I was at a multi dog seminar that explained the door bell in these terms:
When the doorbell rings the excitement level in your house rises and there is an excitement overload to see who/what is on the other side of the door.
To change this dynamic you could try to teach them that the door bell means nothing. Put a match in the doorbell and let it ring for a half hour / or ring the doorbell when you’re working outside and don’t come in.
Or you can teach them a doorbell game. You could make the doorbell mean ‘run to a crate for a treat’ instead of them going crazy at the door. Have somone go outside with a watch or timer and have them ring the bell but DO NOT COME IN.
When the bell rings – the person in the home runs with the dogs to their crates and gives them a high value treat. They close the door, leave for about 30 seconds, come back in and open the crate again casually and without emotion.
The outside person repeats every 3 minutes for a half hour and then quits.
Ideally, they reenter the home from another entrance and as low key as possible. After the last bell the person should wait a few minutes before coming back in.
Repeat 2x a week or so until the bell is reliably predicting go to the crates.
Consistency is key for this to stick.
If someone comes to visit the routine cannot change no matter who it is. Always go to the crate first, reward, close the doors, THEN deal with who is at the door.
