I rent a house, and never had a roomate, its just me and my three dogs. Well I just recently got two roomates, myfriend from work and her boyfriend. They both love the dogs and the dogs love them, its great! The only problem I am having is at night. When i go to bed i take all 3 with me in my room, and they all fall asleep. If my roomates come home, the minute the dogs here them in the front, they start barking. I can get them to stop once they start but my question is, will they ever get use to it and stop barking when they come home?
I like the fact they bark when they hear something, it makes me feel safe, but since this happens everynight, it wakes me up everynight. I'm hoping after a while they will just know its them or get use to it and stop barking?
My brother moved into our house with us and when he'd come home, our dogs would bark like mad! I just kept telling them "it's ok" and getting them to quit barking and eventually they quit. Now they know what his car sounds like so they know it's him when he pulls up. They will understand after a little bit that they are house members and them coming and going is normal routine. They are being your protectors Congrats on your new roomies.
I agree that they will probably get used to it and stop sounding the alert when they come home! It's not something that you actually want to correct the dogs for doing because if it is someone else coming in you do want them to alert you. They should eventually come to understand that this is a normal, acceptable routine. What I'd do is during the daytime when you are there & if your roommates come in to praise them if they don't bark.
Sydney, I know what you mean. I don't know an answer, either. My dogs bark at every little sound and they are such light sleepers. I an always up in the middle of the night and they are right there with me. I wish they weren't such light sleepers.