How to Train Your Dog to Greet Visitors in 5 Easy Steps

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If Fido leaps on everyone that walks through your door, you definitely want to check out our guide for how to train your dog to greet visitors nicely!

Every time I’m expecting visitors, the scene is the same: I try to time it just right and get my dogs outside before my guests arrive.

If I don’t, they bum-rush the door, Gracie jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof and Lucy trying her darnedest to make a break for it (then inappropriately sniffing our visitors).

It’s embarrassing and irritating. There has to be a better way, right?

Well, I found it, and today I’m going to share it with you!

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Prep Work: What You Need (& Need to Know) Before You Start Training Sessions

Before we dive in, we just need to go over a few things so that we’re ready to start our training session. I’ll make it quick, I promise!

What you need:

Don’t worry, it’s a short list!

Plenty of training treats for positive reinforcement.
A partner for step 3 and beyond.
A leash (again, for steps 3 and on).

Now let’s just go over a few things you need to know.

Basic training MUST come first

First, before you can start teaching puppies to greet visitors nicely, you need to at least teach them some basic obedience training commands and socialization. The steps below assume that you’ve at least taught your “sit,” “stay,” and some variation of the “no barking” command (quiet, shush, etc). I

Patience is Vital to Success

Patience isn’t just a key aspect of training your dog, it’s absolutely VITAL to success. Dogs can pick up on our tension and frustration. So make sure you’re scheduling your training sessions for a time when you’re sure you can keep your emotions in check.

Timing Matters

Don’t just pick a time when you’re feeling pretty good; choose a time when yourdogis also at his best. We do most of our training in the early evening, about an hour after dinner when we’re both feeling relaxed.

Consistency is Key

Again, this goes for all types of dog training. You need to be prepared to consistently reward good behavior…and good behavior ONLY. In other words, don’t dole out treats outside of your sessions just to shush your dog when he’s going nuts over new people arriving.

Limit distractions

Create a low-distraction environment for both you and your dog. You’ll add in controlled distractions as you progress, but for now, it’s best to remove as many as possible.

That about covers the prep work. Now, let’s get into the steps!

How to Train Your Dog to Greet Visitors

I’ve been to others’ houses and not been attacked by their dogs the minute I enter the door, so I know it is possible to train your dog to greet visitors nicely.

But how?

After researching several different training options, here are the steps I used to finally teach my dogs not to jump all over our guests.

Check them out and give them a try with your pup!

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1- Desensitize to knocking or the doorbell.

For my dogs, the craziness starts with the doorbell ringing. Even hearing one on the TV gets them all wound up!

I’m betting it’s the same way in your home, right?

You can either train your dog to stop reacting, or train your family to stop ringing the bell!

Honestly, dogs are a whole lot easier to train than people.

Don’t believe me? Stick a “please don’t ring the bell” sign on your door and see how many people blatantly ignore it!

Try these steps for desensitizing your dog to the doorbell:

Start with on-leash greetings.Put your dog on theleash, and ask a friend or family member to go outside and ring the doorbell or knock.
Hold the leash tightlyand say “no bark” as your dog starts barking after hearing the bell. Once your dog calms down, have him sit, and give him a treat and praise.
Keep up this routineuntil he’s mastered his impulse control by not pulling on the leash and barking (don’t expect success in one training session – this will take some time!).
Next, teach the same behaviorwith the same process for off-leash greetings.

➔➔I bet you want more training tips like these➔ Download our Free TRAINING guide today.

If you need a little visual help in desensitizing your dog to the doorbell, the video below is fabulous!

2- Teach him how and where to sit.

Now that your dog isn’t going nuts when the doorbell rings, teach him how and where he should sit when a guest comes in the door.

This one starts with you leaving the house and returning home.

Unless your dog goes nuts every time you walk out the front door, you’ll actually need to go somewhere for about half an hour to an hour.

Try these three steps to train your dog to sit nicely by the door:

When you first come in the door, ignore your dog until she stops jumping. I know this can be hard, especially if you have an emphatic jumper who is just SO happy to see you! Ignoring is crucial, though!
Once your pup gives up on trying to get your attention the crazy way, show her where to sit near the door and give hertreats.
Keep up this training until she sits in her spot from the moment you walk in the door. Give him a reward when he does. Treats and lots of praise will help!

Check out these tips on how to train your dog to sit!

3- Now it’s time to practice with other people.

Once your dog has mastered the art of sitting nicely when you come home, it’s time to bring other people into the mix.

Start with just one person!

Ask a friend who loves dogs (and doesn’t mind jumpers) to come help you. Prepare him or her to ignore your dog just as you did in the previous step until he’s sitting nicely.

Then, have your friend give treats and praise. Stay with your dog and require him to stay in his sitting spot while your friend goes in the other room.

Dismiss your dog to go visit with your friend a moment, then continue with your visit; your dog shouldn’t be made the center of attention.

In subsequent visits, slowly start working toward you being able to leave and go to the other room without your dog following. Call his name when it’s time for him to join you.

4-Slowly increase the number of guests.

It can be overwhelming for your dog to have a lot of people come to the house, but she needs to learn.

Once your dog has mastered all of the above steps, move on to small groups. Again, choose people who love dogs!

Just follow the same process as in step 3 until your dog learns how to act around groups of people.

5-Be patient.

Remember, you’re dog is learning something new, and so are you! Success may take some time, but don’t give up!

More importantly, don’t get angry at your dog or punish him. You don’t want him to feel like you’re not happy to see him.

The idea is to get him to greet visitors nicely, not run in fear and cower in a corner every time you come home!

After giving these tips a try with my own dogs, I can tell you that they really do work!

It’s such a relief to have people come visit without my pups going bonkers and jumping all over them.