doby is being a bad boy

    • Gold Top Dog

    doby is being a bad boy

    so doby is blotting out the door anytime you open it  and we worry about him because he is black and he does it alot at night  it there a way that i can  stop this   im scared he'll meet a car  out there
     
    anything?
    • Gold Top Dog
    ummm.... leash him and tie the leash to a piece of furniture?
    put him in a crate?
    in another room?

    Sarcasm aside, it's really important to control your dog's behavior and access to anything, and it's really easy to do so. We think of dogs as having so much agency--they tear things apart, get into the garbage, bolt out the door... but that's not really a good relationship to build with a dog.

    Dogs don't need this kind of agency, and don't know what to do with it when they have it. They don't know about cars and electricity and poison, so obviously it's important to keep them safe. More importantly, when owners make the mental shift away from giving dogs so much freedom, then *everything* you allow your dog access to comes from you and can be taken away from you. This makes you a powerful leader, and that's where you want to be.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Teach him to wait and not go out the door before you do?  Mine know that I go through the door first, so if I don't go through the door - then they don't.  Mind you, I wouldn't open the door wide open and let them have access, but I know that I can fight my way out the door with the trash or the recycling without them bolting for the door or trying to get through.
     
    I believe I've also read that it's also good for pack hierarchy that the leader "leads".  It IS a requirement for the CGN testing in Canada that they not "bolt" through the door.
     
    Work on your sit-stays somewhere neutral.  Then when they're solid,  ask for it every time you go through the door.  (Either way - in or out.)  Reward them for staying where they are.  Give them a release word to get them to follow you through.  (I.e. Let's go, okay, barn-door ... whatever.) 
    • Gold Top Dog
    Keep him on a thirty foot lead until you train him.
    To train "wait", you can start by working with him at feeding time.
    Put the food in the bowl.  Tell him "wait" and put your hand up like a stop sign as you lower the bowl.  If he gets up, the bowl goes back up.  If he waits till it hits the floor, he gets dinner. 
    Once he knows it in relation to his food, start asking him to sit and "wait" in other locations.  Then, start asking him to wait at the door and not get up until released.
    • Gold Top Dog
    he already knows wait  and he doesnt go for the door when you open it sometimes our side door blows open even when its locked and hes the only one that runs out the door it happend today and i saw it i said doby down and he layed right down  but  it is when we  are not home that im worried we are getting the door fixed on monday