Edit: Thanks for the sign, bowl and training tips. We have a bowl and we're working on the dogs. The point isn't how I can avoid the doorbell. It's that a dark porch used to be a widely understood 'no'.

Every year it's the same thing. We turn the porch light off, which is the universal sign for "we're sitting this one out," and every year someone rings the doorbell anyway. Then they ring it again.

Our dogs lose their minds at the door. Barking, scratching, total chaos. I'd love to hand out candy, but it's not worth the stress for them, or the risk of a door opening on a group of excited kids and a dog who wants to join the party.

Dark house means we're not participating. It's not a challenge, and it's not a "maybe they didn't hear us."

Please skip the houses with no lights on. There are plenty of lit up ones giving out full size bars.