For that I would start with some perceptible reaction to the stimulus, for example the dog looks towards the door in response. Go from that to the dog going to the door in response, assuming this is what you want. (In training service dogs for the hearing impaired, we teach them to go to the handler in response to doorbells/knocks.) It is up to you what you want. If you want this behavior to warn off burglars or sale people, send dog to door & if you want it to alert you, have the dog come to you.

If the dog has no natural occasional barking response to the doorbell/ knock, you will have to teach him to "speak" separately. Your helper rings bell or knocks (can use recording if you don’t have helper), dog goes to door & you reward and command to bark & then reward that. If you want a lot of barking, gradually increase number of times he has to do it for reward. Please note, when you teach a dog to bark on command, some of them will produce this behavior when not asked to in hopes of a reward. As long as you correct or do not reward this unwanted barking, it will stop. Ditto if dog starts going off from TV doorbells.

Of course, eventually you will not need to give all the commands and the dog will chain the entire thing into one response. Depending on the dog, this may take time and you will need to continue practicing and issuing rewards for a good while. I assume you want the dog to do this when you are not home too, so leave the house for a few minutes, return, ring the bell or knock and, assuming dog barks the way you want, enter and reward him. You can also have your helper ring, come in and reward the dog. You will also want to teach him a release word, so he stops barking as soon as you tell him to. If someone rings the bell and you are on the phone, you probably do not want him barking until you get to the door.

It’s not a hard behavior to teach and shouldn’t take you long if you are patient & consistent.

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It is not a natural automatic response by any means! This person’s dog obviously doesn’t do it and my Doberman I just adopted does nothing when someone rings or knocks except look up and no, his hearing is just fine. It is a common response, but not all dogs bark when someone comes to the door.

Once a dog loses interest in food, it may be that he is giving up and wants you to as well.

Possibly now is the time to think what is best for him? Just a suggestion. I know how hard it is.

My best guess is your dog is probably sore in the area the vaccine was given. I would keep a close eye on him… if you are really concerned or he starts with secondary symptoms, you can make a phone call to your vet. No need to worry at this point.

ADD: No need to rush him off to the vet, OK?

Boxer
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/boxers.html
http://www.akc.org/breeds/boxer/index.cfm
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/boxer.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_(dog)

Airedale
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/airedales.html
http://www.akc.org/breeds/airedale_terrier/index.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Airedale_Terrier
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/airedale.htm

They are inbreed runts, the breeder takes the small runts ( most of which are already prone to health issues are breed them to produce even "smaller dogs".

A healthy Maltese should weight 4-6 pounds and these dogs are not healthy, a real breeder wouldn’t breed them to be this small. Dogs that are bred to be this small have numerous health issues because their skeletal structure is fragile, they often suffer from bone and muscle issues, as well as neurological and behavioral issues from being inbreed.

Its best to stay away from any dog that is called a "teacup" they don’t exist, this is just a cutsey name BYBers use to scam people into buying their BYBred mutant mutts.

Me and my dog meet 4 other dog walkers, with 7 dogs every morning. There is no one else around at that time in the morning so all 8 dogs run round the park together. In the evening my dog meets a few other dogs but I tend to keep him on the lead, there are too many distractions around to let him off the lead at that time.

I don’t allow strange dogs near mine. I don’t trust either their freedom from parasites & disease nor >especially<their training & discipline.

When hunting & turned out w/others,they do NOT "meet"…they ignore & do their job.

Case in point, I am a big fan of the show "It Takes A Thief." If you’re not familiar with the show, basically these two guys rob you (with your permission) to show you just how vulnerable your house is and then give you lots of cool security stuff. Anyway, out of all the episodes in which people had dogs, the dogs were all perfectly friendly, very few of them even barked. I saw a doberman go running out his doggy door in fear when he saw the strange people come in!

Do people say this just to make themselves feel better or what?
johnny – no offense, but I don’t find you credible if you say ‘jeans’ when you mean ‘genes’
The show is on The Discovery Channel at 6 PM ET/PT – its great, everyone should watch it!

Protection means different things to different people.

For some this just means barking to alert the owners to something going on.

I seriously doubt what you said about most dogs not barking at an intruder..or just an unexpected noise. As a dog trainer, I know that getting a dog *not to bark* is possibly the hardest thing to do.

Of coarse, the show could have been easily edited to tape the dogs as not barking..before the intruders came…to make it look more credible, then editing the passive dog into the intruder scenes.

Most, if not all, dogs will bark at unexpected noises. This is all most people want.

If you have never atteneded a *citizens against crime* seminar…they will teach you that most criminals will victumize the person who is easiest to get to…the unlocked car, the woman walking alone….the house *without* the beware of dog sign.

It is just a fact that they want and will go after the easiest victum.

Thus, just having a dog, or a *beware of dog sign* makes you less vulnerable to a burglar than your neighbor who doesn’t have a dog.

That said..some people know bigger dogs will scare intruders, even if the dog is friendly.

I’ve used my small/medium size dog to scare off people in my parking lot….when I don’t feel good about the situation. He is on a leash…but will naturally lunge at something unexpected being there. Small, but ferociuos sounding. Works every time, and I didn’t have to train it.

And depending on the breed and dogs personailty, some dogs are natural attackers when their area is invaded.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t dogs that *go against the grain*., and run away in fear.

Thanks for tipping me to that show, though. I’d like to see it. When, and what channel does it air on?