Barks to come in; wont enter

    • Bronze

    Barks to come in; wont enter

    Help!  I have a 7 month old Golden Ret/Border Collie "puppy" named Zoey.  Zoey always has barked/jumped up on the back door when she is ready to come back inside.  She has developed a habit that is making us crazy! When we open the door to let her in, she just sits there & wont enter.  Eventually we just close the door (Texas heat & mosquitoes wont make me consider leaving it open for long) and immediately Zoey is barking & scratching to come in.  Aggggh.  We've tried treats & sitting on the floor to lure her in  - but it doesnt work.  The only thing that works is a kong bone with PNB....but now she expects it & I wont let that become a habit.  
     
    WHY is she doing this & how I can I train her to come in on command?  The treats trick isnt working.
     
    TIA!
    • Gold Top Dog
    She probably isn#%92t barking to come in. Maybe she wants to be played with? So she has learned that whenever she barks and jumps on the door you respond to it and come to her ‘aid#%92. Because if she wont come in when she has been frantically scratching and barking at the door it has to be something else because if it were that she wanted inside she would go crashing through once the door is open.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Yep, it's amazing how quickly some of the things we DON'T want to become a habit do just that.  I've been guilty of this too and once it starts, it takes awhile to break the cycle.  I agree that she probably wants someone to come outside and play with her and any attention is better than no attention at all, right?  Not sure if this would work, but maybe you could go out with her and play for awhile and then see if she'll come in when you come in.  If she chooses not to, then I'd ignore any barking or scratching until she's completely quieted down for at least 5 minutes. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    Yep bailey does this occasionally, she just wants me to go outside with her.  Maybe you could just go out for a bit and then try coming back in..?
    • Gold Top Dog
    It seems to me as if she wants you to come out and play with her. Rory used to do that, she hated being outside alone but I always thought that is where she should preffer to be....laying in the sun or running around being a dog. It took some time before she felt comfertable being outside alone. She became comfertable only after I brought her home a cow hoof to keep her busy. Basically the cow hoof was the first reason good enough for her to seperate herself from us.
    I understand you not wanting to reward her for this behavior and while PB is not bad for dogs, if you had to give her some everytime she did this it can't be good. That is why I opted for the cow hoofs because they last a good couple of days and you can fill them with peanut butter the first time you give it to her so she gains interest in it and hopefully like most dogs she will continue to enjoy the treat after she has emptied all the PB. (fill it with PB and freeze it for at least 24 hours) it is a cool treat in your Texas heat too!
    Remember went from a whole litter of playmates to just your family and even though you may be comfertable with her and being alone in your home, she may not. Pack mentality is that if they are left alone at all they are as good as dead! Good luck with your furbaby and keep us posted!
    • Gold Top Dog
    The other posters are most likely correct but I would also go out to where she is sitting and down to her eye level and see if something is not scaring her, a shadow, a light, has she tripped, also when you let her out the door do you make her sit or wait until you give her a cue than let her out? she is still a baby so she could be confused. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    I 'm just reading The Other End of the Leash and the author makes a great point, she says dogs follow our body and our feet they don't greet head on like we do. so try going out to the puppy then walking through the door and I bet he follows you