maid:
- Be calm and pleasant before their first visit to your house so that your dog will be in a relaxed state.
- Before any service visits, take your dog for a long walk or spend time playing with them. A tired dog will be quieter and more friendly.
- On your maid’s first visit, give them some treats to toss to your dog.
- Don’t force contact on your dog until they seem receptive to meeting this new person.
- Once your dog has warmed up to them, allow your maid to pet your dog. They can also give them treats and pets.
- If your dog starts to seem stressed, place them in a closed-off room, in the backyard, or in their crate with a blanket over the top.
- Give your dog a quiet toy to play with whenever your maid will be at the home working.
- If you’re able, try to be at the house (at least on the maid’s first few visits) to keep your dog at ease while they’re getting to know them.
I’m sure you’re sick of your dog making things difficult on your housekeeper, so I’ll let you begin now. Good luck with everything, and we hope you found our article “Dog Barks at Housekeeper? Here’s How to Stop It” helpful!