Doorways Are The Difference

Doorways Are The Difference™

Some dog owners may not understand what doorways have to do with dogs. For others, doorways can become a nightmare when their dogs are involved. Whether your dog is scared of doorways or they bolt through them like they have finally escaped doggy jail, you should train them to view you as a leader and doorways as just another space in the house. Doorways don’t have to be scary for your dog or for you (thinking your dog is going to run away every time the door opens is scary). Luckily, there are ways to train your dog not to react to doorways. 

Steve Lankfer has all the training tips and tricks you need to help your dog get over their doorway problem. In this blog, we will talk about both dogs with a fear of doorways and how to train your dog to wait at the door. Read on to learn more and be sure to subscribe to Speak Dog!™ today!

Dogs Who Are Scared of Doorways

While it may not be extremely common, some dogs have a fear of doorways. While this can be hard on the owners, it is something that can be fixed with some training! 

Why Are They Scared

One thing that can help you train your dog to not be fearful of doorways is to understand why they are scared in the first place. While you may assume that your dog is afraid of entryways for many reasons, whether it be the loud slam of doors, echoing hallways, or any other reason you can come up with in your head, it may simply be that your dog is just fearful. Fearful dogs generally overreact to most situations and will be more skittish than other pups. Because of this, your dog may not be scared of the doorway because it is a doorway, but rather because they are scared of everything. 

When your fearful dog experiences a scary doorway or entryway, they are likely to develop an anxious feeling when it comes to this object. But when you get frustrated with your dog for stopping short of the door jam and punish them, it only makes the situation—and your pup’s anxiety—worse. 

Instead of getting frustrated with your dog and punishing them, there are gentle and kind ways to teach your dog not to fear doorways.

Teaching Your Dog to Love Doorways

Whatever the reason may be for your dog’s fear of doorways, you will need to teach them how to like them. This is important for both you and your pup. You want them to be comfortable with going through doorways no matter where they are!

Start inside your home, where your dog may not be fearful, but is still comfortable. Hold a treat up to your dog’s nose and lure him through the doorway. If your pup is too scared to walk through the doorway, give them a treat when they move closer to it. Do this until your furry friend has walked through the doorway. Once your dog is comfortable walking through the doorways on the interior of your home, take them to the entryway of your home to practice there. 

Put your dog on a leash and walk out the back door. When your dog passes through the entry way, give your pup a treat. Even if your dog is still scared and walks through the doorway slowly and cautiously, reward them once they get to the other side. 

When you give them a treat every time they make it through the door, they will begin to associate the scary doorway with the yummy treats and pretty soon they will be heading through the doors as if it never scared them at all!

While it may take time and patience, teaching your dog to no longer be fearful of passing through doorways can help both them and you! They will be more comfortable and happy, and you will have an easier time taking them on walks and getting them outside when you need to. Just remember not to punish them or yell at your pup, this will only make matters worse.

Dog Who Need to Wait at Doors

While some dogs are scared of doorways, other dogs view doorways as an opening to freedom. While your pup most likely does not want to run away from you, some dogs just have the desire to run, and they will run. Teaching your dog to wait at doors is a great way to avoid this. To train your dog to wait, you must establish yourself as the leader. 

In the wild, dogs will always stop and look to the leader for permission to enter or exit an exterior doorway. This helps keep individuals safe and close to the pack. Be establishing yourself as your dog’s leader, you can train them not to exit or enter a door until you give them permission to do so. This can help ensure they don’t take off running or pull your through the door every time it is open.

Training Your Dog to Wait

Teaching your dog to wait at the door can be pretty simple, but it does take consistency and patience, as does any behavior change you are teaching your dog. To train your dog to wait at the door, you will want to start at a young age. You can train older dogs this as well, but it may be more difficult. 

Start by having your pup sit or stand in front of the door waiting for you to open it. Open it a few inches and make sure they stay seated or standing where they are and they do not move any closer. If they start to move closer gently shut the door before they can get through it. You can give them a command word such as “wait” to help them understand they are meant to stay put. Once your dog waits for a few seconds with the door open a few inches, increase the time they have to wait and then increase the opening in the door.

Again, if your dog begins to get excited and tries heading out the door, gently shut it before they can get out. Slowly increase the opening in the door and the time you make them wait. 

Eventually, you will be able to hold the door wide open and your dog will sit there and wait until you release them and allow them to go out the door. This brings us to the next training for your dog — training them to go through the doorway.

As you are teaching your pup the waiting behavior, you will also need to come up with a release word that tells your pup they are allowed to go through the door. A command like “okay” or a hand signal can tell your dog that they are released from the wait and for them to go through the door. 

To train your dog to wait for the verbal or hand signal command, start by keeping them on a leash with the door open. Stand on one side of the door and as they pass through the door, say the command and wait for them to turn around before giving them a treat on the other side. Repeat this a few times. Your dog will begin to get used to the pattern of walking through the door, hearing the command, and turning around to get their treat. Once they begin to recognize the pattern, wait until they make it through the door completely and turn around on their own before saying the command. If they do not turn around and just keep walking, go back to saying the command once they walk through the doorway. 

Once they have mastered both of these behaviors, put them together! Your dog should be able to sit there with the door wide open and wait until you say the release word and allow them to go through. Because you trained them to expect a treat after walking through the door, they will also wait for you on the other side of the door. This means you won’t have to worry about your dog bolting the minute they make it through the door, they will turn and patiently wait for you.

This is an easy way to stop your dog from getting too excited at the door leading outside and wait until you give them permission to go. They will view you as their leader who says whether or not they can go through the entryway. 

If you want more great dog training tips, be sure to subscribe to Speak Dog!™ and let Steve Lankfer teach you how to become a leader to your pup!

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