They race through them to go out, whether it’s the front door, the car door, the crate door or… well, pretty much any door. When someone comes through a door, all hell can break loose! Dogs have the uncanny ability to transform themselves from lazy lumps on the floor to jumping, lunging, growling, barking, nipping, spinning, crazy things in two seconds flat. Why?
Portals to the World
Dogs are acutely attuned to their environment, and abrupt changes to it do not go unnoticed. From inside the home, the door not only represents a portal to the exciting world beyond, but it is where unexpected visitors, welcome or not, may suddenly present themselves. The sound of a door unlatching and opening is part of the pattern that may lead to exciting things such as walks, rides in the car, playing fetch in the yard or, for fearful dogs, feeling unsafe because a stranger may be about to invade their personal spaces.
Experts at Predicting
I recently hosted a very social young dog who would bark reactively and run to the door if I said, “hello” anywhere in the house (nobody was at the door, by the way). A knock, anywhere, would elicit the same behavior. A previous dog of ours would hang out by the front door expectantly when I vacuumed the house. After several recurrences of this, I realized that the only time I vacuumed was when we were expecting visitors (I’ve since improved my housecleaning habits).
Joyful greetings are one of the wonderful benefits of dog ownership, but sometimes their level of enthusiasm can literally bowl us over. You are very lucky if you have a dog who can hold it together emotionally when someone arrives. Many dogs have a strong reaction to this very sudden change in their immediate surroundings, and some of them engage in behaviors that are less-than-desirable (to us). It generally takes less than 5 minutes for them to return to normal, but in that time, they are apt to practice bad habits unless we help them do something else. How can you keep your pup busy for those 5 minutes?
What to do? Thankfully, we have many options when it comes to creating more peaceful door habits, whether you have an over-eager greeter or a pup who reacts in fear. Some techniques are purely preventative, and others require training effort. It’s important to consider the well-being of both our dog and whomever is arriving. The BEST way to keep bad door habits from occurring is to keep your dog away from the door.
Allow your dog to express his excitement in a more acceptable way. Teach him to spin, tug, leap on cue (without body contact) … any behavior that allows him to release his happy vertical energy that isn’t jumping ON people or invading their space.
Inside Out/Outside In. Our canine friends tend to have a much stronger reaction when someone new enters their space compared to when they are the ones doing the entering. Skipper, our current dog, gets super-charged emotionally when somebody is at the door. I will sometimes send him outside, let the guest in, then 5 minutes later let him in. This can be a good technique for fearful dogs, too: have the dog be the one who is entering, not the new person. Keep your pup in another space until the person enters and settles, then let your dog enter. Other times I may tether Skipper away from the door and give him a chew to work on.
Teach your dog to hold something in his mouth when he greets people. Dogs whose mouths are busy are much less likely to jump. You can stow a favorite toy at doorways just for the purpose of keeping your dog busy for that initial period of excitement.
Perch Front feet on the perch means good stuff; feet off the perch means the good stuff goes away. Our pups can’t jump up if their front paws are “magnetized” to a perch.
Tethering away from the door with something to do.
Skill-building around doors Practice calmness around the door. Desensitize your pup to the door opening and closing when nobody is coming. Get a helper to enter and exit while you work on one of the above skills. For the pup who reacted to “hello” and knocking, I was able to reduce her reactivity by putting her on leash (this prevented her from approaching the door), then creating a new pattern whereby every “hello” or knock was followed by a treat. The example of our previous dog and vacuuming didn’t require any work besides me vacuuming more often. Sometimes the behavior isn’t a problem and doesn’t need any intervention!
Engaged Entrances
Check out a 33-second video on my Vimeo channel to see how you can help cultivate calmness when going through doorways, even your car door! Quick, simple and safe!
Aggressive behavior at the door.
Dogs who react aggressively, who display fear or anxiety by stiffening, growling or worse, can be a real danger. If you have a dog who fits this description, please contact a professional dog trainer who uses positive methods. This type of behavior generally gets worse if left untreated and can be a real
liability.
Happy Training!
Diana Logan, CPDT-KA Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge-Assessed
Pet Connection Dog Training, North Yarmouth, Maine
www.dianalogan.com | 207-252-9352