It seems like every single time you or someone else shuts or slams a car door, your dog starts going crazy and just won’t stop. What’s going on here and what can you do? Why do dogs bark at car doors? Are car doors too loud for dogs? Do car doors scare dogs?

Worry and wonder no longer, because today we’re going to give you all the answers you’re after. Obviously, we’ll also cover how to stop your dog from barking at car doors slamming and closing once and for all. This will soon all be behind you. Keep reading below for our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Car Doors!”

How to Stop Dog Barking at Car Doors

To stop your dog barking at car doors closing, they need to learn to become quiet when told. To accomplish that, bring your dog somewhere you know they’ll want to bark such as the park, with plenty of dog treats. Keep them on their leash and stay far away from the other people and animals there.

When your dog begins barking, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they give you their focus, then reward them with praise and a small treat right away. But if they quickly start up barking again or never quit at all, then you should hide a treat inside of your hand.

Place your hand right by your dog’s nose. Your dog will still be able to detect the treat even within your fist and will stop their barking to investigate it. Once they’ve gotten silent and are also giving you their full attention, again issue the “quiet” command and then open your hand to give them their praise and a treat.

If your dog continues staying silent, keep rewarding them with praise and a treat. But if they resume barking again, regardless of whether it’s at something at the park or at you, repeat the steps of hiding a treat within your fist, placing it right by their nose, and then waiting until they’ve silenced.

Make sure that you’re waiting until your dog has become quiet before you give them any rewards. This forms a positive connection for your dog with paying attention and staying silent whenever you say “quiet.” Reward them with treats and praise immediately when your dog is responding well.

With patience, repetition, and consistency, your dog will become silent just by you giving the command, and you won’t need to place your hand near their mouth. You should then begin increasing the amount of time before you give them their rewards. Start with just a few seconds, then increase that to 5 seconds, and so on.

Soon, the praise and food rewards won’t be necessary anymore and your dog will quit barking at car doors slamming or at anything else just by giving the “quiet” command.

This should stop your dog barking at car doors being closed, but you’ll still need to address the underlying issue which was causing all of this in the first place: your dog’s anxiety. If you ignore that, your dog will continue to suffer, and you’ll find that your dog keeps misbehaving in other related ways.

And to do that, we must first talk about what makes dogs tick and has for thousands and thousands of years now. 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 car doors closing, they are clearly telling you that they have no trust for you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t bark when car doors are slammed. They wouldn’t engage in any other types of anxiety-related misbehavior or disrespect. And they would obey your commands as soon as they’re given, and they would do so happily.

Prove to your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but a capable one who must be respected, and you’ll make all of these terrific things a reality.

Obviously, you’ll win. But your dog will be the even bigger winner here because you’ll have freed them from all of the worry and confusion that their anxiety problems are currently burdening their little shoulders with every moment of every day.

That sounds wonderful, don’t you think?

“Yeah, sure, but how do I actually do this?”

You should watch a wonderful free video series which is on this exact subject — how to be your dog’s pack leader — by a renowned trainer named Dan. In the series, he explains everything in ways that are very simple to understand and teach to your own dog, and he gets right to the point so that you can start seeing these critical changes in your dog in no time.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And don’t stress, because no, you’re not going to have to yell or be mean to 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 Do Dogs Bark at Car Doors?

Dogs bark at car doors because the loud noise they cause when closed or slammed is frightening to many. This causes them anxiety, which some dogs will choose to respond to by barking as they are trying to scare off what is causing them to feel this way.

If your dog is barking at car doors being slammed or closing and then refusing your commands to stop, however, they are likely feeling dominant in addition to their anxiety. This is without a doubt displayed by the fact that they feel it is okay to disobey your orders. Your dog feels that they are in charge and they get to decide how to respond to what they see as a threat.

I’m sure you obviously see why this is a problem. Left unchecked, your dog’s issues with dominance and anxiety are only going to get worse. You’ll find their problem escalating, and also appearing more and more often. They’ll likely also escalate past barking into growling and even biting what scares them.

You’ll find that your dog barks at thunder, barks at drones, barks at fireworks, and bites your visitors. These are just a few of the ways that they might show their disobedience. If you’d like to learn how to stop all of this — including barking at car doors — go back to the first section now where we’ll walk you through the process to follow.

Are Car Doors Too Loud for Dogs?

Car doors are not too loud for dogs in terms of causing immediate damage. A car door slamming produces 96 decibels on average, which is well below what is needed to cause immediate hearing damage for a dog (140 decibels).

That being said, many dogs will be scared of the sound of a car door being closed or slammed, which you could interpret as being too loud. These dogs will respond by becoming stressed, anxious, and worried, and will then seek to retreat. Dogs who are also dominant will not retreat but will begin barking and may seek something to attack.

Do Car Doors Scare Dogs?

Car doors do scare some dogs. The sound of a car door being closed or slammed loudly can be very frightening to many dogs. Remember that dogs have very sensitive hearing, so a car door being shut might not sound loud to you, but would be much more enhanced for your dog.

How dogs that are scared of car doors react will vary. Some might become aggressive and bark at this perceived threat, while others will attempt to get away from this loud, threatening noise. Comfort your dog and give them a toy they enjoy if they are acting particularly anxious after hearing a car door slammed.

I’m sure you’re looking forward to your dog staying quiet when car doors close, so I’ll let you get started now. Good luck with all of this, and thank you for reading our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Car Doors.”