My dog bolts out doors. How can I train her to stop door dashing?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. This is a very common behavior in puppies. Leash correction will help correct the behavior. Keep a leash on him and when he attempts to bolt out the door, give the leash a firm tug and tell him a command such as "sit". Have many treats handy and give him a few treats when he listens and sits. If training is not going as planned, you can use an electric collar and whenever he goes near the door, you can apply a low voltage shock to deter the behavior. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Zoey is a very pretty girl! :) No, it shouldn't be necessary to use a shock collar to teach her this. If she has a habit of bolting out the door, you can teach her to wait nicely when the door is opened for permission to go out. Practice first asking her to sit just inside the door. Then say "wait!", and immediately reward her. Once she is happily sitting and waiting for her treat, try saying "wait!", touching the door knob, and rewarding her. Work you way up to turning the knob, opening the door just a crack at first, then wider and wider - make sure to reward her at each tiny step so that she understands what you want. With a few days of practice, you should be able to say "wait!" and open the door all the way without her running out. Make sure to keep her on a leash for this exercise, just in case she makes a mistake and tries to run out the door while she is learning! It would also be a good idea to teach her to come when you call her, so that if she does happen to slip out the door at some point, you can easily call her back. To teach this skill, start in the house with a handful of extremely tasty treats - small bites of chicken or roast beef work very well for many dogs. Say "Zoey, come!" in a happy voice - as soon as she comes over to investigate, praise her and feed her your handful of treats. Do this 2-3 times a day, every day, until she happily comes running as soon as you call. At that point, you can start to practice outside in more distracting environments - I recommend using a long line (a very long, light-weight leash) for safety while you are teaching this. With practice, she should come to you right away whenever you call her - just make sure to reward her every time, since this is a very important life skill. :)

Unfortunately it sounds like Poncho has a mind to explore. Unfortunately this leaves her susceptible to all manner of concerns including snakes and cars. Keeping her restrained with a chain may be what is needed at this time, be sure she has plenty of fresh water and shade if she is restrained outside, and using a running chain rather than one attached to a fixed object can allow a bit more freedom. Regular walks and play with the family can help to calm the roaming urge, and encourage Poncho to stay more home-based. Keeping Poncho on a leash when you let her outside would be beneficial, and you may want to consider an invisible fence system for her too.

It sounds like Fluffy is reactive and uncomfortable around people he doesn't know - this is a very common problem. I would recommend asking visitors to call ahead before arriving, so that you can put Fluffy in a separate room or a crate before they arrive. Once they are in and settled, you can bring Fluffy out on a leash and practice rewarding him with tasty treats for being calm. The front door needs to be better managed so that Fluffy cannot run out after people who are walking outside. If household members are not able to remember to close the door reliably, get a baby gate or other barrier to use as a back-up so that there's no way he can run out. Separately, to work on this problem, you can practice standing just inside the door with Fluffy on a leash, and feeding him treats every time someone walks by. Over time, he will learn to look at you for his treat when he sees a person, rather than wanting to chase them and bark. It can be difficult to do this on your own, do I would recommend getting in touch with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can help you in person. You can ask your vet to refer you to a qualified professional in your area.

There are a few things you can do, and looking up "door/greeting manners" on a site like YouTube can give you some visual examples of these training techniques. When people come over, having a leash by the door is a good idea. At the first sign of knocking or a doorbell, leash up your dogs and keep them in a sitting position. If they jump up or become too excited, have your visitor ignore them until they are able to settle back down and sit again. Once they are calmer, offering them a treat is best to teach them that calm, quiet sitting behavior is rewarded, and being excited is not. If they are jumping up on you when you get home, you can do a similar thing by ignoring them until they are calmer (even if you have to stand there for a few minutes without moving). Once they are calm, offer a treat and praise. You may need to spend a day where you take a step, wait for calm behavior, take a step, wait, etc, until they are a bit better about understanding what you are doing. As for the excitement urination, this is often something dogs grow out of, but in the meantime it is best to just ignore the pup that potties. Try not to make a big deal out of coming home (which can lead to excitement and thus urination), and instead wait until both dogs are calm to acknowledge them. If you do give your pup some attention, making sure it's on a tile floor that is easy to clean is best!

This is quite a normal behavior - she wants to be involved once you come home. Altering your routine to take her for a short walk immediately when you come home or giving her a food treat or chew toy to play with in the garden as soon as you arrive home may help to redirect her attention, you will have to continue with such routines as she will expect the new routine instead! Ignoring or correcting the behavior is also possible and would require a lot of time and patience and should be undertaken with advice from a behaviorist so as not to create fear or anxiety if you try to over correct the behavior by punishment

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!