How do you train a dog to bark when someone knocks on the door?

I have a 3 1/2 yr old English Bulldog, and is a very sweet lovable dog. When someone knocks on the door, it doesn't phase him but I want him to bark at the door when someone knocks so that people know there is a dog in the house. Most dogs have a natural ability to pick up good people vs bad people but not this one LOL. We had someone break into our car once and the guy came back and returned my wallet with everything in tact (no money or credit cards were even in there) and asked for a reward for finding it etc. Well, it would've been nice for our bulldog to bark and make his presence known. Anyone with any ideas?Experienced answers only please!Please don't tell me you can't teach an old dog new tricks because he has learned sit and lay down recently - He's not old, he's only 3 anyway! ThanksThanks to everyone who answered - The idea to make the barking sounds worked! I had a friend knock on the door and barked when he knocked - low and behold! It worked - gave him treats and got all excited, but today he doesn't feel like doing it ha ha! Oh well, I'll keep trying - thank you everyone who answered!

i dunno but consider yourself lucky.

dont mean to discourage you but old dogs dont learn tricks

give him a treat when he does it.

We have taught our dog to bark on command. When he does bark, say a word like speak. In the end he associates the word speak with barking so now if we want him to bark we just say speak.Also when somebody comes to the door we get him all excited by making a big thing of their being somebody at the door.

actually it comes naturally in dogs...well if u let him play with other dogs it will learn naturally go on.

surprise the dog and teach it to bark by every time if barks reward it some treats. Thats how i got my dog to roll, bark, etc

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Some breeds just aren't barkers.

we have a multese cross terrier and we are trying to train her.when someone is at the door we say in a diff voise " who is jemma" , we say this twice on our way to the door and she gets excited and will bark when we open the door,hope this helps !!!!

Well, try getting him excited when someone is at the door. Get tensed up and say, "Wassat? Git im! Git im!" But yeah, it is harder to teach them as they get older. If it's an option, get another puppy and teach him to bark (sometimes you have to bark first, they learn to mimic you...I know from personal experience). The puppy will then teach the older pooch to bark too. Maybe. GL!

Yes, teach your dog to bark on command. With that done have someone knock on the door. As soon as they knock give the bark command. As soon as he barks give him praise and a small treat. Just keep doing that till when they knock....he barks. Always plenty of praise.Training your dog to bark on command has another hidden feature - you can also train her to stop barking on command. Steps: 1. Hold a particular toy, such as a ball or squeak toy that causes your dog to bark. Give the command BARK or SPEAK. 2. When your dog barks say, GOOD. 3. Give him the toy or food as a reward and praise him. 4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until your dog understands the command to bark. 5. When your dog understands the command, command him to bark. 6. After three barks say, QUIET or SILENCE or any other word(s) to command him not to bark. Praise and reward him with the toy. 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until he understands the command. 8. Instead of using a toy, have someone knock on the door and repeat steps 2 through 7, rewarding him with praise and affection when he succeeds. Warnings: Give unlimited praise when dog succeeds, every step of the way.

i sh edeaf? where can i get me one of those.....id rather the dog...growl and bite once somoene comes in then bark

trade it for any other dog or get another one ,it will bark.I never could stop mine.EVER! Its better to have a quiet one that bites anyway.

I trained my dog to bark on command such as "who's here?" and then progressed to knocking on wood and saying "who's here?"But my dog had the natural instincts to do this. It may take you a long while before a bulldog gets the knack of it, they don't tend to be natural guard dogs.Plus you should also train in a volume control. My pooch knows the difference between whisper and quiet and singing.-a dvm

keep the dog away from ppl have the dog be just the ppl in the house but it can back fire on you they will start to growl at ppl if they get to close to you and they will snap at them so when you walk the dog keep them close to you at all times and that's how after awhile it will become routine for the dog say watch him or her make sure the dog watching and looking so he will be alert i had three pitbulls and they all ran at the door barking ppl was scared to come in the house

I had the same problem. We lived way out in the country at the time and I wanted to be sure I knew whenever anyone was around. What I did was bark whenever anyone came over (you may want to explain to family and friends what you're trying to do beforehand so they won't think you're nuts!). This actually worked for me, after a few days of that, he started barking whenever anyone would pull up. It may not work on all dogs, but what will it hurt to try? Good luck!

Our puppy didn't bark when we got her so I "barked" in situations where I wanted her to bark and she learned. We also taught her to growl that way. Now she does it when we say certain phrases.

when the dog barks, say bark to him. then some time later, say bark.

i made my moms beagle/basset mix and my mini wiener dog bark when they heard a knock at the door by getting them psyched up when they hear the noise... i would knock on a table to imitate the sound and say things like "who's here?"or "what's that?" in an excitable voice until they barked

I would say maybe you could get him to bark by playing with him, try exciting him, run around him, tug on his tail. If you get a rise out of him. He might get excited and every time he see's someone or hears somebody he'll hopefully bark with excitement.