Homeland K-9 Dog Training Academy

Mike, I have a male black lab who is about 8 yrs old.  When someone rings the doorbell he goes nuts.  He jumps on the windows and tears up the blinds. (Destroys the blinds is a better description).  He does all of this with a ferocious bark and he scares the hell out of people (he has never bit anyone and is very loving, just very territorial when someone knocks or rings the bell)  Any quick/easy thoughts?

P.S. our puppy is currently enrolled in your puppy school.

I know your dog is 8 but has he had any obedience training? Sometimes to correct a simple problem like this you need to start by giving the dog a command, such as "sit".  This makes the dog focus a task rather than focusing on the door. 

For this specific problem I recommend that you set up this situation when you have total control of the dog.  Put him on a leash and training collar and have a neighbor or someone else come to the door and ring the doorbell.  Correct any negative behavior and when he obeys praise him and love on him so he knows it is a good thing.  The correction has to be immediate and consistent so you will have to do this repeatedly until it sinks in to him. 

Some clients have found success by keeping the training collar on the dog at all times when they are home and keeping a training tab attached to it (this is a short loop of leather that allows you to give a correction without a leash dragging behind the dog at all times). 

If you see me when you come to puppy class feel free to follow up with me on this.