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Originally Posted by Britster  Yes, teaching her every time that door opens, she needs to be back away or SIT. A way you can do this is by placing her in a sit (once she learns this) and slightly opening the door. Reward her for sitting in place while door is beginning to open. If she gets up, you could say 'uh-uh' or something else, and close the door quickly, and withhold a reward. Eventually she will learn that she gets an award for waiting while the door is opening! |
This is basically what we teach in puppy class. We call it Greeting. We encourage active learning. In other words get friends and family to help with the exercise lesson. It takes some effort to set this up but it is so worth it. Open your door to measure where it comes into the room. Make that your NO DOG Boundary you may mark this area off with a rug, a line of masking tape or what ever is handy and works. The idea is to give your dog a visual and verbal clue. He/ she must sit and stay behind the NO DOG Boundary. Have your helper knock, or ring the bell
three times. If your dog is barking more than three times to alert you, give the Enough cue or Quiet. Don't rush to the door walk calmly. Puppy should be on leash. Chose a word you intended to use forever and every time, we use WAIT. (we also use Wait at curbs before crossing the street) When you get to the boundary, have the dog Sit. Now put your hand up like you are blocking traffic and say WAIT. At first you may have to keep facing the dog and back up to the door. Early on it is ok to repeat Wait and give the hand signal. Open the door a crack, if they bolt foreword, close the door. Walk them back to the Sit and Wait Spot. Give the cue Sit, Wait. Repeat this Greeting Exercise at least 10 times. Ideally it is most effective when repeated randomly over the period of two or three days. It take about 50 repetitions for the cues to be understood and obeyed. If you do not know what the Hand Sandwich Greeting is, let me know and I can explain for you.