Teaching Your Dog to Use the Dog Door
Step 1: First show your dog the dog door and pair the sight of the door with treats and praise. With your hand, move the flap back and forth and again praise your dog to show them this is not a scary thing.
Step 2: Encourage your dog to explore the dog door flap. Praise and reward any engagement with the flap such as sniffing at it, pawing at it, or pushing it with their nose. At this stage, we want to make sure your dog isn’t nervous about the flap and begins to understand that they can control the movement of the flap.
Step 3: Once your dog is comfortable with the presence and movement of the flap it’s time to teach your dog to go through the dog door. To start we want to teach our dog to go through with the flap. Hold the flap open or, depending on your door design, lock it in the open position. Then get on the other side of the door outside and use toys and treats to encourage your dog to come through the dog door. When your dog comes through, again give them lots of praise and reward.
Step 4: When your dog is comfortably going back and forth through the dog door with the flap open it’s time to introduce your dog to push through the flap. To start to get to the other side of the door, hold the flap partially open and use treats and toys to encourage your dog to come through.
Step 5: When your dog is confidently hopping through the dog door as you hold the flap partially open, then it’s time to start to lower the flap further each time your dog is going through, so they are having to push the flap more and more each time. Continue to use lots of praise, treats, and toys to encourage your dog to go through the dog door.
Step 6: Continue to lower the flap of the dog door each time you practice until your dog is pushing through the flap of the dog to go in and out of the dog door independently. Ensure that your dog is very comfortable and confident moving back and forth through the dog door before leaving them unattended. You want to try to prevent your dog from getting scared and stuck on one side—especially the outside—of the dog door.
If you are going to give your dog access to a dog door, especially when you aren’t home or able to supervise them, it’s a good idea to make sure your yard has been appropriately dog-proofed. Your dog door should only open into a dog run or fenced area of your yard that is securely enclosed.
Additionally, make sure that your dog can’t go over your fence and that the fencing is secured in such a way that your dog is unable to dig under it. There also needs to be access to fresh cool water when outside and a sheltered place to lay in case they don’t go back through the dog door into your house on hotter days.
Keep in mind that when outside, especially unsupervised dogs are very vulnerable to the elements, conflict with wildlife such as coyotes, raccoons, and birds of prey, as well as harassment from people who may walk past your yard. Even if your dog knows how to use a dog door, they should be safely inside the home when you are away.
Identify the Culprit Behind Your Dog’s House Soiling
When your dog soils the house, there can be a range of reasons. What is certainly not the reason for leaving unpleasant surprises on your beds or carpets is any sort of intentional depositing, for example out of ‘revenge’. Sometimes our brains are too complicated for their own good and spin a story where there is nothing but a simple cause and effect.
The reason your dog urinates and defecates in the house is typically one or more of the following:
The most simple explanation could be a medical condition, especially if your dog’s house training breaks down all of a sudden, so a visit to the vet is a good start.
Apart from physical ailments, mental or emotional problems can also play a role. Separation anxiety is commonly behind a loss of bladder or bowel control as are other forms of anxiety, stress and fear. Identify what your dog is distressed about—ideally with the help of a behaviour vet or animal trainer with proven expertise in behaviour—and, most importantly, stop any sort of punitive handling and training.
A rather common cause for house soiling is incomplete house training, so go back to basics. There is no magic bullet to teach your dog not to wee or poo in the house. It comes down to management, supervision and reinforcement.
Then there is the matter of access to the preferred toilet spot. Putting a dog door in for the dog to go out whenever they please seems like a great idea but your dog has to think so too.
Anything new you introduce into your dog’s life is best accompanied by yummy treats so the dog immediately forms a positive association with it. Nevertheless, some dogs may need further help to actually use the dog door without your assistance.
Here are some common factors that can affect your dog’s love or hate of the dog door.
Make sure your dog can easily fit through the door rather than having to squeeze their body through. Security may be a concern, in case you have a large dog, although having a large dog may also be a good burglar deterrent. On the other hand, I have had to squeeze my body through a dog door more than once to get entry to a house, so it certainly has its advantages, if you lose your house keys.
There are a range of designs that can affect your dog’s liking of the door. Hard or soft plastic, see-through or opaque, round or rectangular. Consider how hard your dog has to push or how high they have to lift their paws to get through. Do your research, read reviews or, even better, test different doors before shopping.
You may not have a lot of choices of where to place the dog door depending on the design of your home. Most commonly, dog doors are installed in backdoors or windows. But where exactly is the door leading to? If it rains, does the dog have to step out into the wet or is the outside space covered? Is it shady on hot summer days or does the pavement heat up so much that it feels like stepping on hot coals? What else could prevent your dog from stepping through the door? Maybe the neighbours kids’ trampoline is right next to the fence and your dog fears the jumping kids. Or maybe the neighbour’s dog goes berserk whenever your dog uses the dog door. Lots to think about.
The location of the door may create additional obstacles for your dog to get in or out. I knew a Schnauzer who refused to step outside through the dog door but had no problem coming in. As it turned out, the step down from the dog door, which was built into the laundry door, was simply too high. The dog had trouble to physically bridge the height and she might have also hurt herself in previous attempts in doing so. Adding a little platform between the door threshold and the courtyard, so the dog could step outside without having to resort to acrobatics, solved the problem in this case.
An unfortunate encounter with the dog door, especially on first use, can easily create dog door dread. For this reason, I highly recommend introducing your dog to the door with a bag of yummy treats. With you on one side of the door and the dog on the other, encourage your dog to step through—initially holding the door open, if necessary—and then pay her with a treat and praise her for her bravery. Repeat this until the dog shows no hesitation when stepping through the door. Lots of positive experiences provide an ideal buffer against possible future mishaps.
If your dog does have a bad experience, such as getting stuck in the door or getting a fright by an external event, say a thunder clap, while going through the door, first consider the previous points and possibly make some changes to the dog door. Next, rebuild your dog’s confidence by teaching her, step by step, that the dog door means wonderful things, i.e. super tasty snacks.
Some dogs are generally afraid of novel things or lack the confidence to explore. The procedure to make your dog use the dog door is the same as after a bad experiences (tasty snacks!) but, if your dog has problems with more than just the dog door, I strongly suggest a consult with a behaviour vet. Living with anxiety is no fun for anyone!
Some dogs have no problem using the dog door the minute they realize it’s a way for them to go outside and get back into the house. Other dogs take a bit of convincing that this contraption holds a positive experience for them.
A pet door can make both you and your dog’s life easier and more convenient. Your dog will be healthier when he can answer nature’s call when necessary instead of only when you’re home.
After he starts to willingly go through the door with the flaps open, gradually let the flaps touch his back gently to desensitize him to the flaps touching his back as he goes through. Go slow; you don’t want him to be scared by the flaps. Keep your attitude and the whole experience positive.
Once your dog feels the area near the dog door is a safe place, you can start to introduce the idea of going through the door. If you have a Hale Pet Door, you can order the optional training flaps that are slit vertically and have no strikes to stick to the magnets on the frame, so your dog doesn’t have to push on the solid flap. You can also securely fasten up the flaps (with blue painter’s tape to avoid wall damage), so they’re completely open or remove the flaps. Put the dog’s toy or a treat on the frame, so your dog will put his head partway through the opening to retrieve the reward. Continue doing so until your pup is willingly leaving his head through the opening. Don’t ask for anything more if he’s pulling his head back quickly or moving away from the door to finish his treat or play with his toy. Just continue playing with your dog at the pet door until he’s relaxed and feeling safe. Keep your sessions short and sweet with lots of love and praise.
The most important thing is to make the experience a positive one. NEVER force – by pushing or pulling – your dog to go through the dog door. If your dog is afraid to come near the door, you can make it a comfortable and desirable place by sitting on the floor or a short stool near the door and calling the dog to you with a treat or favorite toy.