Doors seem to attract many different types of dog behavior problems. From barking every time they see or hear something outside, to jumping up on visitors coming inside, to running outside the moment the door is opened, dogs associate so much with the door that it often draws their attention and excites their instincts.

These behaviors can range from annoying to dangerous, but most of them can actually be addressed yourself in your home. If you do decide you'd like help, Chicago Dog Trainer Marc Goldberg offers both in person and remote/phone consultations. Call today to get started. 

How to Teach Your Dog to Control their Behavior at the Door

In our last post, we discussed how to teach your dog to control their door bolting and door aggression behaviors. We refer you to that post to learn more about this specific topic. However, we know that you have questions, and that dog training can be difficult without help. Here are several tips to remember to make it easier for you to train your dog on better behaviors. 

Things To Remember During Training Sessions

If you're going to train your dog out of unwanted door behaviors, expect to use multiple short training sessions a day - usually at least 3 to 4 of them, each lasting about 5 minutes. This helps change the association dogs have with doors and teaches them to remember the training better. It also builds a positive relationship between you and your dog.

Some additional tips include:

• Stay Calm – Your dog responds to your moods and behaviors. To help your dog calm down around the door, you need to be lowering the energy level of the situation, not add to it. Don’t yell or become stressed when interacting with your dog, especially while training him.
• Practice Basic Commands – If your dog has mastered walking politely on a leash and sitting when told to, training him to act more reasonably around the door will be easier. If they haven’t, we can help you in just a few short sessions.
• Ignore Them If They Behave Incorrectly – Rewarding good behavior is more beneficial during training than punishing bad behavior. If they get over-excited during training, ignore them until they calm down then start over.
• Practice With A Friend – Once you’ve worked with your dog to sit and keep from getting overly excited when you open the door or they hear something interesting outside, you can introduce new situations for them to learn to react to. Having a friend come over to ring the doorbell, interact with your dog as they come in, and any other people-interaction related scenarios they’ve had challenges with in the past.
• Reinforce Good Behavior Frequently – After your dog has mastered staying calm around the door, you can help them maintain that discipline with the occasional additional training session - even if they are already a master.

Many of these tips also work for other types of training as well, such as leash training or sit/stay. When your dog knows you expect them to sit and wait for you to direct them when you or someone else is around the door, they should stop or at least lessen their over-excited behavior.

The Goal of Training Your Dog

Managing your dog’s behaviors around the door is a matter of associating the door with controlled calm rather than high levels of excitement. If you’re patient with them and keep rewarding their good behavior, you both will be much happier.