# Door training?



## KidWhisperer (Apr 3, 2012)

We are having a problem with Sammi running out of the door, but not all of the time. We have trained her from a puppy to sit at the door on leash, to wait when the door is opened, wait for the human to exit first, then sit outside of the door while the human closes the door. She is great with that now. Also, if my husband or I are downstairs and the door is open, we give her a verbal warning if she is even thinking about going out without permission, and she complies nicely with that.

The problem comes when the door is open and no one is around...she goes for it, then runs all around like a fool playing catch-me-if-you-can!!! (Yes, we do need to work on outdoor recall, but that's a topic for another thread:ahhhhh it doesn't happen often, but it's a huge problem when it does happen. For example my DS was leaving for school; he opened the door, then remembered he forgot something in the garage. While he was in the garage, DH told Sammi to "go to bed". So Sammi ran downstairs, saw the open door, and went outside instead. DH and Sammi were both completely muddy by the time he got her to come in, and he ended up being late for work!

Another issue that happens more often is that when our garage door is open and the wind is blowing, the inner door that connects the garage to the house opens on its own (we think there is something wrong with the latch on that door).

So is there a way to train Sammi to not exit a door without permission, even when no one is around? Or would my efforts be better spent on teaching a solid outdoor recall?


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

My poodles were trained with the BACKDOOR to the fenced in yard first. Every single time , before they can walk out, we say "you wanna go outside?" And when we don't say anything, they cannot walk out when the door is opened, and they just stand there... We started with "Stay" (occasionally) and left the door opened for a few seconds and closed it. Now we don't need to say anything, they won't walk out unless we say "wanna go outside?" first.

REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT,  throughout the day AND day after day

It's about CONSISTENCY
in my opinion.
It's like if you going to tell them they can't do something, they cannot be let to do it, ever!! Or they get confused. 

And my mother came to visit, she opened the back door all the way (sliding door) to smoke a cigarette and she was like: "look at this! They won't come out" and the poodles looked intensively into my eyes as if they're asking "can we?" And waiting for the command "you wanna go outside". 

Maybe something like that would work for your front door? I mean it's the same concept.... But you can use a different command as in " Sammi wanna Come with me?" Every time she is allowed to cross that line to the outside. And start with "WAIT" (sporadically) and wave your hand in front of her like your creating an invisible barrier.. (When she cannot cross that line to the outside) Eventually you'll stop needing to say "wait" and she will just assume that if you didn't use the command that gives her permission, she just won't cross that line.

Hope it helps  



Ps. After she gets it. Add distractions, like open the door and walk away for a few seconds and come back with a treat for her not going out.
And they someone on the outside talking on the cell, she may want to go say hi, etc etc... 

Ps2. I believe in NEVER chasing a dog. You can "calmly"
Walk to it with a treat or even better let them know you have a treat squat to the grownd and let them come to you. I have never never ran toward my 2. (I was afraid it would become the catch-me-if-u-can game, my 2 don't know what that is, never experienced someone running after them) like for instance even with like ear-medicine-time. Lou HATES it, and she will bounce around and go a few feet away from me but I never follow her, and just talk to her in a calm voice and show the treat and she is like and negotiate  so she is like "ok momma... Okay..." And comes to me... 





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## Joy (Apr 25, 2013)

I think your time would be well spent teaching recall. Chasing your dog makes it a game to them and they will usually run away from you trying to get you to play. Recall is so so important for safety as well. Be sure to use lots of praise and treats when they come to you.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Joy said:


> I think your time would be well spent teaching recall. Chasing your dog makes it a game to them and they will usually run away from you trying to get you to play. Recall is so so important for safety as well. Be sure to use lots of praise and treats when they come to you.



I agree 100%

The "COME!" Command is VITAL!! 

I trained them with juicy-medium cooked-steak pieces, a small piece of American cheese, cooked-ground beef-nuggets etc.... These yummy treats ONLY for this "COME! Command" So they will come to me every single time  

For the other commands such as "SIT" I used regular boring training treats LOL 


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

My three dogs all will wait by an open door and not go out without permission. But in the past I had a black pug named Moe. She was not so good. So I hired a trainer who came over and we did "boundary training". We taught her boundaries in the yard as well as the front door. We used the word "curb". This meant she wasn't to cross that line. It had to be something distinct...like a doorway, or the end of the grass, the street etc. I would just take her to the line I didn't want her to cross and tell her "curb" and she wouldn't cross it. 

It was so worth it to hire the trainer, and it only took one session and then me reinforcing it. 

I also agree, they sometimes make mistakes and you have to have that recall!


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

My hubby has been "untraining" my 2 to have door manners. They are only supposed to walk out if we say "you wanna go outside" right? Hubby has been walking out there on his cell and leaving the door open and kinda kneeing them to go out... Totally messing up my "technique" LOL

So I started reinforcing the whole thing again.

So here is a photo of them "starting to behave again"  looking at me first!! And waiting for me to say the command otherwise they can't cross that line...

I'm going to continue practicing and correcting the husband too  LOL
We all have to be on board on their training .

The good thing is poodles are so smart I only need to say something once or twice, they know what I mean/want them to do .. It's like they speak English, or should I say UNDERSTAND English since they can't actually talk 











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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I'd start with the recall - which is a Must Have, and then work on the boundary control when you have a good solid recall. If Come now means catch-me-if-you-can, choose a new word - "Here", perhaps - and reinforce the hell out of it in the house, then in the yard, and in very non distracting areas outside. I'd also put the chase game on cue, I'm-coming-to-GET-you! is the one we use. And remember to recall and then release as often as possible, so that it doesn't come to mean the end of fun.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Fjm very good point!!!! 

I call them when there are in the backyard distracted by someone walking by the fence and when they come I give them steak and touch their collars (in a situation I could need to actually grab 'em and KEEP them from harm, so I touch their collar for a bit) then I say: "Free dogs!" And they go back to whatever fun they were having! 

Otherwise they wouldn't come if it meant fun times are over every time 



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## KidWhisperer (Apr 3, 2012)

We will begin on both this week. And Lou, I'm feeling you about the "un training"! With three kids and a husband, it is sometimes really hard to get everyone on board with the training stuff (as well as to stop leaving doors open, leaving food laying around, leaving the garbage can out of the cabinet so she can raid it, etc. etc!!) :doh: Consistency is really key!


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