our dog barks at my fathers nurses

Question
Dear Jill,

We are a family of five - my parents, my sister and I (early twenties) and Flinky, a 9 year old neutered cross-breed, probably with terrier ancestry.
We have had him since he was a pup, he came from a loving household in Greece.

Our family has moved house three times in his lifetime, and every year we take him to our holiday home for a month. He seems to take this in his stride.

He has quite a nervous disposition, and can be a little paranoid or fearful, but I would say that he is generally happy and at ease with strangers, other dogs, and inside & outside the house.

He has always barked A LOT.
His triggers are door bells, car journeys, playtime, but ESPECIALLY visitors.

We used to abide by it, as he is generally obedient and affectionate, and nothing can stop him barking anyway.

However, my father has been very ill for the past three months, and every day nurses come to the house three or four times to help out for some hours. There are also doctors, physiotherapists and volunteers popping in on a daily basis.

Flinky knows that they come, and sleeps close to the  door. As soon as any entrance is discernible, he will bark & bark. Sometimes he will growl, and sometimes even 'storm' the visitor. He does not jump.
He rarely nips people, and has never bitten someone (i.e. piercing the skin). The worst incident was a few months ago, when physiotherapist came in and in reaction to the barking, danced around the dog 'for fun'- at which Flinky went for him and tore his trousers.

Now we have instructed the nurses to come in and greet him, and pet him. He will sometimes roll onto his back and be petted, other times he will continue to bark and bark, or even storm.

Because we are all so busy with my father's illness,& the care and organisation and bureaucracy surrounding such a situation, I sometimes think Flinky feels neglected, and this is all attention-seeking behaviour - could it be so? Often the barking is so ear-splitting we yell at him or squeak his toys, try to distract, etc. (We do walk him properly and love him as before)

I have been reading one of John Fisher's books (with much awe), and have tried to emphasise the hierarchy in our family (frequently giving commands+rewards to dog, dog not on couch/chairs, must get out of the way for humans), he has responded positively, and he does not negate our right to superiority.

I feel he is a loving, obedient little dog, with a 'grumpy old man' exterior (does that make any sense?), who makes a complete nuisance out of himself with any guests, until they sit down and socialise with us.

Ideally we want him to bark when people come in (useful alarm), but we would like him to respond to commands to stop his barking. What do you recommend?

Thank you for your time!

Answer
John Fisher was an awesome individual, one of only a handful I have met who had an inherent understanding of dog behavior.  He is greatly missed, by me and others.  My sympathy to you on the terrible illness of your father.  This is a very stressful time for you and your family, and the dogs knows it.

Your dog is in a position of authority at the front door; it is his self proclaimed (and apparently allowed by you) JOB.  His anxiety at this steady stream of strangers was exacerbated by the moron who did the dance (regardless of the fear that most likely precipitated it...I have little patience of humans who screw with a dog's mind.)  You have done everything you can (and bravo!!!) to attempt to help the dog; however, because a dog rolls on his back for someone does NOT MEAN HE WANTS TO BE TOUCHED!  A belly up is a sign of submission and, in a fear state, can result in a dog coming up with TEETH if touched.  You must protect Flinky from these multiple visitors.  He cannot be allowed to "guard" the door while your father's caregivers come and go throughout the day.  If he does so, his fear/anxiety will begin to generalize to OTHER visitors (friends and family) and he WILL bite.

During the day, when caregivers are expected, confine the dog to a room behind a locked door where no one can enter except family members.  Give him a soft bed, a radio on soft music station, and a baggy of treats (use paper lunch bags, put in slice of apple, cookie, squeaky toy, kong with peanut butter..vary these).  Even though he may object (and loudly, by barking, whimpering, scratching at door) do not reward this objection by opening the door.  Enter the room ONLY when he is silent (in order not to reward his objections to confinement.) PROTECT THE DOG.  He will still bark at the door, he may retain some anxiety and over guarding behavior forever following this unfortunate circumstance in your lives, but he must not be allowed to develop it into full blown front door aggression.