How to teach your dog to stay still when the door opens

One of the most common complaints from owners is that as soon as the front door opens, the dog rushes to it and either jumps out or jumps on the person who has entered. How do you teach a dog to stay still when the front door opens?

8 steps to teach your dog to stay still when the door opens

1. Stock up on your dog’s favorite treat, cut into small pieces (for large dogs, the piece size is no more than 5×5 mm). It is important that she really wants to earn it.
2. Teach your dog to stay in a certain place on the “Stay” command. To do this, you can use, for example, a rug or a specific area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe carpet. It is very important to use a mat if you have a slippery floor – this is a matter of dog safety. Lure the dog to the right place with a piece of treat, give the command “Stay!” and treat. Wait a second and give me another bite. It is important that the dog stays where it is. It does not matter if she is sitting or lying, it is important that the dog is comfortable. If the dog tries to leave, return it to the same place, repeat the command and, after waiting a second, feed the treat. Then the time between the issuance of treats can be increased.
3. Start to complicate the task: give the command “Stay!”, take a step backwards (facing the dog) towards the door, immediately return and treat the dog. As soon as the dog can confidently stay in place, if you take a step backwards, you can complicate the task: increase the number of steps, turn your back to the dog, etc.
4. Remember that you can complicate the task only when the dog copes well with the previous stage. If the dog makes a mistake (for example, tries to follow you or leaves), calmly put him back in his place and return to the previous stage of practicing the skill.
5. It is important to reward the dog exactly when you return to him, so as not to encourage him to move from his place.
6. As soon as the dog will calmly stay in one place on command while you get to the door and back, you can complicate the task even more: pull the doorknob, turn the lock, open the door and close it again, leave the door open, go out the door and knock, ring the doorbell, have assistants pretend to be guests, etc. It is important to complicate the task for the dog consistently and gradually, to move in small steps.
7. Track the condition of the dog, do not let it get bored or tired. It is better to finish the lesson before the pet gets bored. And remember that this exercise is very difficult for excitable dogs, so it will take them more time to learn to control themselves.
8. Be sure to use a command that will let the dog know that he can be free (for example, “Everything!” or “Okay”). Otherwise, the dog will not know when he can go about his business, and quite rightly decides that the activity ended when he saw fit.

Do not hurry! Give your dog time to learn. It is better to spend time on training than later (much more time!) on correcting the dog’s behavior.

If you have multiple dogs, it’s best to learn the command with each one individually before practicing it with all of them at the same time.

If you do everything consistently and gradually, you will be surprised how quickly the dog learns to remain calm when someone rings the doorbell or comes to visit.