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My small dog is afraid of the electronic dog door. How to train her?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 1 year old | 8 lbs

We recently got an electronic doggie door. While we are training them we have it set to unlocked. Our 50-pound lab mix has pretty much figured it out. However we also have midna the Chiweenie she is scared of the door I think so because we had to buy it says for the bigger dog and every time she considers going through right after Sarah it smacks her in the face. It is light enough for her to push it open if she decides to they both had the same training when we first got it but she refuses

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Stacey Anstaett, DVM

Answered By Stacey Anstaett, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 18th, 2019

I am sorry you are having trouble with Midna! It may be that she needs some extra time and attention to learn this skill, and unfortunately there are no guarantees that she will ever get it figured out. I would try teaching her separately from the big dog for a while. See if you can get her to do it without the bigger dog around, then try to get her to "wait her turn," after the bigger dog goes through so that it doesn't whap her in the face.
Best of luck to you! Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!
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