kiesha09 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 My dogs have a bad habit of dashing out the front door out onto the street. I don't have a front fence and the council will not allow me to put one up. Today my girl was hit by a car when the garage door came open and she ran out onto the street. Luckily she is ok and got off with just bruising and is very sore (at this stage thats all it appears to be according to the vet). However, this has been the real wake up call that I needed. It is completely unacceptable behaviour and for both dogs safety I need to do some training to stop this. So I am wondering what things people have done if they have had door dashers or even to stop this in the beginning? I want them to know that under NO circumstances are they allowed out the front or garage door without the ok from me. I also don't want to have to give them a command at the door like wait or stay so they don't go out because for example if I have visitors they may not know to give the command. Any help would be most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Glad your girl is ok! My suggestion is to spend lots of time instilling some "when door opens, I must SIT" training.... leash dogs, one at a time...and practice, practice, practice..open door- dog SITS and doesn't move until door closes..... That's all I can think of- other than, if you are going out, or someone knocks- dogs are put in crates or in another room... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 We started from day one with the dogs on a leash, tell them to sit and wait (something they know from waiting to get their breakfast). I then very slowly start to open the door and if they get up from the sit or move forward then the door is shut again. When the door is open without them making a break for it, I will step through and give them a command to step through the doorway. Eventually I drop the sit and wait and continue with the command to walk through the doorway. It is a slow process but we do the same for every gate and doorway (leading outside) ... even in the car so there is no jumping out or going through the door without permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 My first advice would be for you to procure some form of fencing to prevent the dogs going onto the street. I realize it's sometimes not practical particularly if you're renting but even some temporary fencing would be better than nothing. You can and should put a training regime in place but until its perfectly trained you have to manage them so they don't get to practice door dashing. That means having them on lead while you open the door and train them to sit and stay before being released. This site may be able to help http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2409. My dogs have a bad habit of dashing out the front door out onto the street. I don't have a front fence and the council will not allow me to put one up. Today my girl was hit by a car when the garage door came open and she ran out onto the street. Luckily she is ok and got off with just bruising and is very sore (at this stage thats all it appears to be according to the vet). However, this has been the real wake up call that I needed. It is completely unacceptable behaviour and for both dogs safety I need to do some training to stop this. So I am wondering what things people have done if they have had door dashers or even to stop this in the beginning? I want them to know that under NO circumstances are they allowed out the front or garage door without the ok from me. I also don't want to have to give them a command at the door like wait or stay so they don't go out because for example if I have visitors they may not know to give the command. Any help would be most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Another thought is the principles of crate games DVD by Susan Garrett could be of value to you. My first advice would be for you to procure some form of fencing to prevent the dogs going onto the street. I realize it's sometimes not practical particularly if you're renting but even some temporary fencing would be better than nothing. You can and should put a training regime in place but until its perfectly trained you have to manage them so they don't get to practice door dashing. That means having them on lead while you open the door and train them to sit and stay before being released. This site may be able to help http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2409. My dogs have a bad habit of dashing out the front door out onto the street. I don't have a front fence and the council will not allow me to put one up. Today my girl was hit by a car when the garage door came open and she ran out onto the street. Luckily she is ok and got off with just bruising and is very sore (at this stage thats all it appears to be according to the vet). However, this has been the real wake up call that I needed. It is completely unacceptable behaviour and for both dogs safety I need to do some training to stop this. So I am wondering what things people have done if they have had door dashers or even to stop this in the beginning? I want them to know that under NO circumstances are they allowed out the front or garage door without the ok from me. I also don't want to have to give them a command at the door like wait or stay so they don't go out because for example if I have visitors they may not know to give the command. Any help would be most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I don't have a front fence and the council will not allow me to put one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Sorry persephone...missed that bit Stoooopid council Glad your girl is OK. How long have they been door dashing? I don't have a front fence and the council will not allow me to put one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have always made them sit and wait at the door which they will always do while I'm there. But its more if the door was left open or came open (as was the case today, completely accidental) or with visitors that they need to know not to go past that door line. Really they just need better door manners in general. I have actually already done crate games with both dogs, but it probably wouldn't hurt to do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 From the very first, I trained my boy so that he is told when he CAN go through a door way, rather than training him to not go through when he is told NOT to. There are things such as having two doors (there's a name for the system, but I can't think of it) - you go in through one and close it before you go through the other. You could potentially construct something similar by having a gate and enclosure directly outside of your front door. This will ensure that your dog can't make that unexpected 'dash'. The garage door 'dash' would pose a different problem and the only thing there would be to not permit your dog access to it. If that is used as your dog's shelter, then you might need to think of an alternative. These are the practical mechanical solutions - the other relates to training and I've sent you a PM on that. But nothing will be as guaranteed as a secure fence or other method of barrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 You could potentially construct something similar by having a gate and enclosure directly outside of your front door. YES! what a good idea- like a gated porch.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Yes the council is very stupid indeed They have been doing it since I moved into my new house (my old one had a front fence) which was 2 years ago. But in that two years they have probably done it 6 times. Each time it has been when visitors have come to the house and have accidentally let them out. My garage has two doors on each side so I can easily lock them out of it thats not a problem. There is a door from the garage to the house and when I shut it today it obviously didn't lock in properly and they pushed it open (they really wanted to come in the car). So I try hard to manage the situation and generally they are great for me with sitting and waiting... but if I'm not there to give the wait command or visitors are there its a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 You could potentially construct something similar by having a gate and enclosure directly outside of your front door. YES! what a good idea- like a gated porch.... This actually could be an option since I have an archway leading to my front door Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 This actually could be an option since I have an archway leading to my front door Good "Airlock system" I think is the name I was trying to think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 We started from day one with the dogs on a leash, tell them to sit and wait (something they know from waiting to get their breakfast).I then very slowly start to open the door and if they get up from the sit or move forward then the door is shut again. When the door is open without them making a break for it, I will step through and give them a command to step through the doorway. Eventually I drop the sit and wait and continue with the command to walk through the doorway. It is a slow process but we do the same for every gate and doorway (leading outside) ... even in the car so there is no jumping out or going through the door without permission. This is the second thing I teach any foster coming to me. First is sit. Second is open gate does not = an invitation to bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 A bit like walk in averies? This actually could be an option since I have an archway leading to my front door Good "Airlock system" I think is the name I was trying to think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 A bit like walk in averies? Yes - like that in principal. As Kiesha09 has an archway leading to the front door, a baby gate might even be enough to do the job. Not sure what sort of dog (ie big/little) but if it is little enough, this may well do the trick. It is a management thing though - and management has this funny habit of at least once in our lifetimes of letting us down. So I'd still apply some basic training to teach the dog to not go through doorways unless invited, at least as a back-up plan. It may not prove as a guarantee, but might be enough to provide that one second's hesitation which in some cases buys just enough time for us to fix the errors we create (ie leaving b/gate and front door open). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I was going to say the crate games dvd would have some good ideas to working through the issue. In the meantime manage it. Is there anyway you can even construct an internal gate so they are prevented from access to the front door. Even something temporarily like a puppy pen put across a hallway for instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) You could potentially construct something similar by having a gate and enclosure directly outside of your front door. YES! what a good idea- like a gated porch.... This actually could be an option since I have an archway leading to my front door The gated porch sounds like a really good idea You could even use a puppy pen (pegged into the ground in a semi circle around the door/archway) if you have grass out front and wanted a quick temporary fix. If it was me I'd put a baby gate up on the door that leads from inside to the garage too. We have the ones that swing closed automatically which are great because I'm never worried that someone will forget to close the doors (they were around $60 each from Target) eta: just realised that Erny beat me to it with the baby gate and Ness with the puppy pen Edited January 10, 2010 by SecretKei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 This actually could be an option since I have an archway leading to my front door Good "Airlock system" I think is the name I was trying to think of. My girl has dashed outside once. I have an art deco house with a little porch, so I have put a baby gate on the porch (ie outside my house, looks ugly but is totally functional) the first time she did it. It cost about $100. Fortunately I called her and she came back inside! I am also: i) teaching her to sit before going out the door. She can only go through on command. ii) teaching her recall iii) final emergency measure: teaching her to automatically sit at the bottom of the stairs (lest the baby gate, sit before leaving AND recall fail). When my boy was a pup, I put the training gates inside about 1M from the front door. I taught him to go through the door (ie to the main house away from the front) on command. I took it down after a few months and he has never tried to get through - he always stands back like the gate is still there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Thanks everyone for all the replies. I am definately going to manage this situation from now on and have put up a section of my puppy pen restricting access to both the front and garage doors. Then tonight its onto some door training. Lesson 1: sit before going through the door and recall in the front yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now